This is my girlfriends 96 accord 4 door. She has been complaining about her brakes feeling funny lately, and on her way home from school, she ran over these steel plates in the road and complained about something wrong with her suspension. I drove it around yesterday, and her brakes feel soft. Any sort of light braking, they feel softer than they should, but stop the car fine. Harder braking, and they progressively get softer and on a few occassions, the pedal went to the floor. She says there was a screech or squeel sound whenever she turned right, but all I hear is something sounding like a ticking when I turn left. She has it lowerd 2" with H&R springs and riding on gas shocks designed for lowerd cars. Any ideas?

 

She has brake problems. The mushy feeling is air in the lines somewhere probably do to a seal leaking etc. Get the to a brake shop!

 

the problem w/the pedal is more than likely the master cylinder. my car (96 ex) does the same thing. in another forum, a guy said it was around 80.00 to get another one, but I have yet to make sure thats true. you need to get that fixed as well as I(flow is tight though), or else one day the pedals going to go to the floor and their will be no brakes.

far as the ticking.. possibly the cv axle. unless something else is worn in the suspension, but if it only makes like a clicking sound when you turn, cv axle.

 

I AGREE WITH MAC ON THE MASTER CYLINDER AS FOR THE SCREECH NOISE DOUBLE CHK THE ROTOR SHIELD MAKE SURE IT IS NOT HITTING THE ROTOR ,,,,

 

im not a mechanic, nor do i claim to know everything, BUT! i can confidently say i know my far share about cars; let alone hondas, and i would have to agree with both of them, either air in the breaks, or its the master cylinder, about the clicking, it sounds like it could be the cv-joint... if the suspension feels funny (provided that your springs are cut, and not aftermarket) check to see if the springs are in the shock boots, hitting a steep enough bump may have caulsed them to pop out

 

That was my first though, she hit a bump and unseated the springs. They are not cut, aftermarket springs by H&R. As for the ticking, I will definetly check the cv axle. Could it have bent? Would you feel it in the steering if it was bent? I talked with her about her brakes and she said that it happens sporatically. I drove it to and from work for lunch (<2miles), and they felt like honda brakes (light pedal). I am going to tear into it over the weekend since something in me seems to think the fluid may be too old and causing the spastic pedal movement.


Modified by dubman410 at 7:09 AM 4/28/2005

 

I drove her car to work today, thinking that maybe I need to get used to her brakes as my car has completely opposite pedal feeling. They just don't seem to feel right to me. They still feel mushy to me. On my way home yesterday, I braked just like I usually do, and I continued to slow down while going down hill to a stop light, and eventually stopped, but the pedal continued going down and eventually made it to the floor. This doesn't happen too often, but the mushy pedal is still there. You guys think this could be air?

 

If your pedal is hitting the floor drive slowly to the brake shop.

 

Well, I just looked at each wheel cylinder and they look ok, but I found something disturbing: Her driver side cv boot is literally split into 2 pieces What are some of the symptoms of a cv joint about ready to go? Clicking/ticking sounds when turning? I know there is the 60-65 mph shake, but I never noticed any before.

 

check under the hood and check you brake fluid... ittl probably low so refill it befor you hit the streets again

 

Yeah, I checked the brake fluid. I also checked the master cylinder for any wet spots, and nothing. Brake fluid level is ok, no wheel cylinder leakage, no master cylinder leakage, so I say it has to be air in the system. Also, the fluid looks ok (i.e. not black), so it all looks fine. This weekend I am going to check out each wheel's brakes and possibly blead the whole system out.

 

The broken CV boot itself wont cause any noise, but it will allow road grime and such to get on the CV axle itself and when it does it will fail eventually...you need to get that boot fixed soon because its a cheap repair that prevents an expensive repair from being needed.

Your brake system problems sounds like air in the lines or a master cyl. simply failing, a buddy of mine had his nissan p'up just fail without any leaking or anything, and was having similar symptoms to yours before it went out...so i mean i would just suggest having a brake shop look at it unless you have a good bit of experience with brake systems (and if you did, i doubt you'd be asking for help here really...not saying you dont know what your doing, just saying you might want a professional take a look atleast, just so you know exactly whats wrong).

 

I am going to take it to my fathers this weekend, he's an avid mechanic and knows brakes like no other. Forums like these are a great teaching and resource tool. I appreciate everyone's help with this.

 

yo dubman when pedal sinks to floor brake master has an internal leak ,,fluid bypasses the inner seals , you won't see any brake fluid leak on the outside of the master cylinder and no fluid loss as well ,,,i have seen hundreds of those masters go bad put a new 1 in and use a honda one they are pretty cheap honda lowered the price since so many of them were going bad

 

I'm definitely gonna go w/ a brake master cylinder on this one. Plus installing one will include bleeding the brakes, which takes care of the other possibility.

The CV boot's breaking is not uncommon on a car that's 9 years old. On my sister's '95 accord, they broke last year. The boot holds in the grease which keeps the joint lubed and prevents noises and breakage... as well as keep dirt and grime from getting in and leading to the same fate. The boot is fairly easy to fix, but it takes a pretty dedicated grease monkey. Take it to a mechanic - it's much cheaper than replacing the joint/axle.

 

Ok, heres a little bit of an update:
CV boot is gone...already know that. Thats not too big of a problem (done it several times with my mom's dodge van). Lifted the car, tore off all 4 tires and came across a couple of things for the brakes:

1. Both front rotors glazed completely over (both sides). They also have never been turned (tell tale from the ridge on the outside of the rotor).

2. Rear shoes have little/no pad left. Not enough for metal on metal, but its close.

3. In the process of removing the driver side rear brakes, the wheel cylinder fell apart. Seriously, took out the shoes and bam, the pistons, seals, everything just came apart.

4. Passenger side rear drum was removed, stains everywhere (not on the brake surfaces though).

So now my girlfriends accord is at my dad's sitting in the air (tires on for safety of the car). Gotta wait on two rear wheel cylinders which should be coming in soon (hopefully).