I have taken my 94 Honda Accord to the mechanic. He tells me my brakes are fine. My rotors may need to be turned. My car vibrates a lot when I apply the brakes after I drive it for more than 15 minutes. I have basically no brake petal. I have to push it all the way to the floor to get it to stop. The mechanic tells me that it may need brake boosters. What the heck is that???? He said the pads are fine. He said I need to pump the brake petal a couple of times. What is he talking about???? Someone help me please!!!

 

you got 2 separate issues

1 vibration when braking most likely your frt rotors are warped they need to be machined if they are thick enough if below specs need to be replaced

2 it is not the booster most likely an internal leak in your brake master cylinder

 

1 vibration when braking most likely your frt rotors are warped they need to be machined if they are thick enough if below specs need to be replaced

2 it is not the booster most likely an internal leak in your brake master cylinder

thats whati would say is wrong too....

 

1) https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1243602

2) like stated sound like a break leak... i suggest taking it to two shops for 2 differnt oppinions becuase one mechanic could spot something the otehr over looked... also i dont know if you should drive your car around with bad breaks.. before you take it out on the street at least add some dot 3 break fluid in your resivor... get it to the shop immediatly... if the breaks go out always remember your trusty hand break and if its not drivable ask if the brake shop could pick yur car up.. if not you could rent a car tow from uhaul for about 20$ and use a friends or your truck to take it GOOD LUCK

 

Yeah i would get a second opinion....I had a mechanic tell me my car was fine and he didn't know what was up and when I went down the road to another one they told me that my Axel nut??? was loose and was the problem....i wanted to kill the first mechanic ahaha..i still do

 

For the pulsating, get your rotors resurfaced, I agree with the others.

For #2, think about it this way...
If you simply have air in the brake lines, your pedal will feel mushy & you have to push it way down. If you pump the pedal it gets hard. For this, you have to bleed your brakes.

If your brake master cylinder is leaking internally, the pedal would feel good & firm when you first step on the brakes. But if you have to hold the brakes (at a red light) the pedal will slowly & smoothly sink to the floor. If this describes it best, you need a new master cylinder.

(It's possible to have both those problems at the same time...)

 

Could also just need an alignment if when you brake the steering wheel shakes a bit.

 

the times i have run into this problem it has been one of: warped rotors, alignment needed and i believe once it was my tire wear.

 

JIM BLAKE i have agreed with most everything you write you seem to be a very knowledgeble person and i respect that however i have to correct you on the statement you made (((((If your brake master cylinder is leaking internally, the pedal would feel good & firm when you first step on the brakes. But if you have to hold the brakes (at a red light) the pedal will slowly & smoothly sink to the floor. If this describes it best, you need a new master cylinder.))) i have driven many cars that people complain about brake pedal and as soon i get in and try to hit the brakes it did not feel good and firm but the pedal goes to floor it has been the master on all occasion ,,i do agree with you however on what you said that brake pedal will fade to floor at stop lites as well

 

Yeah, I probably should have said it like this:
"If the pedal sinks smoothly to the floor, the MC is bad; regardless of whether or not it had to be pumped up at first."

I was trying to describe how to decide whether to try the simpler fix of bleeding. Air vs. bad MC really did feel different from each other if you know what to pay attention to. Probably if a car-owner leaves it go until it gets really bad, it would be like you say. But I think that just means it's got both problems together.

But I still say if the pedal is soft at first, but it can be pumped up & then it holds; that kinda points to a simpler case of air in the lines. If it's soft at first, pumps up, but then sinks; that sounds like both problems together.

The other thing I keep forgetting... A pro mechanic won't be in business long if he insists on trying the simple fixes first. The occasional come-back will do more damage vs. wondering if there was a simpler (cheaper) way. Starting with simpler things makes sense to a DIY'er like me. Some customers just won't understand the difference.

I've seen a few people (here on-line) with the slow-smooth-sinking brake pedal who try bleeding brakes first. Occasionally that fixes it, or at least puts it off for 6 or 8 months. So what I was trying to do was describe how you can decide whether to try simply bleeding.

 

prettysharpladi, Another problem could be your sturt rod bushings going bad, when going down hills and brakeing you will have more of a vibration. which can contubite to warped rotors ( along with over heating ). misty