Gen1 brake booster checkvalve master cylinder (long)
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From: Chicagoland, IL, U.S.A.
Gen1 brake booster checkvalve master cylinder (long)
Just throwing the keywords up there..
Some time ago, my brake pedal started to want for me to push it down to the floor to get any braking at all and then a little later... no brakes at all.
Followed the Haynes instructions for checking to make sure the brakes were tight and they did with the car off but not the car on.
Bled the brakes at each caliper, nothing changed.
Replaced the master cylinder, no pedal pressure at all with the car running or not. Kind of a hollow-sounding "hooo" noise every time brake pedal was depressed more than half-way.
Took master cylinder off, bench-bled it, reinstalled it... pedal has a good firm feel to it with the car off but goes right to the floor with the car on.
Since the brake booster removal/install is lengthy and actual failure is quite rare, I'd like to hear any other alternatives.
I searched thru dozens of pages of threads and found several good ones:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1293570
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=603839
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=558237
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=285418
It seems that it could be, especially according to this post in the last thread linked,
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shawnhayes »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyway. I have not had a check valve on a Honda go bad, but I have had one go bad on a Ford, and this is not the symptoms. A check valve going bad will cause loss of vacuum after you turn the car off. If you have one brake pedal pressure while the car is running, and if you turn the car off, you then have a different pedal pressure, then this could be the check valve.
I think you probably have a bad booster, though. That's what it sounds like to me. If you are having erratic idle when you depress the pedal, it's probably leaking. Sorry. I hope I'm wrong and it is the check valve. Good luck.
Shawn</TD></TR></TABLE>
I do not have an erratic idle when I press the brakes, the idle is not affected by me pressing the pedal down to the floor. As noted above, however, the brake pressure is very very different between when the engine is on and when it's not.
Is there any way to check the checkvalve? The checkvalve will take 30 seconds to replace, if that, but I want to make sure that I won't be doing it for nothing.
The other problem with replacing this valve/hose is that the car is now over 15 years old and Acura dealers do not hold inventory for cars older than 1991/1992... apparently. Guy at NAPA told me it's a dealer-only item. Guy at Auto Zone just looked at me with a blank stare... had that whole deer-in-headlights thing going on. Is there a place online that will have NOS (New Old Stock) for 1st gen Integras/older Civics or do you suppose I could just take a checkvalve from any other Honda product so long as it's the same 3/8" size as the hose it connects to?
Car does not have ABS.
Some time ago, my brake pedal started to want for me to push it down to the floor to get any braking at all and then a little later... no brakes at all.
Followed the Haynes instructions for checking to make sure the brakes were tight and they did with the car off but not the car on.
Bled the brakes at each caliper, nothing changed.
Replaced the master cylinder, no pedal pressure at all with the car running or not. Kind of a hollow-sounding "hooo" noise every time brake pedal was depressed more than half-way.
Took master cylinder off, bench-bled it, reinstalled it... pedal has a good firm feel to it with the car off but goes right to the floor with the car on.
Since the brake booster removal/install is lengthy and actual failure is quite rare, I'd like to hear any other alternatives.
I searched thru dozens of pages of threads and found several good ones:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1293570
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=603839
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=558237
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=285418
It seems that it could be, especially according to this post in the last thread linked,
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shawnhayes »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyway. I have not had a check valve on a Honda go bad, but I have had one go bad on a Ford, and this is not the symptoms. A check valve going bad will cause loss of vacuum after you turn the car off. If you have one brake pedal pressure while the car is running, and if you turn the car off, you then have a different pedal pressure, then this could be the check valve.
I think you probably have a bad booster, though. That's what it sounds like to me. If you are having erratic idle when you depress the pedal, it's probably leaking. Sorry. I hope I'm wrong and it is the check valve. Good luck.
Shawn</TD></TR></TABLE>
I do not have an erratic idle when I press the brakes, the idle is not affected by me pressing the pedal down to the floor. As noted above, however, the brake pressure is very very different between when the engine is on and when it's not.
Is there any way to check the checkvalve? The checkvalve will take 30 seconds to replace, if that, but I want to make sure that I won't be doing it for nothing.
The other problem with replacing this valve/hose is that the car is now over 15 years old and Acura dealers do not hold inventory for cars older than 1991/1992... apparently. Guy at NAPA told me it's a dealer-only item. Guy at Auto Zone just looked at me with a blank stare... had that whole deer-in-headlights thing going on. Is there a place online that will have NOS (New Old Stock) for 1st gen Integras/older Civics or do you suppose I could just take a checkvalve from any other Honda product so long as it's the same 3/8" size as the hose it connects to?
Car does not have ABS.
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