I had Acura replace pads and rotors in January '08. Pedal has felt spongier than I like since then. I flushed and bled the brakes out yesterday and pedal still feels spongy, though a little improved. I like a firm pedal, and usually get it when I replace pads and flush/bleed at the same time.

Would the fact that these pads (Hawk HP+) are 6 months old cause this spongy feel? they were driven through the winter. I don't really see how this would cause it, but what do I know. Or is it more likely there is still air in the system? Can anything else contribute to this feel?

 

You may have a swelled brake line. Try swapping in some SS lines. A fairly cheap upgrade.

 

^^ To add to that. You might have developed an air leak somewhere. In lines or master or slave cylinder seals.

 

"Spongy" feeling is typically fluid related... as in either something mechanical or the actual fluid itself. I don't think the pads or rotors would be the issue.

I guess check:

1. piston in the calipers
2. ensure the ABS system is also bled
3. brake lines
4. Master cylinder

etc. etc.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davidnyc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">2. ensure the ABS system is also bled
</TD></TR></TABLE>

David, do you know a procedure of how to do this on an ITR? Thanks!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davidnyc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
1. piston in the calipers
2. ensure the ABS system is also bled
3. brake lines
4. Master cylinder
</TD></TR></TABLE>

This list made me chuckle, its almost the entire braking system.

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davidnyc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"Spongy" feeling is typically fluid related... as in either something mechanical or the actual fluid itself. I don't think the pads or rotors would be the issue.

I guess check:

1. piston in the calipers
2. ensure the ABS system is also bled
3. brake lines
4. Master cylinder

etc. etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I didn't think there was a seperate ABS reservior on the R. I figured it would just bleed out with the system. I did a search and cannot find how you would go about bleeding the ABS. Can anyone shed some light on that?

I have also noticed my ABS seems to kick in earlier under hard braking than in the past. Possibly related?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by citrus3000psi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

This list made me chuckle, its almost the entire braking system.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Yeah, after typing it, I was thinking... that is about everything except the rotors and pads

I took my car to a shop a few years ago the guy who did the work explained it to me.... but I honestly didn't understand much of what he did (something about the lines going into the ABS unit)...all I cared about is that it worked. Before the shop... pedal spongy couldn't even heal-toe, afterwards, back to being linear/hard pedal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davidnyc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
2. ensure the ABS system is also bled
</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by brokenCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

David, do you know a procedure of how to do this on an ITR? Thanks!</TD></TR></TABLE>

A special device is needed to do that. mstewar was having the same problem. He did everything he could, replaced the entire system, rebuilt all the calipers to no avail. The problem was fixed when he brought it to a shop, where they could borrow the device from a partner shop and bled the ABS system.

Here's the thread:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1935052

Quoted from page 2:
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">first they thought the rear calipers were trashed even though I had just rebuilt them because of bad flow of fluid through them, but that didn't solve the problem.. they finally ended up borrowing one of the zillion dollar diagnostic tools from a partner shop and were able to use that to activate the ABS and bleed it.. they said they got a couple large air bubbles out of the ABS pump somehow using the tool and now the pedal feels as good as new..</TD></TR></TABLE>