Tried the search function and found everything from turbo installs to beauty tips...

(92 EG hatch with stock brakes)

Last night the little rubber **** thingy that depresses the sensor for the brake lights broke off the pedal arm. I have no idea why, but I found the plastic part in pieces on my floorboard after noticing my brake lights were not going off. So, I rigged a screw with a couple of bolts in the same hole to depress the sensor appropriately. While working on the thing I depressed the brakes a number of times. I'm sure y'all have noticed the pedal develops a "hard" feel after several pumps when the car is off that always goes away when the car is started and the brake booster kicks in. Well this morning that "hard" pedal feel remained, and there is enough pressure on my brakes to feel noticeable drag.

Any ideas what might have happened? Is my booster going out or did the brakes automatically adjust too tightly somehow? Is there possibly some sort of connection between the brake light sensor and the brake booster?? Not likely, but I thought I'd ask.

Really confused about this one!!

 

Caliper could just be binding. There is a caliper rebuild kit available from honda.

 

I thought that might be it, but when I reached my destination both front wheels were equally hot (noticeably more hot than they should have been). So it appears that both front brakes are dragging. Strange...

Thanks for the fast reply!!!!

edit: I don't know what the symptoms are when a brake booster dies. Could this be what is happening?

 

shouldnt be your calipers, if both wheels are hot. Could be your master cylinder not releasing fully. Master cylinder has 2 seals one for front and one for rear, the one for the front may be lodged, or your proportioning valve is messed up, but to me does not sound like a problem with any of the wheel hardware.

 

This is what it feels like to me, but I didn't know whether that was possible. Is there some way to "help" the master cylinder release pressure? I wonder if I somehow built up too much pressure in the cyclinder while working on my brake pedal?

But, if that's the case then the cylinder is at least releasing partially because the car will roll. The resistance is about like what you would feel if you were resting your foot on the brake pedal... light but noticeable. And the pedal feel continues to be very hard. It hardly depresses more than an inch or 2.

Thanks again for the quick replies! You guys are amazing!

 

Have you checked the brake booster vaccuum lines going to the brake booster. JW

 

A bad brake booster would make it very difficult to engage the brakes, as occurs when the engine is not running.

Here's how to test the brake booster:

 

Awesome!

I think #2 under the "Functional Test" accurately describes what is happening. I have very little pedal play at all, and the pedal definitely does not sink slightly when the engine is started.

Hopefully the check valve is faulty and not the booster!