Hi everyone, I'm Tiffany and am a long time lurker first time poster

I recently bought a 91 crx si from someone on craigslist, right out of the chute basically the timing belt broke on me which I was told was recently replaced..../sigh.

I got lucky and just had a new tensioner and belt put on with no bent valves or issues and it runs absolutely great.

However I am having somewhat of a brake issue. They work fine but at long stops after a few moments I get a sinking brake pedal. So I looked under the hood to find it is leaking behind the master cylinder...I'm not sure what the part is called so hang with me here...it doesn't appear to be coming from the place where I put the fluid, it is further back and leaking down the black big round thingy thats attached to the "firewall" behind what I think is the booster?
So what I am wondering is there a gasket of some sort that could be causing this? if so can I purchase a new one and replace it? also is it a complicated process to bleed the brakes on this car? my husband swears it has to have some special kit to bleed it right that its not like normal brakes....but I am thinking he's wrong...but then again I don't really know either. Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

replace the master cylinder.

 

Black big round thingy LOL! is the brake booster, unless you've stashed a **** star in your engine bay.

You need to replace your brake master cylinder as stated. Bleeding the brakes is simple. Just like bleeding brakes on any other car.

 

Make sure you bench bleed it

It will come with instructions

Gl easy fix

 

Alrighty thanks everyone for your replies. I know right "LOL" @ me calling it the big black round thingy....wasn't sure what it was honestly. I'll get it replaced asap in the meantime gonna just keep it topped off I just paid to have the timing belt etc fixed so it might be a few weeks, but it's drivable now just leaks so I keep an eye on it.
I was pretty happy about the timing belt though I must brag you all on this forum saved my butt, I read a lot about how they're known for NOT bending valves etc here so each mechanic I spoke with insisted I would have bent valves and possibly even worse issues and wanted a ton of money to even start work on it, I would tell them what I had read and requested they just put it in time and place the belt on and then we would see from there. They pretty much treated me like a moron and said no....I'm a woman so I'm not suppose to know anything about such things!
I found a guy to put it on and in time for 100 dollars with my parts. And guess what?! it was perfect no other damage. So thanks to this forum I saved a lot of money in labor.
However he did tell me after he was done and told me all about how there was no other damages that the only reason he agreed to do it so cheap was he was certain he would end up doing valve/head work on it also and felt bad for me even spending money on just the belt and wanted to cut me a good deal I love the internet!

 

the master usually doesn't leak into the booster. the pedal just gets soft. if they do leak i definitely suggest getting both the booster and master replaced. (if brake fluid leaks into the booster it eats the paint in the booster and causes it to corrode from the inside out). it all depends on how long youd like to own the vehicle. as a side note you can usually feel them going bad way before they leak. i wouldn't be surprised if the problem existed prior to you owning the car. i also wouldnt be surprised if you cant open all 4 bleeders!
also these brake are very easy to bleed. there is even a pretty neat bleeding process you can do with a couple water bottles some water and a couple feet of small vacuum line. it makes it possible to bleed them by yourself!!!
hope this helps!

 

Just make sure upon replacing the master that you fish out the old seal between the booster and master. You don't want to double stack old and new seals in there. Your new master cylinder should come with a new seal.

This is a great site with phenomenal customer service to use for parts: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/catalog.php

 

lol, tiffany you definitely are a female. you sound like one of my female cousins. she would always say "right", like to ask for confirmation after stating any comment.

i assume your in your late 30's or early 40's. this is synonymous with the child of the 80's. yay george michael! this is a sweet and endearing trait.

congratulations with the timing belt fix.
good luck with your car fix. it sounds difficult but youll get it and you seem to be on the right track.
fyi: you will have it much harder than the dumbest, lackluster, young wanna be male mechanic asking for help out there just because your a woman and sound lost.

you did it right on the forums tho. by posting your name is tiffany as the first thing is a good start on the forums. most guys here will not hesitate to answer and help if they know its a female. (just leave out the husband part. lol. youll get more responses). keep it up!

 

My brake pedal would sink and then stay sinked with the brakes locking up. The master cylinder looked brand, new but was actually bad. I replaced mine with a bigger master cylinder and it helped out a lot especially with a 4 disc conversion.