I am helping my son with his 91 civic si hatch, that was his high school car, and will likely never be sold. The car normally doesn't get much use, gets driven a little perhaps once every 2 weeks, but runs great.
On a 3 lane with extra left turn lane, a car came entered from a side street on the right, to the left turn lane at speed, and I had to stomp the brake to avoid a crash. The brake booster has made a hissing sound audible from below dash, and stopped working by now. Apparently, the only new boosters available are cheap China stuff, and some of the remanufacturer brands do not have a good reputation.
Do any of you have experience with brake booster replacement, and can recommend some that are at least O.K.?

I read a bit up on it, and some of the reman brands seem to be pure junk. I am a long time member active of a German marque car forum, but know little about Honda, and could really use some pointers.
Cheers

 

Are you sure a new OEM brake booster isn't available? I see it available but you never know if they cancel the order.

I don't think a remanned brake booster can be that bad.

And are you sure it's the brake booster that needs replacement? Could just be a check valve or the MC leaking into the booster.

When you change the booster, make sure you check the piston gap to the MC. OEM will be right on, but not if it's a different model.

There's also booster deletes available, I recommend the ones that will also change the brake pedal linkage location.

test it yourself. http://www.norcalcrx.org/tyson/pics/braketest.jpg

 

Appreciate the reply. For front nichirin brake hoses, and NT master cyl (showed instock, but wasn't available), brake power booster, another master cyl, and rear brake hoses (best I could find was raybestos), I had to use four different online sellers. I am getting the 46-SE0-003 oe check valve, the 2 hoses between booster, check valve, and manifold look ok, but i am wondering whether I should have gotten them as well. They are fairly inexpensive, but the only one I saw was check valve to manifold. Aside from the hissing sound from under dash, and under the hood, the pedal would be hard and high, and the revs would go up when hitting the brake pedal. When all the parts arrived, I'll try the new check valve first.
Thanks

 

I followed Tyson's advice and to see whether it was just a bad check valve, I installed a new OEM first, but the car still does the same thing. When I hit the brake pedal, the revs go up 5 - 700 rpm. The first time this happened, I drove on a very busy Venture Blvd., and when slowing down for a light, braking was bad with revs going up at the same time.A few times at red traffic lights, I actually quickly moved into the left turn lane, because I was afraid not to be able to come to a halt behind the car stopped im my lane. Pretty scary.
That time brake fluid was too low, and after adding fluid, the car drove and braked normal / well again. About 2 weeks later, I am 10 minutes or so in a long stop and go line at the In N Out drive through, and the brake / revs are starting up again. I was still a car length before the one way with pass side curb, and managed to get out of the line into the parking. The brake pedal was hard an high up ever since.
Anyhow, I have front Nichirin, and rear beck-arnley brake lines, the reman Tom automotive (via Amazon) brake booster looks really good (like new, i keep my fingers crossed), and the new master cyl with reservoir and cap. autohausaz had shown OE NT in stock, but I got a Taiwan 'Sanyco' instead. Usually, Taiwan made is pretty decent.
The lines booster to check valve, and from there to intake, I couldn't find anywhere, zere OEM and not even aftermarket. Only used on ebay, and they looked worse than the original on the car. I know a bit about older Mercedes, but revs going up when pushing brake pedal (on already bad brakes) has me stumped.
Are there any additional parts I could be missing?

 

yeah the aftermarket ones are hit and miss. while i like to order a lot online. id goto your local parts store and get one with a warranty their. you will pay more but if it is junk from the beginning or a little down the road you and always get another. yeah your out the time for replacing it but eventually you will get a decent one. i went through 3 aftermarket starters before i got on that lasted. good luck

 

I am a 19 year contributor and admin of a 600k Euro car forum, and familiar with those cars, but not Honda. Aftermarket, autohausaz, rock, FCP, I have been buying OEM or OE parts from for more than a decade. When in doubt, amazon has fairly generous return policies as well. I read many horror stories about reman brake boosters, my daughter in law on one of her cars, the weekend/sunny weather Miata got a reman that arrived rusty and not even painted. The replacement looked only a little better, but it works. The parts came from 4 online sources, and the Honda specific nearby took the longest time to arrive. Go figure.
The amazon bought (partsflow / tom's autoparts) offered a 1 year warranty, and looks literally new. The parts are being installed this week, and I'll leave a heads up on booster and everything else.
The 91 civic si hatch was my sons first car, and even though it's rarely driven, I don't think he'll never sell it. I am used to German cars, of similar vintage, and all the extra stuff they had to install to pass US emission, and was surprised how easy the civic passed after just an oil change. Obviously, Honda designed an excellent engine.
For no longer available = NLA Honda parts, are there decent aftermarket sources? The hoses from booster to check valve, and valve to intake I couldn't find anywhere. I guess using same size quality hoses cut to 'fit' will have to do.
Cheers

 

Measured old booster to brake pedal linkage first, front and rear brake lines, new brake master and new looking booster installed brake fluid flushed, proper bleeding, and all works well. I was sceptical of the amazon prime for $70 bought booster, but can tell no difference in function / when old equipment still worked. Happy camper.
I paid my mechanic buddy extra to go through the car while on the lift, aside from new shocks, the front bushings are not gone, but look a bit tired. Eventually will do axles front and rear, and some bushings. All 4 rubber boots are open.
Cheers

Question: Am I even posting in the right section for a 91 civic si hatchback?

 

​​​​​​​This is about as much traffic as this site gets now. Should be no surprise to someone with 19 years of contributor and admin of other forums.

 

Post some more pictures of the car and your progress.

 

The reman brake boosters are definitely hit or miss. I bought one for my '89 from Rockauto and it came with a 6 month warranty... It started leaking vacuum at 7 months. Lol. No power brakes for me anymore.