Hey everyone, I have a 1993 Civic hatch dx and it has barely any brakes. I’ve replaced the master cylinder and the front calipers and lines and bled the brakes. When the car is turned off the pedal is stiff but when I turn it on the pedal goes soft. It will hold the car stopped but when moving it takes a while for it to slow down. And suggestions on what to do/ how to fix

 

Have you checked for vacuum leaks on/in the brake booster?

 

I have not. Would that cause the pedal to be soft and the brakes to not work properly

 

When the booster is working, it greatly reduces the force it takes to push the pedal, which is why it's softer with the car running. Did you bench bleed the master when you replaced it? Brakes are a pretty simple system...soft pedal usually means it needs to be bled. Start by bleeding the rears right corner, then rear left, then front right, then front left. Bleed until you get clear/clean fluid and no air bubbles at each corner.

 

Its been a while since we’ve replaced the MC and I can’t remember if we did bench bleed it. I don’t think we did. If we didn’t are we gonna have to remove it and bench bleed it or can we just bleed the brakes

 

Start with trying to just bleed the brakes. Worst case it costs you some fluid and time. If it's still soft, pull the MC and bench bleed.

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but on our cars (most master cylinders?) you don't NEED to bench bleed them, it just saves time versus doing it all with the master already in the car.

 

I've always looked at it like a pump with two outlets that isn't primed. You may be able to get it bled fully without bench bleeding, but I've always bench bled.

 

definitely gonna try that appreciate the help