im gona try to explain this as best as i can. a month ago i bought a 98 accord ex with 127k. the brakes stopped fine, on the dime( for stock brakes anyway!) but after my 3rd week of having the car i brought it to my mechanic for inspection. after he was done on the dyno, i noticed my ABS light was on. it wasnt until a few days latre i noticed that my brakes werent stoping as well as they did b4 i brought it for an inspection. at first i didnt pay much attention, and i thought maybe i just got to used to to the pedal. but now, a week later i can say somehting is wrong. when i first got the car as soon as i lay my foot on the pedal, the pads would grips the rotors great. and even if i put more just a little pressure i can sometimes find my face flying towards the steering wheel. now when i begin to apply pressure i notice that i have to apply just a little more pressure to the pedal. it kinda feels like i have to press harder to stop. the pedal is tight still and i know that there is NO air in the lines. if i just tap the pedal i feel it griping to the rotor. when i go to stop i now have to press the pedal a little harder to stop. could the mechanic have broken somehting in the braking system? could this be a power booster. its got mostly highway miles the car, so i dont think it should be having any booster problems yet. i appriciate the help you can give me or tell me wwhat you guys think. thanks.
this is now pissing me off, cuz i had a never endin problem with the brakin sytem with my 93 civic so thats why i got rid of it and now this....
98 accord EX 5 spd.

 

this can occur rather easily if the caliper was removed for any reason whatsoever...it takes a few dozen stops before the caliper readjusts to the travel of the pads.... when I replaced my brake pads they also did the same thing at first because they were not worn in yet.

It could possibly be a power brake booster as well, as it is hard as @#$@ to get the brakes in our cars to work w/o the power booster.

Take a look in your haynes manual on the ways to test the power booster.....if I recall it's stuff like press the brake down 3-4 times while the engine is off, the pedal travel should decrease with each stroke and become firmer with each stroke....blah blah

..wow that sounds *ehem*

Anyhow, good luck to you!

 

k, i tryed the test and the pedal sinks when ethe car starts. soo the booster is good.maybe i got used to the feel of the pedal, ehh dunno, im not gona worry bout it, @!#$% it.

 

are the brakes dragging?

 

Sounds like your master cylinder might have gone bad... Might want to replace it. Also check your calipers for leaking at the seals... that could also be a reason...

 

actually after re-reading your post, try checking for an internal MC leak.

w/ the car on, step on the pedal w/ moderate to heavy pressure, and hold the application of pressure. See if the pedal sinks, if it does, you could have a leak like me.

also, on a hot hot day, try it w/ the car off and see if it sinks.

 

ya know something, its funny you mentioned on a hot day. iv noticed difference on a hot day.... just thought it me imagining it. but thanks for every ones help. i will check the MC.

how far down you talking about the pedal sinking??

 

Bleed your brakes and see if that solves the problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SIMATIC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... how far down you talking about the pedal sinking??</TD></TR></TABLE>
When my MC leaked, most of the time it would feel OK. But sometimes when I'm sitting at a red light with light pressure on the pedal, it would slowly & smoothly sink all the way to the floor.

If you have air in the lines it will just feel mushy immediately when you first press the pedal.

 

thanks for the help, i will bleed it n we'll see what happens

 

hey jimblake, i am having the exact same problem with my crx on the brake pedal fading at the stop light. What did you do to fix the problem? i was goin to just replace the master cylinder and go from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

 

I bled my brakes a couple times just to convince myself that I didn't have air in the lines, and the fluid was fresh. Each time that seemed to work, but it came back after a month or 2.

Replacing my master cylinder fixed it for good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SIMATIC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ya know something, its funny you mentioned on a hot day. iv noticed difference on a hot day.... just thought it me imagining it. but thanks for every ones help. i will check the MC.

how far down you talking about the pedal sinking??</TD></TR></TABLE>

im thinking that if its an internal leak from one of the seals, a hot day increases the sinking feeling. At least it did to me. If it sinks at all, it probably is going bad. Normally you step on it hard and the brakes will reach a limit. If it continues to sink if you hold pressure at that point, then there is an internal leak and the MC is bad.