With my car torn down in mad preparation for the next event, the top of my "to do" list is to fix my brakes. Some of you may remember a post several months back when I was trying to figure out if I even had a brake problem. The CRX was new to me, my previous racing experience was in an ITR, and I couldn't tell if I was just underwhelmed with the CRX's braking ability. Well, following the last event where my rex was braking like a champ (but bending my pad backing plates in the process), I drove the car on and off the trailer with no brake issues. The car then sat in my garage for a good month, untouched. When I got back in to load it on the trailer, the brake pedal easily went all the way to the floor with little or no resistance, and zero braking force. I pumped it a few dozen times...nothing. Maybe it's a fluke that my brakes didn't feel too great before, or maybe this is a continuation of an underlying problem. Either way, I gotta fix it.

If I told you that my MC fluid level was low (down 1-2" from race day), there was no fluid on the garage floor, the pads had plenty of material left on them, and none of the brake lines are leaking, what would be on the list of things that could fail and cause this? I'm planning on replacing the MC since they're relatively cheap. I'm also planning to replace the brake lines, but I don't think that's the root of this problem. My fear is that my MC may have dumped it's brake fluid into the booster, which can sometimes destroy the booster in older ('88) cars. Boosters aren't cheap, and while I can find plenty of them used, there's no way to know for sure if a used booster is 100%. What else could have caused this that I'm not considering? I just find it strange that the change happened while the car was sitting, and I didn't notice anything funny at all for an entire day of lapping in the AZ heat.

I want to make sure I address everything, since I dont want to miss the Dec 6-7th event at AMP because the lines/MC/booster weren't the problem.

 

Was the fluid down when you put the car on the trailor after the race? Or did it just go down while in the garage?


Rob

 

i had the leaking into the booster happen to me..

Start the car. and depress the peddle if its possible.. If you hear a rush of air then the booster is shot!
I got a replacement for $100... OUCH! i suppose you could try ebay if your feeling lucky

 

id agree. helms has a good brake booster diagnosis guide.

also check rear wheel cylinders, remove drum and inspect for leaks inside.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rjardy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Was the fluid down when you put the car on the trailor after the race? Or did it just go down while in the garage?
Rob</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wish I knew, but I didn't look. When I loaded/unloaded it after that event, I had no idea anything was wrong, and I usually don't bleed or replace fluids that early after an event so it wasn't unusual that it sat for a month before I got around to looking it over.

As for the rear cylinders, that's a good point. I forgot to mention that both rear cylinders are 1 month old and are not leaking. The rear drums were also properly adjusted and there's plenty of shoe left.

Where should I hear this rush of air with the booster? I remember hearing something like that. I know the basic testing parameters for the booster from helms, but I don't have all of the proper equipment. It may be more cost effective to replace it with a cheap used one and if the problem gets better or goes away I can replace it with a new one.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

hmm no tools needed to do basic test of booster.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm no tools needed to do basic test of booster.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No? Maybe I'm thinking of something else. I have the Helms at home on my computer and I'm at work right now so I can't reference it. I did the pedal test of holding pressure with the car on/off in any combo I could think of and it was fine way back when (fine meaning it did what it was supposed to do, whatever that was...I don't recall). However, the pedal now goes to the floor in all cases, motor on or off. I thought there was a way to test the naked booster out of the car, but maybe I'm thinking of something else.

Is there any way I could pull the booster apart? The fluid had to go somewhere, no?

 

when it comes to brakes, i would not skimp. That defintaly sounds like a booster. Even if it turns out it wasn't, is a new booster and MC a bad thing (can't cost more than $150 combined no?)?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zc911 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when it comes to brakes, i would not skimp. That defintaly sounds like a booster. Even if it turns out it wasn't, is a new booster and MC a bad thing (can't cost more than $150 combined no?)?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, yea, but no sense in replacing something that's working fine just because I can't test it. I found new MC's for $70 shipped, and new boosters for $150 + shipping. If anyone knows of better prices than these, please share

 

Reman master is $30 in my area napa.

As for the booster.. I would buy a new one.. Not skimp on an old one.. Why ? because its a MASSIVE JOB! (not really) but its a **** job. Your on your back and fighting it the whole time... I would only want to do it once!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Want2race &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Reman master is $30 in my area napa.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Damn, is that with a core deposit I assume? That's cheaper than I have seen the rebuild kits!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As for the booster.. I would buy a new one.. Not skimp on an old one.. Why ? because its a MASSIVE JOB! (not really) but its a **** job. Your on your back and fighting it the whole time... I would only want to do it once!
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree with you that the final booster should (and will) be a new one. However, at my stage of financial anti-bliss I would rather spend an extra half day installing a used booster along with the other new parts just to see if all the problems go away. If it does, I'll drop the $147 for the new booster (unless someone knows of a better deal). Hell, I guess I'll buy a new vacuum line and check valve too since these are 15 year old vacuum lines.

 

Just curious, you said you bent the backing plates? I did that a few years ago in my '87 Golf, and could never figure out what the hell the cause of it was, but I know I was EXTREMELY hard on them. Is that it, just hard use?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sscguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just curious, you said you bent the backing plates? I did that a few years ago in my '87 Golf, and could never figure out what the hell the cause of it was, but I know I was EXTREMELY hard on them. Is that it, just hard use?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Some info on that here:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=660859