My brakes need help.

Recently when braking hard the steering wheel has been shuddering, not uncontrollably but annoyingly. Then I took a trip to the mountains and hit the ABS once coming down a snowy mountain. The brake pedal bucks when the ABS kicks in, I guess.

Now the brake pedals feel like they have massive fade. They feel squishy and weak when I am stopping. I would be scared to rely on them to stop me in an emergency. When I am stopped I can push my foot down harder and harder until the brake pedal is practically on the floor. At that point, if I let up a little, the car begins to move. While I am stopping I have to keep pumping the brakes a bit to keep them firm (a little firm anyways). Feels like they need to be bled badly.

However, if I have the car off and pump the brakes they get tight quick, and stay firm.
So, today I plan on bleeding the brakes and inspecting the hoses. What could be the problem?

 

well have you ever bleed the brakes out and replaced it with new fluid? That could be why when "hot" they fade.
Also the stock rubber lines could be expanding giving you that feeling too?

Your main problem is probably just old parts...

 

Jon,

first bleed your blakes. if it isnt any better pull off the calipers and check your pads. if you replace your pads dont forget to get the rotors turned at the least if not replaced.

 

I have not changed the fluid on this car since I bought it earlier in the year. So there's no telling how old it is (max 11 years). Should I bleed the old fluid all the way out of one the calipers and put new fluid in?
I will bleed them today, check the pads, and look at the rotors with a micrometer if I can find one, plus look at the old brake lines. Maybe (hopefully) it's just the fluid.

 

What you're doing with bleeding and replaceing fluid should fix the soft pedal. The vibrating steering wheel probably indicates warped rotors. If you can get ahold of a dial indicator you can check them. If not, jack the front of the car up and take the wheels off. (Set the emergency brake.) Start the car and put it in gear so the wheels turn. Useing a piece of coat hanger or something similar, hold it so it just touches the side of the rotor. If it rubs all around the rotor is flat, if it skips you need to have the rotors turned.

 

Usually it isn't warped rotors unless you have some really cheap *** ones. It can be worn pads or build up on the rotor, unbalanced tire... numerous things. I wouldn't go change the rotor before checking other things first.

 

Bleeding the brakes means all 4 corners. In your situation that is the only way to completely replace the fluid. My Honda tech flushes the system out with a gravity bleed and then does the standard pump and bleed. A pressure bleeder will also do the job. With a car as old as yours make very sure that all of the rubber lines are Ok-for that matter replace them with stainless stell ones.

 

Sounds like your master cylinder has a broken seal as well.

 

My bet's on you glazed your pads goin down the mountain....i've done it before.

Your pads got too hot and "glazed"; you'll need to take the pads off and scuff them down w/ some sandpaper, then take the rotors off and get them turned.

 

Thanks to all.
I used the icelord manual to test out the brakes (referencing brake system, power brake leak test:

1)with the car off the pedal gets real firm and holds the pressure - leading me to believe there is no leak in the master or wheel cylinders, or the brake lines.

2)when i hold the pedal in and start the car, it slightly sinks, leading me to believe the vacuum unit is ok and the booster and check valve are ok.

3)when i start the car, press in the brakes, then shut the car off, the pedal does NOT become firm, instead it stays soft like when the car is on. That is, it is squishy when the car is on, and if i press the pedal and turn the car off, I can then push the pedal to the floor with constant pressure.

Sounds like I just need to bleed them again - the fluid in the modulator is real clean now, but the fluid in the master is dirty and old. When I bleed the brakes - where is the fluid coming from? The master is what gets low, so I assume it is from that tank. When I was bleeding, the fluid was cleaner looking than what is in the master. And I didn't get much if any air. Oh well, bleed again. So far my hoses all looked ok - they're old, but still pliable.

 

And the correct answer is yours... thanks.

The master cylinder broke a seal when I braked hard, and I'm replacing it Monday. I'm gonna have the dealership do it for me, I got the part for 95$ at Advance (dealer wanted 250$). The dealers will do it but they won't warranty it like they would if I bought the part for them. I'll just cross my fingers.

They say the pads and rotors are fine, but I'm still going to have them resurface the rotors to see if that gets rid of any warpage or deposits from the pads.

On a side note, they flunked me on the state inspection because my front motor mount is cracked or broken. I'm going to replace it with the OEM part rather than poly, so my ride quality doesn't decrease.