I put this in the tech forum first, but I figure more people here have experience with brake issues...

I put a new left rear caliper in my Civic Si (92) the other day, with new pads for rear. I bled the caliper several time, drove it and bled it again, but I still have a mega long brake pedal. No idea why, everything seems ok, and everything was ok before I put in the caliper, other than my ebrake on that side didn't work. Its been a few days, I checked all 4 calipers for leaks, and re-bled the entire system, problem is still there. I have no idea what is going on, I am wondering if the new rear caliper is faulty, although I doubt this, no leaks, ebrake works fine, brakes actaully work ok, just the pedal has long travel.
Anyone have any ideas? Yes, I searched, alot.
Thanks

 

Compare the appearance of your new caliper to the old one on the same end of the car.

I bought a "reman" left rear years ago and had a hell of a time with, in my case, the e-brake. I looked at them and they're different calipers. Both take the same pad, have the same offset and bolt right up...but they're different.

So check that first. You may have gotten the same scenario I did.

 

Did you line up the nub on the pad's backing plate into a slot on the caliper piston?

 

Yup, numb is inline with the piston, made that mistake before. The caliper is the same. I am really confused about this.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Paul Machan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I put this in the tech forum first, but I figure more people here have experience with brake issues...

I put a new left rear caliper in my Civic Si (92) the other day, with new pads for rear. I bled the caliper several time, drove it and bled it again, but I still have a mega long brake pedal. No idea why, everything seems ok, and everything was ok before I put in the caliper, other than my ebrake on that side didn't work. Its been a few days, I checked all 4 calipers for leaks, and re-bled the entire system, problem is still there. I have no idea what is going on, I am wondering if the new rear caliper is faulty, although I doubt this, no leaks, ebrake works fine, brakes actaully work ok, just the pedal has long travel.
Anyone have any ideas? Yes, I searched, alot.
Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

In my experience only, if the pedal was firm before the swap, and all you did was add the new caliper and you have the pedal travel I'd vote for bleeding it (IE the WHOLE SYSTEM) till it's firm again (if I understand what you mean by long pedal travel is is = to sinking pedal)?

I had what sounds like the same issue when we did my SS lines.

A good flush/bleed only letting the bleed bolt open about half way during bleeding and maintaining pressure was 50% of what cured my soft and sinking pedal.

Besides that, when the ignition is off, and you pump the pedal a few times, does it stay firm and near the top or does it still sink?

I'm no brake expert, just have had some annoying brake issues when hitting the track for DE's., that we eventually solved.

 

maybe you have air at the master cylinder. if you replaced that part you have to bench bleed the master before you start bleeding the calipers.

 

Could also be something strange with the booster. I've seen some weird chit happen when a booster fails on a Honda (just ask Catch 22, and possibly, me)