Well my Sister-In-Law just got a 87civic 4dr not sure of the model, for $500
I have yet to see the car but, she told me that when she apply's the breaks to stop, it takes alot of effert ( presure ) to slow the car down. She also told me there is like no travel of the break pedel maybe like 2"inch travel...So what I can come up with is that the master cylinder M/C, and or/ the booster is bad, I will look at the car tommorow but , my question is How can I tell it the M/C is bad and or the booster when I take a look at it ?

 

I belive, if the booster is BAD Itle take ALOT of Effort. Im talking like, the brake will feal like a brick. if the MC is bad. Itle go to the floor and it will take a while for it to stop. if It even trys. Before you start replacing stuff.Make sure the Booster is getting vacum. Check the hose for cracks. blah blah blah,

 

It could also be that her rear drums are out.

 

Thanks for the input guys, it's really hard to pin-point a problem without the actually seing the car?
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B2FiNiTY &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It could also be that her rear drums are out. </TD></TR></TABLE> Can you elaborate alittle on why this would make the peddle feel stiff ? I will keep you guys posted

 

My experience is that if the master cylinder is bad your pedal will go to the floor with very little braking going on. I have a rental from autozone so i change it blow it every couple of months. When my booster was bad i could hear it. It was a real bad hiss and when you would sht off the car you could hear all of the vacum escape. I good booster will hold a couple pumps after the car shuits off. mine would be stiff right after the i shut off the car. So i think it is the booster if you have very little brake travel, check for te noise though.

 

well i was able to get in the car and see for my self what was wrong, There is little travel on the break pedel, like only 1 to 2 inchs, very stiff. I did not feel any drag on the breaks when applying gas, it even moves when i put the car in gear if i'm not applying the breaks.
This makes me think the breaks are good because the car will stop after applying the breaks for a long time,and no noise from the drums or disks.
I was also listing for air leaks at the booster, but could not hear anything the fuide level is fine.
My questions now are could it be air in the lines, ? ( but would that not make the pedel feel soft,) What else should i look into.

 

pogiTSI is correct. Based on what you orginally wrote, I believe it is the booster which has gone bad.

 

i'm like 90% it's the booster, i checked the vacum check valve it's good ,it let air out but not in. and the engine dieds if the check valve is removed... i called a auto store they want around $95 with core this sound right !

 

Well Today I figured i was going to take the power booster off and replace, but before I did i bleed the brake fluid, and low and behold the fluid was orange/rust colored, the fluid was dirty, so i flushed it and now it's working again, goes to show you that dirty fluid does not work well and i saved alot of cash and time

 

theres still a problem thow. HOW did it get low??? how did it get air??? It Should never be brown. should be nice and clear, You Probly have rust in ur lines, keep a close look on ur MC. I have the same problem, Bleed the lines, nice and clear, couple days later Brown gunk.

 

The fluid level never got low, and i purposly (&lt; sp) let air in the brake line to see if the power booster piston was stuck , so then i pumped on the brake pedel and it travels to the floor, as to before when there was only like 2 inch of travel on the brake pedel. Then i flushed out the old fluid ( orange rust color ) and it's runing clear fluid . But I will take your advice and flush then in a week to see how bad the lines are rusted from inside,and or to see how good of a job i did in the first flush