liquidzorch

Hello. I have a weird problem. Sometimes when braking I have a "soft" pedal, it will start to brake when I push the pedal about half way down, maybe a little less. But sometimes I get a hard pedal, when I press the pedal down just a little I can already feel the car stopping (feels like a new car).

There is no difference in speed, or pumping. I can be going 60mph one day and it brakes like new, and the next day on the same road and speed it is soft. I also tried pumpong the brakes when it is soft to see if it hardens up and it does not, it stays "soft". I feel it brakes better when the pedal is hard, is seems more safe.

I have already re-calibrated the back brake shoes so they are touching the drum. I have machined the drums and discs. The brake pads are fine, good quality, have lasted a long time.

The brake master cylinder is new, I changed it because it had a small leak at the booster. The brakes were the same before and after the change.

It is a 93 civic lx (NO ABS).

Any Ideas?

canakin

I would be interested to know if the "soft pedal" occurs after it has warmed up or been running for awhile. If so, then there could be at least two causes that I see. I presume you did a bench bleed of the master cylinder, installed, then bled the system. However there's a chance some air/water is still in the system?? The water/air in the system create more problems as they heat up and expand (among other things). The second is, what kind of master cylinder did you get? There is a small chance that if it was a low dollar part, the tolerances could be slightly off or imperfect. Again, the heat would expand the bore and allow for some fluid to seep by. Hope this gives you something to work with. Good luck!

liquidzorch

There seems to be no difference when warm or cold. I have noticed more hard pedals when warm than when cold, but that must be because I use it more when it is warm. The master cylinder was a new one from autozone, maybe not the best, but like I said, it did the same thing with the original master cylinder. I have notices that one disc is a little bit warped, so little that I dont feel it in the pedal when braking. I will take it to be turned next week, but Im not sure that will solve the problem.