Felix Chan

I just bought a used 08 Honda Civic. I'm having some concerns over its brake (pedal) and my very limited experiences on car has made it hard for me to judge if the brake (pedal) should behave like this.

I learnt driving with my girlfriend's 07 Toyota Corolla, and I can tell the brake feels completely different. It's harder/firmer and the braking distance is more predictable and reliable. So I did my best to research everything before inspecting this car and test drove it. It feels smooth and quiet, didn't see any leak, nothing weird; (In fact, I did my best to do what Chris Fix told us to do.) but the brake pedal feels completely different. I still bought it since I thought it's just a different braking mechanism.

It still brakes, it can brake hard if I want it to, but it feels soft. I don't know how should I describe it. It's not soft - I have to press the pedal further down to make it brake harder. I didn't need to do this in the Corolla, I just needed to tap on the brake pedal and it will start slowing down. At first I thought every car has its own brake mechanism and this one just feel softer and maybe it's a "foreplay" Honda put in it to smooth in when people step on the brake. However, when you have to brake hard, I have to really press the brake pedal down and it's been hard for me to predict the braking distance. It's starting to give me concerns.

From what I've googled online, apparently all brakes should feels the same, it should feel firm, and even firmer when you press harder. Should I get my car to a mechanics for a check? Did I just bought a lemon?

B serious

iTrader: (1)

lol its not a lemon just because it has a small issue.

all cars need maintenance. when was the braking system last serviced?

What model civic?

Felix Chan

It's a 08 Civic EX automatic. It has all the service records from a Honda dealership.
It was last serviced on 28 Dec back in 2016, It had 79k miles on it. It now has 86k miles on it.
The paperwork the previous owner gave me shows that they did a brake system fluid exchange and replaced rear brake pads. I just checked the brake fluid and it looks fine and is still filled to the proper level.

I've tried pumping the pedal. When the engine is off the pedal feels harder as I pump, but when I start the engine it goes soft, almost too soft and it goes down quite a bit. Pumping wont make it harder.
I'm assuming there's air in the brake system? Since I don't have any tools, best I can do is to wait for the next maintenance and bring it up, so they do the brake fluid exchange and bleed together?

I have had this car for about 1.5 months now and I almost hit the car in front of me twice because of this.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Have the brakes adjusted (if the car has rear drums).

Have someone look at the sliding parts. Are they sliding? Caliper slides and pad ears. It should all move freely. Un-lubed or rusted sliding parts make up a HUGE percentage of spongy/soft pedal issues.

The brake pedal getting softer when you turn the car on is a result of your brake booster providing power assist. Its normal.

Have someone properly service the brakes. If there is still a spongy pedal after all the sliders are properly lubed...it probably has air in the lines.

Make sure they file and lube the pad ears. Not just the caliper slide. And make sure they adjust the rear drums (if it has rear drums).

egsleepercivic

As B serious said, have everything serviced, lubed and bleed

If the pedal doesn't sink to floor when sitting with your foot on the brake, there may not be actually anything wrong

It may just be a different feel that you are used to, know when I drive different cars then I am used to the pedal can have a really different feel

if you go to a shop be careful not to get suckered into a 500-700 brake job

let us know how it goes

Svg21

thisguyaves

That would be your brake booster doing it's job, vaccuum from the engine while it's running is assisting you in pressing the brake master cylinder. You may simply want to adjust the pedal.