Ok, I need some direction here...

I've experienced a lot of what I think is called "fading" when my brakes heat up. If I brake from 60 hard, soon after, I'll have difficulty braking. It feels like it's extremely mushy and when I push down on them. I can't express how hard i was pushing and how awful it felt.. I couldn't even lock my wheels if i wanted to. I'll be pushing as hard as i can, and still can't lock my wheels up.. It seems like i'm only working at about 20% of it's capabilities, but of course when they cool down they work a lot better.

The other night I braked hard just to check out my brakes and smoke came out of my tire area, i was going about 60. It wasn't rubber smoke, as i was careful not to lock up my wheels, but I think it's the gases from the pad? In any case... I need a solution. I've come up with a few things i think it might be... Is it the pads(Hawk HPS 2K miles), rotors (gases not able to escape), fluid (getting too hot? need flushing..higher dot rating), brake lines (rubber giving when hot?).

My setup is stock besides Hawk Performance HPS pads and a little refill with dot5 fluid.. I know it could be a whole combination of things i need to upgrade... but this mushy feeling can't be normal.

any help would be great

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jwyoung &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... and a little refill with dot5 fluid...</TD></TR></TABLE>DOT 5 silicone fluid? How did you assure all the DOT 3/4 fluid was removed. DOT 5 is seriously not compatible. I've also heard it's not really compatible with the rubber parts Honda uses. Did you replace all that with DOT 5 compatible components?

Finally, DOT 5 doesn't absorb water, so the least bit of moisture will boil. That's why a lot of DOT 5 users will flush their brakes before each race.

DOT 5.1 is a whole different story; it's poly-glycol just like DOT 3 or 4.

 

i maybe mistaken.. it could be 5.1 like you said, i can check. Does refilling just a little of 5.1 affect it?

 

If you're sure it's 5.1, then you're OK. Specific brand & type of fluid you used??? In that case maybe it's just old & needs to be flushed with fresh so the boiling point is back up where it belongs.

If it's DOT-5 then you're screwed. Well, maybe flush really thoroughly with 3 or 4, but I can't see from here whether you've damaged your hoses or piston seals...

 

yah i'm thinkin of changing the fluids completely.. but i'll wait til i get ss lines. I dont' have the fluid on me.. it's back at home .. i'll post when i find out.. thanks a lot.. i still may need your help