Misfit2613

Ok so when I bought my ep3 I knew it needed pads, rotors and struts. Well after replacing the rotors and pads after a little bit of stop and go traffic the pedal gets stiff. I can smell my brakes, sometimes see the smoke and my driverside wheel is crazy hot. After a little bit of driving without touching the brakes everything goes back to normal. Soon as I hit the brakes some and build up pressure it does it again. When the caliper is sticking the car is very sluggish and I can literally sit on a hill in neutral and not roll.

It is not pulling to either side. Driverside pad is down to metal within a week or two while the passenger side looks new. I have replaced rotors three times, pads twice, both front calipers twice, both front rubber hoses, brand new slides, everything greased up, brake fluid vacuumed out and replaced by Honda. Almost everyday I have had it in the air trying to figure out what it could be. Over the past couple weeks it has gotten worse. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be awesome. I just want to actually enjoy driving it without worrying when it's gonna start sticking again. I've owned 40+ vehicles and have never had this issue. Anyone else every experienced this?

nsrhonda89

1. Try repositioning your brake pedal switch.
2. Check your sliders and piston. I removed this rubber off my slider, after the pin got stuck.

Misfit2613

The brake pedal switch under the pedal? After removing the rubber piece on your slide it stopped sticking? Remember it's only the driver side that's doing it. I'm so frustrated, pretty much everything is brand new except for the metal lines and the abs module.

Misfit2613

One thing I did notice is when putting the brake pads on the inside pad is a pita to install. It's super tight. I'm not sure if maybe the rust on the caliper bracket would cause it to not move as it should. It's like that on both sides but only driverside sticks. I just ordered my Coilovers and will be buying caliper brackets, new wheel bearings, front lower control arms, ball joints and sway bar end links tomorrow that I'll be installing this weekend.

ezone

Get it hot and dragging.
Immediately jack up the rear wheels and see if the passengers rear is also in a bind.

If drivers front and passengers rear are both dragging, it's likely a master cylinder issue.
Is the master cylinder reservoir cap rubber seal deformed? If it is, that's a clue someone may have got oil in it.


Otherwise, you need to figure out of the one brake is dragging because of a hydraulic system problem or if the caliper is bad mechanically.

Get it hot and dragging, then jack up the wheel and open the bleeder and see if it releases.
If it releases, it's a hydraulic problem and you have more checking that needs done.
If it does not release, then it's a caliper problem.


-----

If it's been severely overheated as you say, it's probably cooked its boot and seal and is shot.....so the caliper should be replaced.
But a replacement will also get ruined if there is an underlying hydraulic problem.

----


Pads that bind in the bracket.... I remove the bracket and take off the stainless clips and grind out the rust buildup, then coat the freshly exposed bare steel with Silicone grease.
Same for the slide pins.
I'm in the rust belt, I do this on almost every brake job I do.

Other people might just grind down an ear of the brake pad so it fits a little looser.

Pic of the rust buildup:




Cooked caliper, boot split open:

Misfit2613

Cool man thanks I'll check that out. From what I've read the ep3 brakes are split front and rear instead of most Hondas being driver front/ passenger rear, driver rear/ passenger front. That's why I haven't replaced the master cylinder because it's only one wheel. Also say there was blockage to the passenger front it would send all the pressure to one side, wouldn't that cause it pull to one side? On the highway when it drags bad I can feel it in the steering wheel and if I hit the brakes it shakes BAD. When jacked up the driver wheel is the only one that seizes up. Sometimes it can barely even be turned by hand. Im buying new caliper brackets tomorrow to see if that fixes it cause it really is hard to slide the pads on and I've never experienced that with any other vehicle.

ezone

The bracket alone won't fix it.

A caliper from Honda comes with the bracket (usually).

Misfit2613

And it does release when the bleeder is cracked. The wheel will spin good. Half the time the car drives great. It's just weird how it pretty much fixes itself after driving without hitting the brake for awhile, or I guess it could be eating the pad until the rotor can spin without drag.

ezone

OK now you're talking.

I'd start at the master, back off the nuts so you can pull the whole master away from the booster.
Did the brake release?


Then crack the lines loose from the master. Did the brake release?

Next (Assuming it has ABS) find the line to that wheel coming out of the ABS unit and crack it loose. Did it relieve the pressure and let the wheel turn?

Then go to the rubber hose at the strut, crack the line loose at the end closest to the caliper. Did the brake let go?

Wherever you find the step that lets the wheel turn again, the blockage is behind whatever you opened up. If the wheel could spin after loosening the outlet line at the ABS pump, the ABS is holding fluid pressure. Got it?





After the dragging brake gets smoking hot, the pads lose their ability to provide friction.



HEY did the rubber hose on the drivers caliper get twisted the last time the caliper was installed?? That can make the brake drag and can also ruin the hose.

Misfit2613

Ok I will be sure to try that. I don't know if you have ever seen an ep3 brake system set up but there are 2 lines going out of the master into the abs module then 4 separate lines coming out of the abs module. One for each caliper. The front lines are a straight shot. The rears go through a proportioning valve. See crappy drawing.

[/URL]

ezone

The system is still designed as "dual-diagonal". If you lost one half of the master cylinder, the car would still have one front and the opposite rear brake working.

Was the drivers brake hose twisted/kinked?

Misfit2613

drove it to my garage while it was sticking. Jacked it up and the driver wheel was the only wheel hard to turn. Took everything apart. Greased all the slides again, grinded off the rust on the caliper bracket where the pads sit in the steel holder. Put it all back together. Bled the brakes, good fluid and pressure out of both sides. Both sides spin freely, pumped the brakes a few times to build pressure and the driver wheel was stuck again.

When taking the hoses off the calipers the passenger side had a good amount of fluid come out and a constant drip. The driverside seemed almost none dry when I popped the hose off. I don't get it, there's plenty of fluid while bleeding.

ezone

Get the brake stuck on again

Then go to the fitting where the rubber hose from the caliper attaches to the steel line from the engine compartment and loosen it.

Does the brake release?
If not--- then the rubber hose is probably the cause of blockage.

nsrhonda89

Maybe the driver side rubber brake hose collapse from the inside if its only doing it on one side.

Misfit2613

I understand a what you guys are saying and I really appreciate the replies but the hoses are two weeks old. I had them off today just to check them out and they are fine. I'm starting to lean towards the abs module being stuck, blocked or contaminated.I have literally replaced almost everything but the steel line and module. Those are the only things left. Im about to burn this thing to the ground if I don't fix it soon lol.

Misfit2613

The electronic abs module has two steel lines going into it from the master cylinder and four coming out. One steel line going to driver front, one going to passenger front and the other two going to the prop valve to the rear brakes. Maybe something is clogging where the driverside line comes out. Dealer wants $1200 for a new one so I guess I'll be going to the junkyard to pull one off of an rsx since there are no ep3's around just to rule that out. I've already put over $300 in brake parts and it's still toing the same exact thing it was doing before I even touched the car.

ezone

Post #9 kind of describes how to diagnose this type of hydraulic problem.

In a nutshell:
Get it to act up
then start at the pressure source (master) and try to relieve the pressure in the system from there. (first loosen nuts and pull it away, and if that did nothing then open the hydraulic lines)

If you cannot relieve the pressure at that point, move down the line (the problem hydraulic circuit that extends outward from the master) to the next connection and open it, see if pressure is relieved.

Continue following the individual circuit until you are able to relieve the pressure.

Whenever you find the connection point in the circuit that relieves the pressure, the problem was immediately before it.

Misfit2613

I found the problem with my brakes!!!!!!

I want to thank everyone who took the time to give thier input, I really appreciate it.

Ok so Today before I left work I pulled my abs fuses just to see what would happen. The brakes felt a lot better than with abs I can tell you that.

Got on the hwy came up to some stop and go traffic and within minutes the brake pedal got rock hard and the brakes started sticking, like bad. While trying to do 65 mph, I put my foot under the brake pedal and lifted up and... Boom. INSTANTLY unsiezed. Built up pressure again and tried it one more time and good to go.

So now I just need to figure out why the pedal isn't returning to where it should.

I'm going to swap the calipers and rotors back out for new ones since these have been extremely hot numerous times, over the course of two weeks and driving 137 miles a day round trip to work.

Now on to the next project. My coilovers are supposed to be here Wednesday. While I have everything apart I figured I would just start replacing stuff. I got new front lower control arms, cv axles, wheel bearings, ball joints, sway bar end links, front caliper brackets, rear rotors and pads. Thinking about going ahead and replacing the clutch while I'm at it, the throw out bearing is kinda noisy.

dwbunks

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but...
I am having the exact same symptoms as the OP on the drivers side caliper, everything aside from the ABS has been checked and/or replaced. I have been banging my head against the car for almost two weeks trying to get to the bottom of this.
I will unhook ABS to test tomorrow morning but I am wary of the pedal not returning and unsure as to what could cause this... any ideas are appreciated!

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Try checking the caliper slide pins?

dwbunks

Yes sliders are usually the first to be checked in these situations.

Calipers were replaced along with pads/rotors. Driver side still heating...
Reman'd caliper had one used, beat slider that WAS sticking which was then serviced properly. Everything moves freely now, yet still getting sticking and incredible heat when having to apply the brakes driving.

All components were swapped from driver side to passenger side, front driver caliper still the only one sticking. Indicates this problem is farther up the system.

I have the exact same symptoms as OP and have replaced and checked everything aside from ABS still.

Slumpertcivic

Did you try lifting up on the brake pedal while it was locking?

dwbunks

Yes with ABS connected the pedal returns to rightful position, without it does not.

Problem in the braided line then?

ezone

braided line should be no different from a solid steel line, its just a flexible line

dwbunks

Does that sound right though that my problem lies there? Drove better without ABS but still not relieving the pressure from the caliper.

Slumpertcivic

ezone

This has to be done in a specific order. OP read what I wrote in post #9.