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Hey guys,
Got a serious problem here.
When i press the brake pedal when driving, the car stops, but the pedal sinks gradually until it's on the floor !
It's a really weird feeling. When stopping,I feel that the brakes still work, but as i press on the pedal it just gradually sinks. (Even when I'm already stopped)
Then, I release the pedal and press again, and everything's normal again... Until it starts sinking again.
Problem is not there when motor is off.

Any ideas ???

I'm going crazy here
The brake fluid reservoir is almost full, so i'm thinking something sinister and expensive is to blame ?

 
Rep Power: 228

If you have no leaks, then the master cylinder is likely bad and needs to be replaced.

 
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How much ?

 
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When I bought my Si master cylinder I think it was around 80 bucks (and that was brand new). You could probably get one cheaper at a local junkyard. It's a piece of cake to swap out, all you really need is a 10mm line wrench. They'res only 2 bolts holding it in place, can't remember what size they are. Only catch is you gotta bleed the system afterwards

 
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I still have my old master cylinder and it's in good shape and was working great when i removed it from the vehicle. Only reason I replaced it was because I wanted the bigger one from the Si. If you have a PayPal account i'll sell it to ya for 30 bucks.
My car is a 1998 Civic LX (non ABS). The MC's should be the same though, as long as you don't have ABS
PM me if you're interested

 
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Sh*t, I really wish i knew my way around cars a bit more.
Thx for the offer, but i have abs...
I guess I'll have to ask my mechanic to fix it, and pay him a fortune...

Unless there's a really easy DIY...
I'm not completely stupid, I know how to jack a car, change the tires, i changed the radio, i once fixed the rear wiper motor on my odyssey, etc. My point being that I love doing stuff myself, if it's not too hard and relatively well documented.

 
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No problem, dude. Best of luck to ya

 
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i had same problem bad master cylinder on my passenger side so i replaced both for about 20 bucks a piece so 40 bucks CAD total brand new and i took it to a shop and it was just over an hour for labor, i just didn't feel like dealing with bleeding my brake lines in the middle of winter. good luck mate

 
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Yeah, my mech says 75$ for the part and 1 hour labor... I think it's fair...
Thx for the input

 
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75 bucks is alot i would shop around,
charlo check this out, http://shop.ebay.ca/?_from=R40&_trks...All-Categories

 
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lol thnx for the link, however that's not a master cylinder

It is expensive ! I actually shopped around my local junkyards, and found that the lowest price is about 50$.

I'll probably grab a friend and we'll try to change it together lol if my brakes are shot then I'll just have my mech do it right

 
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Hey guys, just a quick question:
My friend says he broke off his bleeder screws when he tried to unscrew them... Is there a good way or a bad way to do it on a Civic ? Or should I just not bleed the brakes after the install of the cylinder?

 
Rep Power: 512

Um. no. If you ever break into the hydraulic portion of your car's braking system, you should bleed your brakes.

If you brake something while bleeding brakes, you're doing it wrong.

 
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That's what I thought
My friend sometimes does things a tad too quick, and thinks only after...
'Nuff said.

Although my mechanic did say something about me needing to torch my bleeders to unscrew them... No idea what he's talking about.

Oh well.

 
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ohh i though you were looking for wheel cylinders lol

 
Rep Power: 512

torch the bleeders..? wtf..?

 
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hahaha

 
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I know, eh ?
I don't know what the hell he was talking about... Perhaps heating them up to make them loose ?
Meh. I'll never know.

 
Rep Power: 512

yea.. don't do that.. lol

Unless someone with better knowledge of the issue at hand can provide insight, i'd say don't do it..

I've never had to torch a brake bleeding screw. just sayin.

 
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The bleed screws shouldn't be on there too terribly tight. IDK if I would reccomend heating them up too hot though....
PB Blaster is your friend!

 
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the bleeder is lubricated with your brake fluid
u torch it u can damage the screw or the tread
i would never torch mines i will try my best to take it out if i ruin the screew i can just replace it but i never had that sort of a problem before

 
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Yeah I'll probably just go the PB Blaster way.
And I'll brag about my success to my friend
I'll keep you guys posted on the replacement