Brakes doing wierd things
 

I've got a 2004 Honda Civic coupe with 89000 plus miles on. Went on deployment and had it shipped, was in storage for three months. Came back to it, and the brakes 'slip' sometimes (brakes still work, i just have to press down more than I remember). I've looked at the brakes themselves, seem to be okay (rotors aren't broken or cracked, brakes aren't worn down hideously). A friend of mine thinks I'm being paranoid, but the guy I bought the car from sold it to me with aftermarket brake pads and three of the four rotors cracked, and my brakes going out unexpectedly at sixty on the freeway isn't an experience I want to repeat.

So: Is 'slipping' this normal, and if so, how do I fix it? Thanks.

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

well if brake pedal is pushing down further, it could be the start of a bad master cylinder. is brake fluid leaking anywhere? maybe bleed the system first, if it doesnt improve then its possibly the master cylinder going out.

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

Could also be a bad vacuum line at the brake booster, or bad booster.

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

i am having the same problem, i will be driving and my brake pedal is fine then the next time i go to stop and i press the pedal and all of a sudden it drops. now this happens (the pedal dropping) for about 20 mins. then all of a sudden the pedal goes back to normal. could this be sign of my master cylinder going and are there any test i can perform to make sure it is not a vacuum leak. thanks for any help.

i have a 2002 honda civic ex 103900 miles on it

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

well the only thing that would cause the pedal to drop lower than normal is a bad master cylinder or a leaky brake line. all of which can lead to sudden brake failure and no brakes at all to stop the car if you let it go without fixing. if you dont see anything dripping, and the brake fluid is full, i bet its master cylinder. bad booster should not cause the pedal to sink. it will just require more pressure/effort to push the pedal and stop.

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

ok so i changed the mc and benched bleed it and i bleed my brake calipers the back and front brakes i also adjusted the back shoes and i still have a low pedal. i went to all data and they told me to bleed the brakes by front calipers firsts then back, i did it the way they said and i still have a spongy low brake pedal. Could it be that i have air in the abs modulator and if so what a good way to bleed that. thanks for any help.

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

dealer. no easy way to bleed ABS unit

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

is there any way to bleed it and thanks for the reply

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

try a gravity bleed. takes all day but almost impossible to mess up. open one side at a time and put a tube on the valve, let it drain while refilling the master cylinder. do not let it get to MIN. once you see no more old fluid coming out, close the valve and move to the next side. the bleeding order for 01-05 civic is below: if you have a different year, you may need to double check that.

1. front left
2. front right
3. rear right
4. rear left

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

gearbox so i should not worry about bleeding the abs just do the gravity bleed

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

yeah see if that works. ive never heard of needing to bleed the abs unit. but if you did manage to get air in the abs modulator, youre pretty much screwed. maybe this can help

http://www.aa1car.com/library/abs_bleeding.htm

http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/Arti...s_systems.aspx

Re: Brakes doing wierd things
 

ok wow after further investigating found out that my driver side caliper was bad and that was making my pedal spongy. after changing the driver side and passenger side calipers and bleeding the breaks because all the air went to the back driver side my pedal is a full and strong pedal . i bleed the breaks the way gear box said and all is good now thanks for the help gear.