kraftey

So... this has been happening for a while but I only recently decided to stop pretending it wasn't happening. Basically the problem is that when I come to stop and just keep my foot on the brake with the same pressure it will slowly go all the way to the floor until the car starts lurching forward a bit. Then if I apply a bit more pressure to the brakes (at this point the pedal is all the way to the floor) it'll stop for a bit then just continue very very slowly lurching forward. I don't know if it's really that related but it doesn't seem to happen if I'm in neutral, but I've only tested it a few times.

Other than that the brakes feel solid when braking while moving; it only happens when i'm stopped.

I've got some theories but I'm curious if that's happened to anyone before and they know the exact cause.

Eband27

Check if your loosing / leaking breaking fluid. It might be the master brake cylinder/ or brake booster. The braking fluid might leak slowly through the seal that pushes it toward the calipers. I have the same problem on my 1994 integra, mine leaks through the piston in the master cylinder and onto the firewall, inside the cabin. It doesn't bother me that much on my shitbox, but i would fix it if it was on my CL. Actually, i have the same problem on the clutch master also... both masters leaks though the piston :P

An air bubble in the lines wouldn't do that i think.. it would feel like u have no brakes at all.. and then it would catch. But if you have no brake fluid leaks (check under dash, where the brake pedals attaches to the master cylinder), its probably the booster.

Anhedonia

yeah, brake fluid pressure is definetly your issue.. check the lines, see if you can find the leak. if not, bleed your brake lines to remove any possible air bubbles. if that doesnt solve it, id look into the hydraulics as Eband said.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Check your fluid level, could be one of your calipers is leaking also, I had that happen on both my rear calipers

kraftey

Fluid level is fine, definitely well above the min line. It's been doing this for a while, wouldn't the fluid level be lower if the caliper was leaking? I'll hopefully take a closer look at the brake system later today to see if I can spot a leak, thanks for the input.

kraftey

Does $500 for installing a new brake master cylinder sound like even a remotely good deal? I should be able to do it myself without a lot of difficulty, right?

Eband27

Make sure its the break cylinder. Go to a garage, and ask them to check it out. See what they say, come tell us here, and we will confirm or deny. I think a master for 94-97 accord is arround 200$, and not 500. Installing it youself, youll need to bleed the breaking fluid, disconnect pedal... for the brakes, i would do it in a garage, its for ur safety...

Josh99CL

Rear calipers seem to cause problems on our cars. I've had the same thing happen.

kraftey

Yeah there's no leak, we checked all the wheels for any leaking fluid. Also bled the brakes a couple times and made sure there was no air in the lines. I called the acura/honda specialist shop around here and they said it was most likely the master cylinder, but he's the one that quoted $500 for the install. I can order the OEM brake master cylinder for $103.

Any reason why I shouldn't order the master cylinder and try? I'd really like to get this handled quickly.

Why do you need to disconnect the pedal? It seems like there's just a couple lines that go into the master cylinder and once you get the cylinder installed it's just a matter of bleeding the brakes which is fairly straight forward.

kraftey

So just in case anyone runs across this thread in the future, it was the brake master cylinder... I think. After we installed the new master cylinder we noticed brake fluid leaking like crazy from somewhere. It turns out the right front brake line (the stainless steel ones) had the plastic cut open on it on a small spot. Apparantly the plastic is what was keeping the brake fluid in... even though it should go teflon, braided steel, plastic... since I didn't notice the leaking fluid before it was probably the master cylinder but I guess it could have been that brake line all along.

That aside, those brake lines breaking makes me skeptical about how good they really are.

Anhedonia

i plan on upgrading to SS asap

kraftey

The OTHER stainless steel front brake line ripped open today which I only noticed because my brake light was going on whenever I accelerated (signaling low brake fluid). Anyway, the cut on the brake line was hemorrhaging brake fluid so I went and bought another brake line really quick and replaced it.

Magnum SS brake lines. DO NOT BUY THEM.

Josh99CL

Wow, that's retarded. At the very minimum they shouldn't break open or in other words be as durable as regular non wrapped lines. The fact that SS lines ripped open scares me. Are you sure someone didn't puncture it to fuck with you?

kraftey

Well the braided steel isn't ripped open, it was the plastic coating on the outside of the braided steel that is. On both lines there was a mount point right near where the line ripped open. My guess is that bending the lines a little bit constantly at that mount point eventually ripped the plastic. The part that actually holds the fluid in is some sort of thin walled hard plastic so it's easy to believe that broke open too at the same point. For some reason the plastic looks like it stretched, could be the heat of the braided steel from the brake fluid but iono.

Here's where it ripped open


And here's the inside of the line

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

kraftey

Gah, sorry to bring this back.

Does everyone's pedal go to the floor if you push it hard enough? In all the cars I've driven, none of them do that... but mine always has.

Took it to a shop today and they all commented on how mushy my pedal was and it's about 500 times better than it was before I changed my lines back to OEM and replaced the master cylinder. What SHOULD the brake pedal feel like?

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Brake pedal should have some resisitance when you push it down, mine only went to the floor when one of my calipers was leaking, and I lost all brake preasure... twice

Eband27

If u have NO leaks whatsoever. No sweats and no fluid loss. Its internal. You replaced the master cylinder, bled the whole system and replaced the brake fluid by a new one. Maybe there is a small air bubble.. When its going down to the floor, try pumping the brake a few times, and see if it still drops, if it does, then its not air in ur system.

I heard a few storys where the brake booster made the pedal drop to the ground slowly. I can't confirm it, but if u want to research that...

kraftey

Well I figured out why the pedal is feeling "mushy" again. The third brake line burst--passenger rear. So... I only had to get new rear lines right? Closest place that has em is on the east coast so I had to order them. $170 later (!!!!!!!) my brake lines should be here within the week.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

yep, leaking line, that's what I figured, sucks man, I went through it with both my rears, almost died