Limmerz

Sup guys...

Anybody know what could be the cause of my car lagging. It feels heavy and it's not as quick as it used to be. It feels like something's holding it back...i have no clue as to what it is.

I just changed my front brake pads two days ago, and i was thinking maybe they're rubbing or something, but i ain't sure.

The car is definately not "coasting" like normal. When i'm in gear and I let off the gas, it doesn't "coast" like it used to. It decelerates pretty quickly. But when I "coast" in neutral it's just fine. That's why i don't think it's the brakes...but man...it's really starting to piss me off....i know the CL ain't THAT fast of a car...but it's making me feel slow as hell!!!! help!

niedejb

OT...Where in IL are you?

Dont know much about the coasting thing. Are you refering to having the clutch engaged or not?

You dont have the a/c or defrost on do you. Turn off the climate control and see if it goes away.

CLTECH

maybe spark plugs? i dunno....just throwing that out

some1

My 5spd doesn't coast when I take my foot off the pedal...My 5spd Civic didn't either...in fact every standard car I've driven didn't coast when the gas pedal was released. Just my oppinion. Drive an automatic if you want it to coast!!! lol.

Limmerz

Yea....i know that it never really did "coast," but now it's just plain lagging....there's definately some resistance up front somewhere. It feels all restricted .... i'm sure everyone of ya'll would notice it if ya drove my car.....i'm gonna go check it out tomorrow....my only guess now is that one of my front pads are rubbing.....

Limmerz

What's OT? If you were askin me...i'm up in the burbs of chicago. I go to school down in Champaign/Urbana, so that's kinda close to Peoria. I'm also down in Bloomington every once in a while for work...i'm workin for state farm this summer....

niedejb

OT = Off topic

CLBizno

OT: Bloomington, IN?? You ever drive through Lafayette??

In regards to the lagging, i've noticed the same thing the past week right after i got my oil changed....it's since gotten much better, especially when the A/C is off....A/C drains the power SOOOOOOOOOooooooooo bad in my car.....if i'm at a light and somebody revs next to me, i take off then turn off the A/C.....it's like a turbo .........well, not at all, but it's amazing how much lag is caused by having the air on.

Limmerz

I think i found out what was wrong with my car....My pads ARE rubbing against my rotors. That explains the extreme resistence from up front while i'm driving. So either my front rotors are messed up, OR my front calipers are messed up. This sucks balls...i'm taking it to a shop tomorrow. Hopefully they can fix it...my CL has been falling apart as of late....so tempted to get rid of it....(even though i'd buy another CL anyways!)

Ricka220

Drive the car for about 10 min, but first do one very hard stop(to extend brake caliper pistons max travel). After the initial stop, don't touch brakes for the rest of the ride much (use engine braking, and or rear park brake handle braking). After a few minutes, stop and feel the temp of the rim or rotors if they're not too hot. You should be able to tell which brake is dragging.

Easiest way: Jack car, and spin wheels.

Other symptoms of rusty caliper puck:

- Car pulls toward stuck caliper during cold rotor braking, and coast.

_Car pulls toward free caliper during braking with extremely hot rotor due to stuck piston caliper brake fade due to overheat.

When I had a frozen caliper on my accord, I replaced the whole caliper with a rebuilt from Pep Boys Auto Parts for $65. Individual piston and boot with seal would be less, but not worth the trouble of component rebuild.

Do you ever smell cooking brake lining material?

Limmerz

Ricka...I think you got my problem right on the nose. Thanks for replying! There was definately a distinctive burning odor after I stepped out of my car. I always checked the temp. of my rims/rotors after I drove, and BOTH front wheels/rotors were hot as heck. So i'm guessing both are involved?? Is the best way to fix it by replacing the calipers? Is that the problem for sure? I was thinking that my rotors were messed up and needed to be re-grinded or something. And finally...how the heck did this happen???? My brakes were fine (or seemed to be) until this past wednesday when I replaced my front brake pads. After I replaced them is when all this crap started! Have any idea in why this is happening? Again...thanks for your response. It was very helpful....

Limmerz

niedejb

How's it going down in Peoria with your new turbo CL?? Was wondering if you plan on gettin rid of your headers? I tried to PM you but it says you can't receive PM's. Lemme know if you wanna sell em, i'm in the market for em...thanks

niedejb

Keeping the header_ and the intake for now.

Ricka220

The rotors should not be source of the problem. The worst thing that might have happened to the rotors would be warpage due to the friction heat generated by the stuck calipers. Warpage would just be noticed by a pulsing brake pedal during stopping.

What usually happens is that water gets under the boot of the caliper piston. This is why shoot water around the caliper area during cleaning, it is best to drive the car and brake a few times to heat up and evaporate the water. Also when changing pads, the piston boot can be torn when putting the new brake pad into the caliper. When the piston is pushed back into the caliper, the piston boot needs to be properly folded back into the recess to avoid tearing.

Now....since you mentioned that it happened on both sides at the same time, I suspect something closer to the master cylinder causing the fluid lock to the brakes.

Personally, I would pop out a caliper piston and check for rust. Ir there is no rust,(check piston and cylinder) the problem must be upstream of the calipers, meaning somewhere around the master cylinder.

I don't have a manual for my car yet, so I can't see what else Acura has in the system with the antilock braking system tied in. My Accord was probably similar, but it had Honda's first generation antilock systems which had a few flaws.

Sorry I couldn't help much beyond here
Good Luck
Rick

Limmerz

Ricka...

Thanks so much for your responses. They've been very helpful. Here's an update....I've replaced both calipers up in front and today was the first time i've driven it since the weekend. I've been driving around my old old accord, so as soon as I jumped back into my CL, I found that I no longer could tell if it was lagging or not....(cuz the old accord was so freakin slow) the CL felt so fast. But I noticed when I brake hard, the car veers to the left! So I jacked up the car again, and tried spinning my front tires. My left tire spun pretty easily, about 3-4 revolutions easy....but my right tire only spun about 1 if even that. It was noticeably more resistant. I'm pretty sure it isn't because of my rotors....my two front calipers are new....so now I have no idea what could be wrong....why is my right wheel so tight??? Anybody know???

Ricka220

Well, it seems that much of the problem has been resolved by changing the calipers. Don't forget that you are turning a lot of differential and trans mass when turning that wheel even though you are in neutral(one side can act different than the other here). If you can get one full turn without drag, I would let the new calipers and repositioned pads wear in. The pulling might stop. I would be a bit more concerned if it was pulling during driving without braking. I would just make careful observations as long as you don't smell the brake linings, or feel pulling during coast.

Limmerz

Was just wondering....is it okay just to change ONE of the calipers up front and not the other? Would there be any major problems?

Ricka220

That's what I did to my Accord. I just changed the right one. Make sure you bleed the brakes well and purge much of the old fluid out of the system.