So ever since i changed my front brakes to dba rotors... my pedal is stiff in the beginning of driving.

Maybe it's cause it's getting colder here? but I dunno

I was told that it's probably the rotor and pad combo.

BUT i still have to ask cause this is annoying me.

Like the pedal is kinda stiff when u first start driving and then if you hit the brakes a few times and heat everything up it starts working like super well... u can drive for like 10 kms and it still may not be all working A ok... it seems to be heat related.? is this normal

or is there air in my lines??

or is my booster intermittently working??? I dunno

But I'd love all of ur input guys...cause I'm starting to doubt myself.

The symptom is consistent so... maybe it's nothing. but plz chime in so i dun't have to keep worrying about this

 

FYI i can always get the car to start braking HARDCORE, after I pump the break pedal a few times and or attempt a couple hard stops it seems to be gripping like a MAD man. It's not time related tho, it seems like the more I try to use the brake the better they become. And when u get in the car in the morning it feels like the car cannot brake worth a DAMN. like it's pathetic, and then eventually they get going..


Anyone had this b4? I cannot see it being the pads as my pedal is literally stiff and u can max the pedal out by pressing it down and there's NO pinch.

Cause when everything's up and goin it'll throw u outta the seat basically. and in the mornings I couldn't get the tires to lock up if my life depended on it. literally

 

k so i parked my car for 1.5hrs... it's 5-6 degrees outside so the brakes were surely cold... and the brakes worked 100% right when i started the car..

So it isn't consistent!!!


Can't be the pad/rotor combo...

gotta be something else??

SOMEONE POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION PLEASE.

 

bleed your brakes.

 

i never cracked open the lines though? should I still do it?

 

again...

 

^^ what is that supposed to mean? do it or not do it?

I guess i should just get the lines flushed and bled professionally?? to ensure everything is working well. then All i have to blame is my rotor/pads?

I dunno guys, I don't know much about brake issues. That's the only problem I never had with my previous car. lol. damnit

 

so if you were me what would you do to try and solve this frigging problem????? Last thing I want is for one day the brakes to not work at all... if you know what I'm saying.

 

bleed the brakes

 

kk got u guys I'll do it net week and post results. thankx

 

did you ever bed the brakes in when you put the rotors on (sounds like you reused the pads)(also what pads are they)

but yeah bleeding the brakes won't hurt, even better flush them to get all new (at least 90% or so) fluid in the system

edit: i just say post#7 , so i would say get it done professionally if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, you gotta be able to stop when you need too

 

Bleed the brakes & use new fluid.
But it's likely the pads are too hard.

 

I have the same rotors as you with EBC Redstuff pads. My car brakes like a champ, even better than a friend's TL with Brembos. (yeah I know the OEM Brembos suck)

I did forget to bleed them when they were replaced, hope to them soon.

 

i reused my pads and sanded them down a lot b4 i put them on... This occurred a week or 2 before i added on the dba rotors. I have adaptive 1 pads from napa... they're like 180 with taxes for front and rear. And the brakes worked amazing with nthem when i did that. I have been using oem rotors, then cheepo ebay rotors and then dba rotors and a lot of switching in between to find the best combo... and I have got it now... it's just this problem won't find a way to fuck off. It kinda just happened on morning.. and hasn't gone away ever since.. it has nothing to do with the parts on the car because nothing had been changed a few days b4 this shit all started hapening.

I thought maybe the rotors,, or w/e... but with dba front and oem reas it was the same, then i changed the rears to ebc and still the same. so it aint pads/rotors. Pads are perfect... quiet, don't fail due to heat, and I have been very happy with them... and then this issue came about. so I cannot blame the pads.

So maybe my brake fluid cap is not sealing and has got water in the system. I am gonna get one of my acura mechanics to do it at his house a full flush. I checked for leaks and theres nothing... SOO either something works intermitently ALLLL the time or, it's something i'm missing.

But i'm gonna start with the flush on next sunday... when I got time. right now I am at work if u can believe it. till 6 every day till sunday

 

it's like one day it crept up on me out of nowhere.... and it's one of those things you may not notice instantly if you are braking slowly like a normal person when you first drive... but if you hit them hard at ALL, then you INSTANTLY notice back pressure in the lines and can feel the pedal hit the END and NO brake pinch. (no occward jolt from stopping as it should be)... then eventually the brakes come back online and it's like the stop MENTALLY hard.. like a BBK so it feels.. so the pads and rotors and calipers work well... but something b4 that is messing things up.

That's where I need the A ZINE intuition guys... PLZ

 

just remember when you switch pads or rotors around, that they still have to mate to each other (even if sanded, or machined)
heres an example, but not the best:



the brakes won't be the most effective until they are fully bedded/matched, (grooves are exagerated, but that's the basic idea)

also sanding the pads two weeks ago just means they just matched the old rotors again and have to do it again to the new rotors

 

also your master cylinder might be going out, once it warms up some it seals, but normally when they crap out they just crap out and always gives a soft pedal unless pumped up, then it will slowly sink to the floor

normally bad master cylinder are caused by lack of brake fluid changes, moisture and depleted additives don't help either

 

k well i dunno how many brake changes this thing has had... it's been serviced through acura its whole life. so it's been well maintained.

so i'm looking at a fluid change and if that does nothing... then a master cylinder?

What about the booster... oh and check valve? i read it can cause a stiff pedal too or something like that.

and the pedal isn't soft... it goes down farther i guess (cause I can max it out) but it is stiff when you compare the pressure you apply in comparison to the amount of force being applied by the brake system. feel like i have no hydraulic assistance and then i pump the brakes a lil or drive and brake hard a few times and wammo it's back online.

FUCK i dun't wanna replace anything unless i am 1000% sure I am right. So hopefully there is a method of isolating the problem someone could tell me so I could do a diagnosis myself and save some $$$. which I desperately need

 

FYI i did about 6-7 front and rotor jobs, switching up pad and rotors combos and I used a clamp to press in the calipers.

Could all of those brake jobs, (me pushing in the caliper every time a lil), hurt the master cylinder or some other component and potentially cause this problem. Cause I keep saying it came out of nowhere. and everything happens for a reason on a car. and I was fiddling with my brakes for like a month and then didn't touch them for a while and then it all of a sudden this happens. So maybe I played a roll in this.???

p.s thank you for all of your quick replies guys

 

i guess I'll have to start cheap and work my way up

 

Looks like all your problems are self induced.

You should have never wait NEVER reused those pads on the new DBA's. Second you should have not; as you say "Sanded them down a Lot". There is NO WAY you could have sanded them down evenly. You said you did a bunch of switching around? You have screwed your pads up so bad by using them on multiple rotors, and sanding them.

While changing your fluid is a good idea it will not fix you problem. You don't have symptoms of air in your lines; in fact you have the exact opposite symptoms.

If you want to fix this problem I would suggest that you take you DBA'a and get them turned (Resurfaced) very lightly (DON"T SAND THEM!) and install BRAND NEW pads, (NOT LIKE NEW, NOT BARLEY USED, NOT SANDED, NOT RE SURFACED pads, BUT BRAND NEW PADS) and bed them in correctly!

 

sorry but ur advice isn't helping dude...

this happened B4 the last set of rotors (which I have now).. so I've changed all that shit and it's not made a difference. and the pads are fine... I sanded the pads down enough to get the metal fresh. And there would be marks on my rotors if they didn't bed right cause I know what that shit looks like. and there are no imperfections on the rotor. rotor surface is flush and shiny.

I bought new pads when i got my new rotors (the ebay crappy ones). cause I reused my old pads and i blamed them for the shitty braking. I bought the new pads for the new rotors and made no difference.

it cannot be the rotor pad combo.

and resurfacing a rotor is pointless it's never as good as new.

I spent 180 on the pads to find out the I COULD HAVE USED MY OEM PADS AND BEEN IN THE SAME PLACE. So don't u think for a second I am gonna spend more money on pointless shyt. so I would have to say u are wrong. And I got the rotors turned so they would be flush, and then put them back on and it was HORRIBLE, brakes overheated instantly.. so Turning a drilled and slotted rotor, again i'd have to say is wrong.

Why are you blaming the pads and rotors anyways, that doesn't change how stiff the pedal is. that changes the effectiveness of brake pedal. And it feels like I got no hydraulic brakes... so rotor/pad cannot made that happen.

My bro's prelude has horrible 2year old rotors and pads, and are shyt and his car still brakes well. so his car is proof that a fully functional brake system will stop you fairly good regardless of ur pad and rotor quality.

You don't get what I am saying. It's like night and day... one minute I can't skid my tires, the next it's works amazing. And it does the changeover instantly when it decides to work. as if you flick a switch basically.

 

something either needs to warm up... or prime before working right.

Maybe water in the lines or something.

like i said tho, I'm gonna get a full flush done and I'm going from there.

I'll put in a new booster, master cylinder and check valves b4 I do the pads and rotors. that's how certain i am

 

so ur gonna do all the expensive stuff that will cost u 5x more than just changing the pads and or rotors? but im gonna say that its either old brake fluid/air in the lines, or the o rings in the master are taking a shit

 

and that's what I have to conclude rajca.

flush the whole system with w/e the best fluid is..?? someone plz tell me lol

see if that works... if not then master cylinder.

But the acura mechanic i know said he's never in all his years changed a master cylinder on a cl or tl.. and 9 years is a long time.

so hopefully with any luck I should be able to solve it with a system flush and bleed. but w/e

the brakes do eventually work, every time... with stunning confidence, it's just a matter of anywhere from 1-5 minutes and however many of stops. so random, yet consistently, if that makes ANY sense hehe.

 

never heard of anyone replacing it either. i got dot 4 in my car, in breaks and trans. some ppl say to strictly use honda brake fluid. i say go for what u can find. as long as its not synthetic

 

non synthetic.. and dot 4 (higher boiling point of 500 degrees) K gotcha.


come to think of it a good way to explain how the pedal feels is almost like there is a strut on the pedal. harder u push the more it backs up sorta. and then that will dicapate and brake begin to come "online"

 

had my 94 accord master go out at 8 years and 70K luckily dealer replaced for free because i had bought it 2 days prior
so it is possible for honda masters to go out

 

x2 on brake fluid


by what you just described it almost sounds like there is a restriction in one of the lines, maybe a collasped hose or a pinched line , idk
also do the brakes seem to release immeddiatly (spelling) or do they kinda lag releaseing

 

the brakes let go instantly so it's not a caliper or slider. i checked the lines.. the whole brake system, and no leaks, nothing pinched. it's internal.. something I cannot see

sorry but what about a check valve??? may that cause something like this

 

fuck I think it's the booster man... cause the pdeal is actually not that stiff it's just not responsive... I can get the ABS to kick in on my first mash of the pedal in the morning... it's just there's no GRAB when you apply the brakes.

You know how the car builds up pressure when you brake and you push harder and it stops MORE..?? well that doesn't happen. I push and get the same GRABBING force and then abs kicks in.

you know how u can use ur toes and make the car rock forward instantly??

well that's gone and then all of a sudden it begins to work like it should.

Does that sound like a booster problem?

 

seriously just take it to your mechanic buddy already and have it properly diagnosed by a professional. All we're doing is speculating.

 

I would go the easier route first and do the fluid. Your fluid might be really toasted that it's got no hydraulic properties anymore(lack of better description)

 

yea you guys are right it's just... I got a family hot tub business with Beachcomer and everyone is going away and I gotta hold the fort down for all next week so I will have absolutely no time to get anything diagnosed.

i will get buddy to flush the system and put new fluid in and I'll go from there.

When everything was working today i went and felt the temp of the master cylinder, booster and brake lines and I can hardly say it had "warmed up". (as if the heat were to make the seals work inside the master cylinder).

better B some shitty fluid... I'm gonna call acura tomorrow and see when my last flush was, just so I can speculate SOME MORE.. but either way I will get it flushed... in front on me.. so i know wtf is what.

I'll shut up now till I actually change something and then i'll post the results.

 

discounts on NEW HOT TUBS for AZINE members

 

if you are local I can do an Acurazine discount.

most ppl do not know hot tubs.

FYI beachcomber is the #1 selling tub in the world. 1 of 3 hot tubs are a beachcomber and there are hundreds of brands globally. So you do the calculations.

Beachcomber is the BMW of Hot tubs. Best for the $, and the cheapest to run (proven by an independent study conducted by the state of California) and are the most reliable.

GTA members PM me if you are interested. I can only sell tubs regionally.

I am Beachcomber Mississauga... on Lakeshore rd E #309

So if you are from Sauga, toronto, oakville, and anywhere near there, we can sell to you.

STOP BY next week and check out my modded CL-S (the S stands for service vehicle HAHAHA) (I'm the service technician usually and I have to run the friggin store for a WEEK. And I can't even sit still for 10 mins usually.)

 

in canada??? cause i see toronto

 

Yes I am the Mississauga, Ontario, Canada DLR.

GTA = Greater Toronto Area (for those who may not know, probably mostly Americans)

We sell all throughout the GTA and Mississauga.

If you are in these areas and are interested, u know what to do.

 

my brake fluid is dark brown actually.. should it be like this? and it looks like there are particles floating in it

 

^change it asap. but damage might have been done already.

it should be clearish.