imported_t_dot_SiR

i hope the topic sounds important enough that many of you guys will check this thread out and leave me some advice and help!

lately, i've bought a 1996 civic si coupe from a guy who's dad owns a shop... after negotiating, we agreed to a term of $6000 cert and etest... and i have repeatedly said i want the car to be safety and everything is done/fix to be ready on the road! at first, that guy try to bump an extra $200, but then i insist on 6000 for the car and come with safety/etest, then he finally agree but the deck will not be included, so i don't mind because safetying was more improtant to me since i want the car ready to be driven!

well, i've pick up the car last tuesday and driven for a few days... at first it was ok, then later when the temperature gets hotter, i realize the brakes is weird especially after 10 mins of drive when the brakes starts to "heat up??"... well the brakes feels like its not effective, like the pedal is spongy and going really close to the floor! so then i did a search on TCC and also talk'd to a few people around TCC forum, and discover it might be the master cylinder, rear cylinder, or some sort of internal leak (which also means the MC might need replacement). well, i did not want to sound like a professional because i'm not, so i took my car back to the shop that safety my car and ask the mechanic to inspect the brakes for me again, he said it is absolutely find and normal! i went on a ride with him and hmmm it looks normal again... but when i was driving it the other day during a hot and traffic jam condition, after 15 mins, my brakes was spongy and going down to near the floor again! so now i'm worried about my brakes (need new MC?)...

now the question is, what should i do now? should i find a mechanic to fully inspect my whole car (just in case that mechanic who safety my car didn't give a damn about my car and his license), or maybe just re-inspect the brakes thoroughly? i do understand there's a fee to inspecting things and/or to safety a car! i don't mind paying the fee as long as its not way too expensive! (perhaps there's a mechanic on this forum who wants to earn some $$ just to inspect my brakes thoroughly/carefully and provide me a report/write-up if anything was not right?) OR should i just bring it to a honda dealership (if no one wants to help me on this in TCC), will honda be able to do such kind of task? like reinspect my car or brakes specifically, and if something is really wrong, will honda be able to write me a report/summary that the brakes is not safetied and I can go sue the mechanic that safety my car in the first place? can someone give me some advices?

thank you!

BengaliBadBoy

The safety is only valid for a certain period of time(cant remember exactly) so get it look at asap. Brakes is a wear item, the mechanic can simply say they were fine when we looked at them.

But get it looked at of your own personal safety and for the others on the road.

imported_JookSingKid

Brakes could just need new fluid...

what is it you want to do?
do you want sue your mechanic or do you want to fix your car?

imported_Bruce Fee

go into a shop and tell them your problem and ask for an estimate.

free inspection.

Renegade_18

if you want i can take a look at everything in ur drive way save u drivin with bad brake and toss me some money for gas and i can tell u wants wrong with them pm if ur interested i'm a second year apprentice i'm not some dude tryin to make some money

Si98

you might have air in your brake lines. a simple bleeding and brake fluid replacement might solve your problem.

HamiltonsIsuzu

dito, sound like air is the culprit

imported2nv

replace your master cyl. you have no air in your system unless you have replaced a part of your hydraulic system.

imported_t_dot_SiR

the problem is, when i bought my car, it was agreed to be include safety, by means the car is safe to be driven, however, shortly after i bought it, the 2nd day i already experienced such problems. so i clear up my errands and bring the car back to the shop, and the mechanic took a drive saying the brakes are good! my point is, if my car is safety, isn't the braking system suppose to be check'd carefully and thoroughly to provide safety? so if anything is wrong, isn't it their responsibility to fix it? first off, IF my brakes really has problems? does that proven their mechanic to make a mistake on testing out the car for safety? secondly, IF the problem is really the MC or the brake bleeding, should the cost be defer to the mechanic/shop/seller? because they were responsible for fixing any necessary problems to make sure its safety and safe driving?

thanks, more inputs would be great!

Younes Si

i just got my safety and E-Test done 6 days ago, because i finally paid off my car and the name under the ownership not being the dealer anymore...anyways it's good for 36 days (the safety)

oh ya, and your not going to sue the mechanic

imported_t_dot_SiR

well, of course i won't be suing him... coz everyone has part responsibility over something... i'm just mad because he never carefully thoroughly inspect my car even i bought it back the 2nd time... like he doesn't even think of the symptoms i told him and he didn't even think of the MC or any internal leaks..... he was just like... all the lines looks fine, the brakes feels fine, and the pads are all good.... that's what pisses me off... come on like its a car, its about someone and other's life too! if something happens, like they wouldn't feel good too, right? and i got the car safety included, so i was suppose to FEEL and GET safetiness! what do i get now? worries and anger (not that angry, but feeling a lil haha)... so what now?

imported_Torrey

Bleed the line, and your problem should go away. It's not a big deal....

The G2 Racer

Check your brake fluid level. Very simple. Did the brakes on my ZJ on Friday, felt like *** after, fluid was low...topped it up and now it's fine.

Check the fluid and bleed the brakes first.

imported_winner007

Check the brake fluid. If it's empty there might be a leak somewhere. Also check the wheel cylinder for leaks. Also bleed all 4 wheels and make sure there is no air inside the system. After u bleed the brakes then try it again. If there is still air maybe your mc is no good.

imported_t_dot_SiR

great advices guys... i'll do the bleed and check the brake fluid this week asap, i'll report on the results... thanks for the inputs

and thanks to greg (renegade) for offering help, looking forward to setup a time with you and meeting up with you!

thanks again =)

grey one

i think you must refresh youre brake fluid, is get old and than is get sponsy wen its get hot

ps sorry for my tereble english( i'm from holland)

imported_t_dot_SiR

yeah, i check'd my brake fluid, its full at max... maybe its dirty? the mc doesn't look like its in bad shape or inside, the pump or whatever looks decent.... i'll take pics... the brakebooster?? could it be that? not sure... how do i inspect these stuff? coz i read in the haynes manual, it says you can do some procedures like car turned off, press brake pedal several times and etc. but i don't quite get the symptoms...

imported_punqster

If the problem did truly come from the garage and you know for sure that the mechanic jipped you off. Then you could tell the Better Business Bureau about him. The only problem (like the others said) is that they are wear parts. Anyone could say that they were crap but meanwhile they abused the hell out of them to try and get new brakes. This goes for some other parts on a vehicle too. You should also see if there was any type of warranty or gaurantee that came with the car when you purchased it (ie. 30 days). If the car came from a dealership lot you could contact OMVIC about the car (but only if it came from a dealership). But the best route I would go is get a second opinion and never use that guy again. Be careful when you bad mouth mechs / garages too because they could be buddies. Otherwise they won't take you seriously.

imported_t_dot_SiR

well, i don't plan to bad mouth that shop or the mechs, just that i want them to know, if a problem did occur and its because of their mistake for not checking over things carefully, all i want is to fix it and a simple apology.. i'm not a stubborn guy who is trying to make things to become its worst. i'm not going to bad mouth or mention which shop or mech at the moment until i know for sure the mc is faulty, if its just brake bleeding it, i won't even bother go bug that shop again... and i doubt mechs would risk their license to jip someone off, so it might just be me out of luck having the mc to be faulty the 2nd/3rd day after buying the car. or maybe it just in need of a brake bleed, let's hope for the best to come!

thanks tho

Buddah

it's your master cylinder...not dirty fluid, not air in the lines...whatever. It's the master cyllinder. A safety is valid for 36 days. Unfortunately, it appears to be an intermittant problem with the master cylinder depending weather conditions. As well, you can't blame your mechanic. Because it's only dependant on weather conditions, there's no way he'd be able to know if there was a problem with the master cylinder. A safety is a basic inspection. If we were to subject the vehicle to all sorts of weather and driving conditions to issue a safety certificate, it would take 2 weeks per safety and that's silly. Even the ministry wouldn't do anything. And you can't contact the better business bureau until the shop rejects fixing the car. If they do not experience the problem then you can't blame em. Just wait for a really really hot day...drive for like an hour and ask them to take it for a drive. See what they say.

Cheers,
Buddah.