raczyk

Hey,

I got a 93 civic cx. Its now my winter beater. I have tried to change the brake pads on it. But when I put in the new brake pads the brake pedal goes flat when the engine is turned on. It is hard when the car if off. I notice on the left front side, that the old brake pad is wearing out unevenly. Also had the brake piston seize on me no that side. Why would the new brake pads make the pedal go flat?

Thanks.

VTEC_Thunder

First off...when the engine isn't running, your brake pedal will always go hard, because your trying to compress the brake fluid without the engine vacuum assisting.

When you first start the engine after doing a set of brakes you must pump the pedal a few times untill it starts to stiffen up. It is possible to put your brake pedal to the floor while the engine is running but you really gotta push that sucker. If the pedal does not stiffen up, you've got a leak somehwere or there is air in the system and you gotta bleed it.

Hope that helps.

And oh, I hope you did the rotors too....you know you can't just put new pads on old rotors, at least not without machining the rotors.

chris_si98

why not?

Okay, first of all.. you're all over the place. Just bring the car to a shop tell them to fix it. Or explain it better so we can understand.

How is your pads wearing un-even? Did you service the sliders at all? If not, do so. You're saying your 'break piston' was seized? I assume you mean the caliper, if so was it replaced?

I don't even know what your trying to describe with a flat brake pedal, does it go all the way to the ground? If so, check your fluid, leaks, rear adjustment, etc.

BTW disc brakes (your fronts) have NOTHING to do with a low brake pedal, they are a floating caliper, and if you dont know what that is, you shouldn't be touching your brakes.

Goodluck

VTEC_Thunder

You'd replace brake pads and use the old rotors without machining them???

chris_si98

can you explain why?

raczyk

Pumping the pedal when the car was on did not help much at all. Yeah I was thinking of bleeding the the brake system too. But if there is air in the system, why would the old brake's work fine?

The caliper was not replaced. I pushed back the caliper piston with some tools. Then pumped it out, lubed it up and pushed it back in. Doing that several times. Seems to work fine. The uneven wear on the brake bad if I remember correctly was that the bottom of the brake pad was more worn out then the top. No I did not service the sliders. I am actually learning all this stuff as I fix my car. Fluids are up to par.

To compound the issue there is some play in the upper arm, when I swivel the tire from left to right. It may be the upper ball joint, as there it lots of scratchy noises coming form the front left suspension, when turning or going over pumps. Reluctantly I may just have to let the mechanic service my car, but I would rather do it myself.

VTEC_Thunder

I assume you would know why you don't put new brake pads on an old un-machined rotor....

You ware the snot out of the new pad and you won't be able to stop too well cause the two surfaces are uneven to eachother. Old rotors are not perfectly flat, as you know, they become grooved and you have to machine them flat when you install new pads.

Also you can't always machine the old rotors cause there are minimal limits to the thickness of the rotors. If they are worn down under a certain thickness, they can't be machined and you need new rotors.

Why am I explaining this? Shouldn't you guys know this?

imported_starboy869

Why not just buy new rotors when a machined one almost cost just as much?


**There isn't a requirement to change to change/machine rotors/drums if there isn't a problem with them. **


BTW: The correct spelling is brake not break.

chris_si98

I was just ****ing with him. lol

Shops charge $40 each rotor to machine, which is a total waste of money, and stupid because most warpage is em-bedded(sp) into the rotor and cannot be taken out with a few thou' of machining.

VTEC_Thunder

The inner pad wareing out more than the outer pad is normal. Was is WAY more worn out or slighty more worn out?

Just make sure you lube the caliper float slides well before you re-assemble. If the slides seize you will ware out one pad quicker than the other.

VTEC_Thunder

I agree, just buy new rotors.

I'm just saying don't use new pads with the old rotors unless they are machined.

Also, thank you for correcting his spelling...LOL...

Was just about to do it myself...

chris_si98

You pushed the caliper piston in with some tools? You're suppose to use compressed air to push the piston out/in. Or there is a grease method, blahblah. if you caliper was actually seized, you should of replaced it.

Anywho, that play in your wheel might be your tie-rod, if you've never done a ball joint or tie-rod I wouldn't recommend doing it by yourself. Get a friend to help. (the tie-rod adj. nut is probably rusted on anyways which will require oxy-acet.)

I would just take it to your mechanic, you can replace parts up the ***, but unless you actually understand how it works and what can cause what, you'll end up spending a lot of money on parts you don't need

raczyk

Yeah Thanks, LOL. Not just car advice I am learning here. Nice.

Yeah baby, a crow bar and a large screw driver. Do not have these fancy tools you are talking about, I had to improvise. Yeah I have working with old cars, everything cars some sort of trick to it. I will get a second opinion, and let you guys know how it goes. I am going to start looking for a new car too. Cause this old civic is starting to be a pain in the ***.

chris_si98

may I ask how you got the piston out of the housing? lol

raczyk

I never said I removed it. I just did a little pump action, so it sticks out, then lube it up. And push it back in, then repeat. It was a quick fix, and had someone helping me.

imported_starboy869

When I changed the front brake pads on my SiR I just used my old rotors. When I changed my rotors out for new HONDA OEM one's the pads still looked almost new. The surface was still ok, just the middle vents were getting too rusted out for me.

I don't even bother with machining rotors anymore. $40-$50ea for the job vs tcc discount for rotors . Not really worth the down time, and have that bit less effecitveness of the rotor over a new OEM one.

Your quick fix is interesting. However I would see about changing both sides out just incase. I really don't mess around with brakes. I would check into Cdn Tire or NAPA rebuilts for pricing.