imported_94EG6HB

Here's the deal..

94 civic cx hatch disc front/drum rear...

Honda Mechanic friend and I serviced all the brakes on the civic.

Lines and fluids were replaced a couple years back and appear fine.

Sometimes as of late but not all the time my brake pedal is mushy and to the floor.

Needs to be pumped to stop.

Sometimes not.

No rhyme or reason..

All the brakes are within service limits with no signs of leaking anywhere.

Bad MC??

Bad Booster?

Bad Fluid?

Any ideas..

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

bad booster just gives you hard pedal feel... it literally feels like you're braking with your foot directly. you'd know what I mean if you felt it.

bad MC could manifest itself in this manner... but it would be constant, and NOT occasional.

fluid should be fine... 'bad' fluid is wet fluid, and it would just boil earlier than good fluid. that being said, you are describing the feeling of boiling fluid. So, does this mushy pedal occur after prolongued hard driving? or driving in hilly areas, or high-speed city driving? have you looked at and felt the reservoir when this happens? Is the fluid boiling? Maybe it's time to get the Ford SVT Focus fluid... it's good to 450 or 500 degrees.

imported_94EG6HB

Today I had mushy pedal from startup..

I drove normally for a while still mushy

Seemed to return to normal for a bit.

Then when mushy again...

Parked..

Returned to vehicle pedal mushy.

Gave her the old pump up routine.

Pedal feels normal, for now

Looked under the footwell on the inner firewall no leaks there..

Fluid is 2 years old with about 60K annuallly..

No visible leaking in the engine compartment.

Admittedly my brake fluid is darkish more than light and prolly due.

But would it cause this symptom?

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

yeah, anytime I'm faced with a mushy pedal, I start with a good flush and bleed. it only costs $6 for a liter of brake fluid... so that's a good place to start. after the bleeding, if the mushy pedal continues, I'd look at leaking seals in the wheel cylinders and calipers.

the other possibility is that the rear shoes are binding out of alignment, so you set you ebrake, and then after that the shoes don't fall into adjustment and so on....

so start with the flush and bleed, and see how that goes.

imported_gatherer

I'd guess back shoes not aligning properly. I had the same sort of feeling and it was after I roasted the rear brakes ... I went back there manually adjusted them and all is fine now.....

imported_My93Civic

Umm...When you replace your fluids for your brakes how do YOU do it?

Do you do them horziontally or vertically. You have to do them vertically! Like front left > right rear and front right > left rear

It's recommended to do it that way. My uncle told me when he saw my dad doing my brake fluids horizontally. My brake is like yours a bit mushy. Sometimes when startup you need to push it a few times to get it hard.

Maybe try that and see if it helps?

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

what I do when bleeding, and actually the RIGHT way to do it on a Honda, is RR, LF, LR, RF.

I use a syringe to syphon old fluid out of the reservoir, then I pour new fluid in... I bleed the brakes until the fluid coming out is clear (new) and free of bubbles. then I move on to the next wheel in the sequence... the Civic uses a diagonal prop valve, that's why the bleeding sequence is like that.

spracingsports

same thing happened to my friends civic... brakes were firm when sitting still but when you drive the brakes went away...

problem..... MASTER CYLINDER

imported_94EG6HB

The back shoes are aligned perfect..

Danny and I were quite thorough in the mechanical aspect of the service.

Friggen pissing me off..

imported_loudsubz

I had/have the same problem

I never got around to figuring out what it was since my brakes are still off the car lol

But so far I replaced the MC, BB, and bled the lines, it seemed to get a bit better but I havnt fixed the rear 100% yet

imported2nv

for the record.
the caliper pistons , brake line, wheel cyl. and master have been checked for leaks,
so are final resort is to change mc & bb and flush all the fluid out.
it's probably the bb but with 300,000km it's best to change the master cyl. to.

R0Y

hmm... hey since your'e on the topic of brakes...
anyone know if the RSX MC/BB would fit our EK?

imported_gatherer

how far up do you have to pull the ebrake before it engages?

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

ROY, absolutely not

Aaron, then the most likely culprit is the master cylinder. Like I said, the booster not working feels like pressing the brakes with the car shut off. If you want, there is an ITR booster/MC combo in the classifieds for like... $50, but the M/C is junk... so buy a new or rebuilt one, and use the booster to mount it. You'll have to flare some lines, but it's a great upgrade. Booster itself is worth the $50, plus you can use the M/C as a core for the new one. just a thought.

R0Y

.... why not? are the bolt patterns different?

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

the firewalls and pedal clusters are entirely diff't, therefore the length of the actuator lever would also differ. I've swapped boosters and master cyls from integras, B16 del sols, 5th and 6th gen Civics, and 99-00 Civic SiRs... and they all share the same bolt pattern on the booster... the master cyl bolt pattern differs on most of them (so you have to swap the two as an assembly) but the mounting and the pedal clusters are generally still the same... the RSX is totally diff't with the pedals mounted differently, and a diff't shaped firewall. You can go ahead and try it... or snap some pics of the parts and I'll tell you exactly why it won't fit...