Brake pedal goes to the floor, barely stops

[jimmyfloyd]

Ok, so I have an 05 that is low miles (55k). I bought it and have had it for about 3 months, but it's just been sitting while I sell my 01 LX. I went to move the car the other day and scared the crap out of myself cause the car would not stop. I mashed the pedal a bunch of times, then used the e-brake to stop myself. I tried it out a bit more (all in the driveway) and it will eventually stop itself, but not well. They seemed fine when I drove the car home right after I bought it.

What should I be looking at to resolve this? The Fluid level looks good, and there are no spots on the ground to indicate a leak.


Also, if I do end up replacing the brakes, what's the recommended OE replacement? The car will remain mostly stock, so something that stops well and has little dust would be best. Also, will I need any special tools? I can't imaging they are much different than my 01 lx, which I just did in feb.

[m3nace]

Could be air in the lines or dust got into the fluid maybe try bleeding before replacing the setup if it's all oem the cars breaking system actually is made to never need to be bled for the life of the vehicle unless it's been tampered with

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[lemonhead228]

Definitely air in the brake lines. Get somebody to help you bleed them and you should be fine

[jimmyfloyd]

Ok, Hopefully I can do this tonight or tomorrow. Just put the car on the road today since I sold my 01 Sedan, so now it's time to focus on getting this into daily status.

[tommy]

I had RSX Type S front calipers (bought them loaded with pads from Tirerack), Type S front rotors, EP3 rear rotors with matching pads to the fronts, Russell brake lines, and DOT4 fluid done to my car (bought it 3 months ago as well) and made a world of improvement; my brakes sucked also when I bought my car. Guessing it's air, sh*tty fluid, and worn out stock brake lines that are your problem too.

[jimmyfloyd]

I had RSX Type S front calipers (bought them loaded with pads from Tirerack), Type S front rotors, EP3 rear rotors with matching pads to the fronts, Russell brake lines, and DOT4 fluid done to my car (bought it 3 months ago as well) and made a world of improvement; my brakes sucked also when I bought my car. Guessing it's air, sh*tty fluid, and worn out stock brake lines that are your problem too.

Sounds like a good upgrade. Did you just get the Stock RSX parts from like Advance Auto, or did you do something else? Where did you get the Russel lines from? What pads did you get? I'm going to have to price it all out and hopefully get it all in. I got the car stopping better, but not great at the moment.

[tommy]

I got everything except the lines from Tirerack (if you select brakes for the Type S, there is only one selection for calipers with pads). Lines I picked the cheapest listing on ebay, though CorSport has 'em too. The pads I got in front give off a lot of dust; in the spring when I get my white Buddy Club rims, I'll be swapping them out for ceramics probably, as it would be a bitch to keep those rims clean.

[Her-Name's-Ally]

air in the lines or potentially a leak. Bleed Bleed Bleed that is very dangerous.

[jimmyfloyd]

Yeah, the car hasn't left the driveway. I ended up getting stock EP3 parts because i was on a deadline and the car is just a daily driver that will see maybe 6 miles a day.

I have however run into an issue. I'm replacing the calipers as well, and it all went good (for the most part) until the passenger rear. I can not get the emergency brake cable out of the caliper. It's rusted in good. I was able to brake the other one free and get it out, but this one is just stubborn. Is there any special trick to this? it's a little rusted, and i've been liberally applying PB Blaster to it.

If it won't come out, does anyone in the southern (rust free) states have one for cheap? Thanks

[27rocks]

if it's all oem the cars breaking system actually is made to never need to be bled for the life of the vehicle unless it's been tampered with

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Please don't ever give advise about things you know nothing about!!! All braking systems need to be bled per manufacturers scheduled times or driving conditions. You need to bleed the system at least every 5 years (per Honda, go read the manual). If you do a lot of driving along with lots of induced heat to the brakes it's best to do it more often. Brake fluid has a boiling point, and once you go over that boiling point you are basically burning the fluid or compromising it (Thats why older cars or just cars with more miles usually have dark, dirty fluid). It will loose it viscosity and make them start boiling at an even lower temperature. Also brake fluid is designed to absorb moisture, so over time the fluid will absorb atmospheric moisture even though everything is nice and tight.. it's not completely sealed. What that also does is introduce a low boiling point because water boils at a much lower temperature than brake fluid does.

[jimmyfloyd]

All 4 corners are finally replaced. Had to reuse the parking brake bracket because the parking brake and it have become one. Oh well, still functions the same.

Tomorrow will be swapping fluid and bleeding it.

[tommy]

Glad it's working out for you so far. Yeah, I'm running into the parts fusing together on my car as I work on it too. Guess that's the beauty of NJ/NY winters and road salt.