Brake question - Spongy

[Cla]

Hello,

I have a CL9 Honda Accord Euro Auto, I noticed that my brake pedal seem to go down a bit further then I liked when I purchased the car. Fast forward a year later and the brake still feels to engage low but only slightly worse.

I bleed the brakes but they still feel the same, I re-bled them. I've blocked off all the soft brake lines and the softness is still there so it must be something up from the brakes itself. I noticed that the brake MC had a leak so I got that replaced.

The brakes feel exactly the same and not driving any other honda accords I don't know if that's just how they all are.

I just wanted to check how far does the brake pedal go down before you start actually braking? My car pulls up fine and also can engage ABS no problems but if I do try I feel like the brakes don't have much room if I needed to push it down in an emergency, I could actually push the brake pedal to the floor if I try.

Does this seem normal? I have been assured it is normal by mechanic but he said come back if I want him to re-bleed the brakes.

I just don't know if Honda Accords have low spongy pedals standard, it doesn't seem like they would. I thought they would all be rock hard like most other cars I have driven.

Cheers

[d-Z1R3]

could be a number of things, braided lines for a start will give you much better pedal feel. have you bleed all the fluid out of your car? i had the same issue with another car mix fluids and it didnt feel positive, bleed it all out with new fluid (different colors help) and the pedal was rock hard again.

my euro pedal doesn't give me as much "feel" as i would like, but its pretty stock expect a set of wheels, and its basically a daily driver so it doesn't bother me too the point that i would spend a huge amount of money on it. my pedal stops about 1 1/2" above the carpet.

[Cla]

Yea I've flushed all the fluid out, I would expect fully twice. Fluid was sucked out the top and on top of that I'm expecting it would have been bled after the BMC was replaced.

Yea under normal braking it stops fine, it just goes down a fair amount before it actually starts to get harder. The brakes are definitely not rock hard no matter where they are pushed but the car will brake and engage abs so everything appears to be working.

If I pump the brakes it doesn't feel any different etc.

[DreadAngel]

Using stock brake pads still too?

[Cla]

Yep, everything is stock as far as I'm aware. Pads still have plenty of meat, disc appear to be ok. Brake has a slight lip but nothing major

[grifty]

Try adjusting the pushrod on the booster to the pedal, make it tighter but no too tight as the brakes will start to drag if its too tight.

[Lozer]

Well mine is a 2011 euro 30.000 klms & my bracks are rock hard & very senitive so i would get it checked cause there are a life saver on your car, just my feeling. lozer.....

[Cla]

Yeah that's what I would be expecting. I just checked a review of the euro and I found the following:

The brakes are excellent (300mm discs front, 260mm discs rear), with good pedal feel and almost instant response, though the latter feature can be off putting in commuting situations. Even the tiniest depression on the pedal results in decent brake bite, and, on more than one occasion, this caused the driver behind to gesticulate wildly due to unexpectedly rapid levels of deceleration.

Which tells me if anything, the brakes should be too touchy not soft.

[Rooster]

Mine is 03 model, and at no point was it ever really sensitive or rock hard (as older cars I have driven are) so I have the same brake feel you could say.
Although I don't know if my pedal pushes as low as yours does.
It's normal to me. The only time I felt a solid initial bite was when I changed my rotors and pads, but now its just the same.

[Cla]

Hmmm, yea I think I will take it back to get re-bled and have them to have a look at it. It might even just be adjustment that grifty mentioned before.

My pads and disc have plenty of meat (not brand new) but still not worth changing out.

I suppose It can only be a few things. I might have to ask next time someone I see driving an accord if I can feel their pedal lol.

[Rooster]

Where do you live?
Could ask a forum member.

Also did you replace your pads and rotors at the same time? Maybe it is not even/needs to be machined.

[Fredoops]

Remember the euros have a lot of firewall flex so it's always going to be slightly soft

[Cla]

I live in Sydney.

Nothing else has been replaced, pads are in good condition. Disc's appear to be fine, a bit of a lip so could probably do with an update.

Yea, I understand the flex but I just feel like it goes down a bit to much for my liking. I also checked the master cylinder again and it appears to have gone down slightly in fluid. I'm going to take it back to the mechanic's to make them check all the hoses/calipers etc. I feel like something is up.

I just feel like there is no way they would let this car on the market with this much play sorta thing.

[grifty]

have you tried to adjust the pushrod yet? It really does make a difference if it currently has free play

[Cla]

I haven't adjusted anything as I'm going to take it back to the mechanic on the weekend, I didn't want to start to play around with things between when they last touched the car so they don't say that I done somehting etc.

[BigBen]

Sounds like you have air bubbles trap in your brake line or worse air in the ABS module.

[kryptonite]

2003 model.

Brakes always been spongy since first day I got it. (had about 140Km on it)

Kinda got used to it and in some odd kinda way prefer it that way.

Drove a friend's car which was almost new, wow did those breaks feel super sensitive.

[Cla]

Yeah I did take the car back for an unrelated thing and they said the brakes are fine and they had a few other euro's there so no reason not to believe them. Also in the few months or so since I got it done, the brakes feel exactly the same and pull up without fail.

So who knows, I guess they are just spongy.

[Lozer]

MAY BE the pedal is spongy cause the pads are getting down. My CU2 is very sensitive but it has only done 30,000 Kys .

[Cla]

Had to swap out the brake booster after discovered a leak. $800 later. It's a lot better now