Soft brake feeling

[LO_N_SXC]

I have been driving my LS Teg very often since I got it re registered after a whole year being off the road, back then the break pedal used to feel soft but now days it seems to be even softer???? specially when I drive into the work which is a 1hr+ trip in bumper to bumper traffic, about a year ago i replaced the rotors with RDA Slotted types, also swaped the pads for some Bendix Metal kings and I have also changed the brake fluid to some dot4 Nulon stuff but still same feeling?????
Any one here know why there don't seem to be much difference? could it be worn calipers? or could it possibly be the brake lines???? I'm some what confussed????? shouldnt all of that fluid changing and pad replacement have improved pedal feel????

[MoonSha]

I know very little about brakes but could it be some problem with the Brake Booster not working at 100%. Also are you sure there is no air in the brake lines, I thought that made them feel soft and you have to bleed the lines each time you open them i.e when the new parts were installed.

[LO_N_SXC]

well thats the thing I bleed the lines at the same time when I changed fluid, after the fluid change it felt a bit better but still soft, brake booster? wouldnt it be leaking for it not be 100%??? coz mine aint tho I dont know when was the last time the fluid was changed prior to the fluid change I made in which the old stuff came out real dark almost like Pepsi....

How would I be able to determine if it is the brake booster?

[joek]

I think it can also be the master brake cylinder as well, sometimes, the blockage makes it not functionable. Or it can be the brake cylinder is moving, in this case, u can buy a brake cylinder stopper for like 50 bucks...hope this may help
JOe

[TRU32U]

well i had same problems before, (i change my pads 7 times a year!!!)
once was cause there was air in the lines, jus bleed the brakes, 2 man job, 30 mins.
and other time my mate had the problem was brake master cylinder, 150 bucks and they do the job for you.
=)
jus bleed brakes first, cheap and easy solution.

[Zdster]

THe first thing I would be looking at is the master cylinder. You can get a mc repair kit that might fix everything up.

[EuroDude]

Yea sounds like air in the system. Bleed them properly and see how that goes. Maybe get a honda mech or dealer to do it.

Plus you should use Honda brake fluid, apparently non-Honda stuff can cause problems.

I dont think its the Master Cylinder. If it was the Master Cylinder then the brake pedal would gently fall to the floor when you are putting you foot down when the car is at a stand still (in other words, fluid would be going past the piston).

And Ive found that the Bendix pads are not as good as the stock Honda ones (on my EG civic).


...lol no I dont sponsor honda :p Sometimes its good to revert back to stock parts if problems arise.

[Slow96GSR]

Take it to someone with a exchange system. Have them pull out the old fluid and put in new, then it also bleeds at the same time.

[jamchen]

slotted rotors will not help ur brake to perform better, they just minimise the occurings of brake fads under rapid braking, so basically its the pad.. as someone suggested those pads ain't really good...
the only way u can get a noticeable improvement on brakes is to swap the entire kit, i mean the rotors, calipers etc...
regard on the soft feeling, make sure u bleed the brake line in order ( i remembered once i've seen an article gave wheel orders when doing the bleed job, something like FrontRight--FrontLeft or else)

[Slow96GSR]

... i remembered once i've seen an article gave wheel orders when doing the bleed job, something like FrontRight--FrontLeft or else)

You start from the furthest away from the M.C. and work to the one nearest the M.C.!

[bennjamin]

You start from the furthest away from the M.C. and work to the one nearest the M.C.!

In our AUDM cars ~ which would be rear left , rear right , front left , front right :)

[Slow96GSR]

^^ Correct.

[LO_N_SXC]

thanks yall peeps

I have had a look at the MC and yes it does have a bit of movement under load, might get some sort of bracket made up or something, also looks like it has been loosing a bit of fluid on under the resevoir might get that checked out, yeah also I've been thinking on chaging the pads to simething else but just dont know what???