Brakes really bad after 2months storage

[EuroDude]

I havent driven my EG Civic for 2 months, and finally took it for a drive two days ago. Before storage, the brakes performed normally, and there was plenty of pad life left, and the discs are in good shape.

But now the brakes are terrible! The stopping distance is like double than normal :o

For the first 1km, the brakes were making screeching noises similar to the sound when the metal safety pin hits the rotors when the pads are worn down. But after a km, the sound went away.


But the brakes still performed terribly even after 10km driving - no improvement. I took it to the car wash and sprayed soap and water on the discs, but they were still no good.


I would have thought the usual rust buildup would have gone by now - they look ok at least.




Any ideas how to fix the problem? Maybe if I drive it around alot more, they will improve?
Hopefully I wont need to get them machined or replace the pads or anything - I'm gonna sell the car soon.



ps. the car was stored outside uncovered.

[aaronng]

I think you should change your brake fluid.

[EuroDude]

I think I should too. thx I'll try that :)

[Limbo]

arronng meant bleed themmmmmmmmmm
i think i've had too much sugar this morning............

[aaronng]

LOL... have coffee with your sugar.

Just open the brake fluid resevoir, get as much fluid out while staying above minimum. Then top it up with fresh Honda brake fluid. Then proceed to bleed your brakes while keeping the fluid topped up.

Nice DIY here: http://ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11867

Or get it done at the mech's if you don't have the tools.

[Zdster]

I think you should change your brake fluid.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:.

Brake fluid is one of those things that deteriates over time, with or without use.

[EuroDude]

Well suprisingly the fluid has never been changed since new in 1993, so its definetely time to change it ;)

I'll do it myself and follow that DIY, cheers :)

ps. Do you think any brand of DOT4 fluid will do?
I cant get to a dealer and buy some honda stuff before the weekend.


...unless there is a place near homebush/Ryde I can get it from.

[aaronng]

Well suprisingly the fluid has never been changed since new in 1993, so its definetely time to change it ;)

I'll do it myself and follow that DIY, cheers :)

ps. Do you think any brand of DOT4 fluid will do?
I cant get to a dealer and buy some honda stuff before the weekend.


...unless there is a place near homebush/Ryde I can get it from.
LOL, 1993...... Be careful not to get any on your paint. It eats through paint like sandpaper on tofu.

The DIY says to pump the old fluid through and keep topping up. I'd prefer to take out as much old fluid as I can first and top up with fresh brake fluid. I do this to prevent any further buildup of crap in the lines. I use a turkey baster thingy (buy it from coles) to suck out the old fluid from the resevoir.

Check the cover of your brake resevoir. It'll be printed on it whether it is safe to use brake fluid of other brands. On mine it specifically says DOT4 Honda brake fluid only (because of the seals). But on the older Hondas, you can use other brands as the cap says DOT4 only.

If you can use other brands, give Castrol Response Super DOT4 a try. It's cheapish and you can get it at Supercheap. If you are on a budget and want to save that $2, get the Response DOT4 instead. Oh, and get 2 bottles. I'm sure you'll overbleed the first time. :)

[EuroDude]

Thanks for the info - i'll check the cap before buying new fluid.

But if you empty the fluid to remove as much as possible, dont you get major air bubbles?

[Limbo]

so long as you don't let the fluid bubble up its fine.

[EuroDude]

I'm a bit confused - so you take all the fluid out, then fill it with fresh fluid?

If there are air bubbles, how do I get them out?

[aaronng]

You take it out until the minimum line. Then fill with fresh fluid until the maximum line. Bleed the brakes (starting from front right, front left, rear left, rear right). Bleed and check the level. Don't let the level go down below minimum. Keep topping up when the fluid gets close to minimum. As long as the level stays above minimum, you won't have air bubbles. If you do get air bubbles, you have to start all over and bleed the brakes again until there is no more air coming out.

[KWICKS]

Is it possible that the braking is just perceived as poor? I know after driving around in something differnet for a couple of months, especially something that might have had better brakes, that i might perceive the brakes on my car to be worse that I previously thought?

That said, 13 years without a fluid change is a very long time. Over time brake fluid is affected by water, reducing its effectiveness. If your selling, all Dot 4's are equal, don't buy Honda stuff that's overpriced, Castrol is fine.

[EuroDude]

When I went from the Civic to the Euro, the brakes were about the same, and now I'm quite sure they have degraded quite significantly.

I have to actually be very careful when braking in the Civic since the brakes are that terrible.


I'll follow the DIY and change the fluid properly. Hopefully the brake cylinder wont become dodgy after the fluid change.

[aaronng]

Well, the brakes on the EK should be better than the Euro. The Euro's brakes are just plain inadequate in an emergency situation when in stock form. Hard braking in a straight line doesn't engage the ABS unless there are road imperfections.

There are a few troubleshooting steps to find out if the master cylinder is dodgy. Usually symptoms such as the brake pedal going to the floor when there is fluid and no leaks, or the brakes won't hold your car when you are stopped at a slight incline might point to a master cylinder problem.

In your case you are still stopping and your pedal is fine, so I don't think it's the master cylinder yet. But yeah, I prefer to suck out the fluid down to the minimum level and top up because I don't want dirty fluid with water in it to go through the master cylinder.

[aaronng]

If your selling, all Dot 4's are equal, don't buy Honda stuff that's overpriced, Castrol is fine.
If your Odyssey is an 03-06 model, I'm not buying it from you 2nd hand :p . Your brake system MUST have Honda fluid because of the seals. Honda's trying to make as much money off us as possible. The older models could use aftermarket fluids as long as it was glycol based (DOT3, 4, 5.1). No DOT5 at all.

[EuroDude]

There are a few troubleshooting steps to find out if the master cylinder is dodgy. Usually symptoms such as the brake pedal going to the floor when there is fluid and no leaks, or the brakes won't hold your car when you are stopped at a slight incline might point to a master cylinder problem.


Ive read instances where a fluid changes trigger a cylinder problem due to different fluid consistancy. Since the fluid has never been changed, its not looking good. :o
But they arent expensive anyway, are they?
Are they easy to replace yourself?

[aaronng]

Ive read instances where a fluid changes trigger a cylinder problem due to different fluid consistancy. Since the fluid has never been changed, its not looking good. :o
But they arent expensive anyway, are they?
Are they easy to replace yourself?
There is a master cylinder DIY in the forum. I wouldn't want to have to replace it because the remaining fluid might drip down the firewall paint.... ouchies.

[EuroDude]

Ok thanks - that shouldn't be too hard to do myself if need be.

ps. I checked the lid and it says "Use only DOT3 or DOT4 brake fluid only", so I guess its ok to use non-Honda DOT4 fluid.

ps. What size clear piping should I get? Will a 6mm hole fit snug onto the bleed nipples?

[EuroDude]

Finally got around to changing the fluid and the car brakes better now. They should be even better once all the rust on the rotors are worn away.
I used Castrol Response Super DOT4.

lol I did it all myself using a rigged up funnel to avoid the fluid going under MIN.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7999/image28zp.jpg



thx for the help :thumbsup: