Brakes really bad after 2months storage

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.

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.

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KWICKS

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aaronng

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?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EuroDude

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.

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?

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: