Help No Brake Pressure

[acessence]

Got a question for all u accord gear heads, i just repaired my rear breaks and blead them so i i at least have brakes now, but when i start the car, the pressure in the brake pedal just drops, and its all flopy and loose, whats going on, are the brakes on the 3rd gen accord vacuum assisted or something

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

The brakes on these Accords are vacuum assisted. What you are experiencing seems normal. The pedal feel will become softer with the engine on because there is vacuum present in the brake booster. Your pedal shouldn't be floppy and loose however, just relatively soft.

[smufguy]

well if you did put the new shoes on, then you will have to adjust the self-adjuster by turning it to push the pads out, enough so that you hear a small scraping sound when you put the drums over them. then turn them one click inwards, replace thedrum, and pump the brake till you feel the pedal get tighter. The rear brakes take a longer time to adjust than the front, and make sure that the bleed screw is fully tight. I made a mistake when i changed my frozen caliper and i used the copper washers that came with the caliper. It did not work and leaked fluid. SO either reuse the stock aluminum washers or just get them from the dealership (about $5 for two)/

[jaiden]

if it's soft, it probably still has air in it. bleed it again maybe?

[88eyeguy]

It probably felt like that because you had not pumped the brakes after working on them to build up the hydraulic pressure again. And like smufguy said, adjust that self-adjuster on the each rear drum to ensure that the shoes are properly contacting the drum surface.

[FyreDaug]

Yeah I had the same problem when I did my rears, I didnt adjust them enough so all the pressure used was to push the shoes out, and 90% of it is gone before it even makes contact

[Cant Stop]

yep i always bleed my brakes off, then with the car running. quick lesson on bleeding: pump them up and hold to floor,crack the bleeder open and shut it before it stops leaking out, repeat on all four wheel even though you only did one set of brakes, do this after properly adjusting the brakes bleeding all four brakes also gets all the old fluid out which is recomended to be changed every 50,000 miles as brake fluid has a tendency to absorb water out of the air

[lostforawhile]

you need to put a hose on the bleeder screw and submerge it in clean brake fluid, that way no air will be sucked back up into the lines. the air bubbles will rise to the surface. only clean brake fluid will be drawn back up into the lines.it's best to have help then you can watch to make sure all the air is purged while someone else pumps the brake pedal. tighten the bleed screw before you remove the hose. the old way is always the best way.

[Cant Stop]

my bad i should have mentioned having someone pump them up then someone else bleeds the thread above is the best with the hose, you wont draw air if you shut the bleeder before it all runs out etc.

[lostforawhile]

my bad i should have mentioned having someone pump them up then someone else bleeds the thread above is the best with the hose, you wont draw air if you shut the bleeder before it all runs out etc.
i've seen it done with a mitivac but the old use a hose in brake fluid has been around since the dawn of hydraulic brakes. :) still the best way to keep out th air. remember the air will always rise to the surface of the fluid. o check your master cylinder after each wheel, it's ok to overfill it before you start to help keep it from running dry.

[FyreDaug]

What I do, is pump it till its hard, have someone open the bleeder and while its running out, close it and repeat. If you go all the way down (full force on pedal till it hits ground) theres still a chance to bring air into the system.

[smufguy]

the right way to do is, pump the pedal and build the pressure. once its done hold the pedal down and ask someone to open the bleed valve with a hose attached and the other end submerged in a clear brake fluid and repeat it atleast 3 times till all the bubbles are gone while keeping an eye on the level in the brake resevoir.

NOTE: i know this has been stressed and said repeatedly. For best bleeding, bleed the corners diagonally, like if ur bleeding the driverside front, bleed the pass rear second, then driver rear, and then the pass front.