Please Help: Brake Issues

[WindsAloft989]

I have been planning on driving to FL from NH in a few days .... and I decided to fix a few things with my car before the long drive.

I was inspecting my brakes when I noticed gunk coming out of my right rear brake wheel cylinder.

I replaced both of them.

I bled the brakes.

I noticed poor brake performance .... The pedal would travel almost to the floor and it was hard to stop. If I slammed them hard, the vehicle would pull slightly to the left.

I bled the brakes again according to the manual. Left front, Right rear, Right front, Left rear.

The brakes felt a little better, but 10 miles down the road (after a bunch of stops) the brake pedal would get hard as a rock ... It was hard to accelerate because they were dragging.

This happened every day on the way to work (short drive).

Today I bled the brakes AGAIN. The brakes were dragging by the time I got home. I immediately jacked the front of the vehicle up and discovered BOTH wheels were very hot ... BOTH front brake calipers were holding the rotors very tight. I sprayed the calipers with lubricant hoping they would back off. The brake pedal (engine off for 10 minutes) was still as hard as a rock.

After a few hours they cool off and behave like normal for the first 10 minutes of driving.... then the story starts all over.

The brakes seemed fine before I changed the cylinders in the rear drums brakes.

1988 Honda Accord DX
Rear drum brakes
Front disc brakes
DOT3 Fluid ... possibly mixed with DOT4 from a previous owner ???

I was hoping to leave for FL tomorrow !! Should I take it to Meineke tomorrow?

[EricW]

Is it all of the brakes or just front or rear?

[WindsAloft989]

I don't know for sure. I jacked up the front of the car when I got home ... and they both were grabbing tight.

It is possible that the rear brakes are grabbing as well.... but I cannot notice as much because they don't do very much braking compared to the front.

[EricW]

I think it could be one of two things

1) It If its just the front, both calipers could need to be rebuilt or replaced if they are not returning to the proper distance from the rotor.

2) Your master cylinder went bad and is not allowing the brake fluid to return to the reservoir.

If it is all four brakes then i would lean towards the master cylinder. The last time i did my brakes the master cylinder went bad while bleeding the brakes. If the brake fluid was discolored when it came out while bleeding the brakes then i would look more towards the calipers.

[88Accord-DX]

The rule of thumb when bleeding brakes, it to start bleeding the wheel cylinder farthest from the master cylinder. Right rear, left rear, right front, then left front.

[EricW]

He did it right according to the Honda manual, I just checked.

[WindsAloft989]

So this problem is probably not because of more air? I was going to bleed them again tonight.

If it is the MC - Should I notice the resevoir changes fluid level? How can I confirm if it is the MC... Should I reproduce the probem, jack the rear and see if the brakes are grabbing?

If it is the calipers - Is it common for both to develop the same problems at the same time? Isn't that a little odd?

I went outside and checked on my car.... the pedals seem "normal" .... but when I went to hand-spin the rotors I discovered that "normal" isn't really normal at all. The rotors are hard to spin even cooled off ... seems like the calipers are grabbing too much.

Thanks for your quick replies.

[Oldblueaccord]

Did you mess with the Master cylinder at all? the only time I ever heard of the brakes getting tighter as you drive is when the rod that goes from the MC to the brake pedal is off a little. It is adjustable but I do not know how to do it.

When you did your rear brakes are the shoes adjusted up to the brake drums so the drum just barely slides on. You E-brake should grab with just 2-4 clicks.

The only thing else to throw out there is the rear brake cylinders are the wrong bore size and is throwing everything off some how.


wp

[WindsAloft989]

Update-

Sorry its been so long, but my problem was eventually fixed with 2 brand new front brake calipers!

They were starting to sieze.

Thanks guys for your help.

My car made it to FL .... almost 198,000 miles on her now. :)

Josh

[EricW]

Good to hear you made it. What part of Florida are you in?

[WindsAloft989]

Daytona Beach area ... more specifically DeLand.

No car inspections down here !!

Except I have to get insurance now. :( New Hampshire let me drive uninsured... Live Free or Die! was their motto.