Hi guys, I'm new here and have what I hope is a simple question for someone. A cute little blonde I work with (I say this so you know why I am here) has a 1995 Honda Accord, 4 cly, automatic, and she is having a brake problem.

When the car is hot, the brakes get soft and will fade when she is holding them. i.e., when she stops...the brake pedal starts dropping all the way to the floor. I have heard a rumor that this is a common problem with accords, but as I have owned 5 civics and an Element, I am not sure.

Thanks for your help!

G

 

sounds like Master Cylinder going up to me, i may be wrong

 

The thing that baffles me is that it is only a problem when it is hot.....I guess the fluid heating up and becoming more viscus could cause it to blow by the piston on the master Cyl.?

 

i would probably say that she put the wrong brake fluid in the car. Also it may be a simple problem, she may need to bleed the brake because there is air in the system. Try bleeding it

 

I think so too. Older Honda/Acura MCyl are famous for crapping out when hot. More work may be needed of course.


OH....Good luck with the cute little blonde.

 

I have 2, 1995 Honda Accords, and they both started having the some problem at he same time after an especially hot spell. I found that replacing the brake fluid helps, but it only last for a few month before it starts to happen again, and the fluid has change to a dark brown when the problem resufaces. I have replaced the fliud several time and now wonder what the actual problem could be.

Any thoughts or confirmation on the root cause and corrective action whould be appreciated.

BTW one Accord has ABS and the other does not.

The first push on the pedal always hold but the second push without a full return does not hold, and slow bleeds to the floor.

The dealer tried to tell my that the ABS unit was bad and that replacing it would fix the problem, however, when i ask why the other car that does not have ABS has the same problem, they had no answwer and insisted i pay they a diagnostic fee. Needly to say, I stop going to the dealer after that.

 

The problem could be that a seal in the master cylinder is bad. Since its an internal leak, you won't see any fluid anywhere. The brake pedal drops as the fluid is going past the seal. Your gonna need a new master cylinder, you could change the seal but that won't be fun i don't think.

 

couple of possible problems.

1. bad master cylinder.
2.air in the line.
or 3 and this is completely possible.... brake fluid is hygroscopic (or however you spell it) which means that it absorbs water right out of the air. that water will boil when hot.

 

I think that brake fluid naturally absorbs air, so if you left the cap on the M.C. a while, then you might have some problems. But in my big book of cars, it says " A dropping brake pedal is usually caused by an internal leak in the master cylinder. Pressure is slowly leaking past the piston cups. Since fluid returns to the reservoir, the fluid level will not drop. A fluid leak anywhere else in the system can also cause the same symptom. If fluid is leaking out, however, the fluid level in the master cylinder will drop."

 

replace the brake master ASAP.. use a factory part,, or a master made by ADLER it is OEM part ,,