Have an 01 accord 4 cylinder the brake petal seems a little soft, stopping distance is longer then my other cars and I don't think the ABS is working but I don't have a light on the dash. Checked the fuses and the brake pad wear and bled the brake lines. Any ideas?

 

Most of the cars I have ever driven have soft pedals. If you can find a set of Performance Friction pads for your application, they will definitely firm it up. Thew a set on my '10 Civic and it was a night and day difference. I also got a set of cross drilled/slotted PowerStop rotors for $60 from rockauto.com

 

BTW you wont feel abs until you slam on the brakes. Then you should feel pulsation of the pedal and slight to moderate pressure forcing back against the pedal. If you bled the brakes, there could be an air pocket somewhere in the system the other thing to check is the master cylinder

 

I have tried slamming on the brakes a couple of times and didn't get the ABS to engage. How do I check the master cylinder?

 

One way to check the master cylinder is to press fairly hard on the brake pedal, pause there for a second or two, then slightly release the pressure, not all the way, but maybe 80%, then press it hard again. Repeat this process a few times. If the pedal starts slowly sinking/walking towards the floor with each hard press, you have a bad master cylinder....

 

ABS will only engage if tires are beginning to slip. On dry pavement, this takes a real panic stop to engage. On a dirt road much easier to get engagement.

Pedal should not feel spongy w/ any pads. If spongy feel, then air in brake lines is likely. Bleed brakes thoroughly.

Any settlement of pedal under load is a sure sign of master cylinder (MC) leakage or wheel cylinder leakage (should be able to find leak evidence). MC leakage can be internal or external, so no observed leakage is not an indication of good MC.

good luck

 

my car does the same as he said...so are you testing the master cylinder with the car running or off?

 

Either works. It's easier to build good pressure with it on.

Something to check, if there is a problem with the M/C, look for fluid loss out the back of the M/C. Sometimes it leaks down the booster, and may leak inside. The booster may go bad soon after if a lot of fluid leaks into it.

 

Right...okay guess ill go check when the wife gets home thanks

 

Normally, pads won't make it feel spongy; except this semi-unusual situation.

Rust & crud built up on back-side of brake pads. Including the shims that are against the steel backing plate of the brake pads. The corrosion, together with those shims getting wrinkled & ugly, gave me spongy brakes. I bled them again & again but I eventually took the calipers apart & cleaned that stuff up.

I certainly isn't a bad idea to check the caliper slide-pins are not all seized up with crud.