Hi all,

Newbie here in need of experienced Honda brains. I have a 1996 Accord EX with ABS. Yesterday my car started shaking pretty badly on the highway after a good deal of on-the-gas/on-the-brakes driving. When I pulled over I noticed that my brakes were still engaged (no, parking brake was not on) and were hot to the point of smoking (fronts were smoking, but they all might have been engaged). No matter what I tried I could not get them to release. I visited my abandoned car this morning and the problem is no longer present. The shaking (caused by slightly warped rotors having brakes the brakes not fully release them???) had happened intermittantly in similar driving situations only to resolve.So my questions are:

Is this a brake heat related issue (resolves when cooled down)?

Any ABS involvement (pulsing being from that instead)?

Will it be safe to drive this home under non-rush hour (no heavy braking)

What part is failing?

Thanks for any and all advice!!!

Chuck

 

Sure seems like it's heat-related, since they were smoking.

Start out, just enough to move the car, then shift to neutral (or disengage the clutch) & coast a couple feet. You should be able to feel whether the brakes are dragging any more. If they're OK, then you should be OK to drive home if you take it easy & don't abuse the brakes...for now.

Are you gonna look at them yourself or take to a shop? What kind of DIYexperience do you have? Any brake work done lately? Stock brakes?

I'd check for sticking caliper slide pins. And check for the brake pads binding in the caliper brackets. If that's not it then there's a couple things with the hydraulic system. It doesn't really sound like ABS was involved.

 

Hi Jim. Thanks for the reply.

The car will roll freely when in neutral today, so the brakes have released. I'm thinking of driving it the 20+ miles home during non-peak traffic hours... unless someone can tell me what's really wrong with it and why I shouldn't.

I'm fairly adept at DIY projects so I'd prefer to tackle the job myself. As for recent brake work... I bought the car ~3 months ago and had to change out the master cylinder (leaked hydrolic pressure...soft/fading peddle) about 2 month ago. Pads were all good at the time so I didn't bother with them and they seem to be stock.

Would a master cylinder swap out cause this? More basic question... what is it that causes the piston in the master cylinder to "unapply" pressure? Is there a spring? And how would this factor in brake temp to the brake failure?

Oh, and my fluid is clear, corectand at appropriate level. There are no lights (ABS or otherwise) telling me that I have a malfunction.

 

When you swapped the MC, did you check the length of the pushrod? Old & new should be exactly the same. If not, there's a special measuring tool($$) & you adjust the pushrod under the dash. Between the pedal & the firewall.

When you take your foot off the brake, the MC has to be in just the right position to open up a vent to the reservoir. That's how it releases the hydraulic pressure & allows for thermal expansion of the fluid. If you try to 2nd-guess Honda about how high the pedal should be off the floor, you screw this up.

If that vent doesn't open, then the fluid inside the caliper can heat, expand, & has noplace to go except to push on the piston.

Here's another wild guess for you to think about...
If a brake hose deteriorates on the inside, a dislodged flap of material can act like a check-valve. Not very common, but I've heard of it happening.

 

99.9 % i am willing to bet that it is the brake master cylindr causing the problem and 100 % i am willing to bet that when it was replaced it WAS NOT a Honda brake master cylinder ..
Anyho,, Jim is correct ,, the push rod adjustment is out of specs ,, too long.. all you got to do is get under the dash and shorten the push rod lenght , . test drive the car and make sure it is ok,,