brakes

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civiclxb16

Senior Member
ok i took my car to get it tuned and the guy drove my car for about 3 mins and he was complaining that my brakes are really hard. so i told him they have been hard ever since i bought the car back in 97. i put in a gsr rear disc and it just as hard on the petal from the day i got the car. brand new dot 4 brake fluid. he told me that my brakes should be soft. and he showed me his brakes and it felt like there was air in his lines and he told me this is what they should feel like. is it try the brakes should be soft? or stiff when i step on the brakes? i have my stock front disc but gsr rear disc with a gsr p. valve could it be because he has stock front disc with rear drums? let me know. just as a pointer when i go to get my car inspected they never told me a thing about my brakes!
 
drain the dot 4.
replace all your rubber lines.
use dot 3.

dot 4 is NOT a good idea to be running in a honda brake system.


that said, after reading your tuning thread, and now this, your buddy is amazing me more and more with his "knowledge".

i'd find a new tuner.
 
b, your thinking of dot 5. Dot 4 and dot three can bee mixed no problem. Dot 5 eats rubber (hoes, seals, ect)

ATE super blue is dot 4. A brake pedal should be firm, not soft. If its soft, it means your stock lines are buldging too much (as they age, they will buldge slightly when you apply the brakes), you have air in your system, or your fire wall is flexing alot when you press the brakes.

Ways to get a firmer pedal feel is up to newer fluid. Good racing brake fluid like motul or ATE Superblue have slightly smaller molecules, so they can get pack closer together, making the fluid even less compressible. Poor quality fluids will compress SLIGHTLY although not much. My brake pedal defenltly felt alittle firmer after I bled it.

The only way the "firmness" is bad is if its because your brake booster was bad. In that case, the pedal would be almost impossible to press. When the car is running, take the vacuume hose that leads to the brake booster off and see what the pedal feels like. If there is no change, then that "firmness" that you feel is because the brake booster is bad (however not likely on a 97 gsr.)
 
dot 4 is no where near the "eating power" of dot 5, but it is STILL not recommended for a honda brake system. the fluid res. cap will tell you this in plain english: "DOT 3 ONLY" or something to that extent.
 
Originally posted by pissedoffsol@Jul 2 2005, 12:37 AM
drain the dot 4.
replace all your rubber lines.
use dot 3.

dot 4 is NOT a good idea to be running in a honda brake system.


that said, after reading your tuning thread, and now this, your buddy is amazing me more and more with his "knowledge".

i'd find a new tuner.
[post=519528]Quoted post[/post]​

lol my tuner so far is the only one to get my p28 to work on my civic but he does need more pratice but he is young and learning just like i am, but he charges 80 to tune a car i thought he was going to do more no one else in my area does it and that is that i had to drive 2 hours just to get to him. back to the topic when i did my gsr convertion on the rear the peeps at the shop told me that the dot 4 will not harm my lines it hasn't so far it has been like that for two years now and they bleed it for me at the shop and it is nice and firm i love it, it is just like brand new but he said i have air in my lines and i was like " WTF" it doesn't pull me to the left or right it is perfect! so i think he was just blowing smoke jelous that i have a be series while he still has a d series...lol sorry low blow
 
Helms says DOT 3 or DOT 4, that's all I have been using :)
 
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