Honda Civic 2004 DX trim – Front Caliper Replaceme

[Stefan]

Hi EricTheCarGuy:

The guy from Canada again : Thanks for making and posting the video on replacing calipers on disk breaks – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UqTgYgd0Mk – it was really helpful in my job of replacing the disk breaks of my car (yes Honda Civic this time).

What has happened was that the piston of the front driver side caliper wasn’t fully retracting after the break has been released; this lead to having somewhat of a constant ‘half’ break applied to the wheel. It wasn’t preventing the wheel from turning, but there was a noticeable feel that there’s something wrong with the wheel. Then of course it was the extreme heating generated from the caliper – when you place your hand close to the wheel, it was a noticeable temperature difference. Lastly when I opened the caliper, the rubber around the piston was quite twisted.

So I replaced the caliper and the rotor (after all, a rotor being subjected to constant head is bound to be somewhat damaged) and since ‘premium’ rotors and break pads were on sale, I decided to do both front breaks. The vise-grips with fuel line and the plastic bottle with line were quite useful in the endevour. The master cylinder was always topped up (may be a bit over the top as well), but there was plenty.

In my test drive, in an empty parking lot, the breaking was fine. Since the car doesn’t have ABS, I was able to lock the wheels too. When I broke hard and let go of the wheel the car didn’t sway in any direction except going straight. The one thing I need to check tomorrow is for any leaks – after all it’s a lot easier to spot those during the day. But after checking the master cylinder, it is at the same level as when I topped it up, so leaks may be minimal.

The one thing that I observed during the test run is that the pedal felt somewhat soft. I might have been so used to driving with a break applied to my wheel that I didn’t need to press the break pedal all the way; or I might have lost sensitivity since I’ve been riding my bicycle most of summer…. but I might do another flush just in case.

Do you have any thoughts or comments that I need to consider?

Topic

[college man]

If the car has rear drums check that they are adjusted properly as this can
effect pedal feel.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems

[Stefan]

After bleeding the breaks again and adjusting the rear drum breaks, the pedal feels better.

So all is good – another conquest!!

[college man]

[quote=”ScorpionFiko” post=149178]After bleeding the breaks again and adjusting the rear drum breaks, the pedal feels better.

So all is good – another conquest!![/quote]

Good deal. 😉

[Author]

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