Im looking for a bit of brake advice. Car is a JDM CRX 1.5X which has 231mm Discs on the front and standard drums on the back like the DX & HF right?
My brakes are not what they should be, pedal effort has gradually increased over the last year, as has the distance of pedal travel. The pedal travels about half way to the floor, never all the way, but I find myself haveing to use more and more effort to brake properly. My handbrake (ebrake) is also not as good as it should be, infact I have had to adjust it all the way with the adjuster bolt at the back of the lever. The pads on the front are new as are the rotors (EBC), and there are fairly new shoes on the rear (6 months/4000miles). I am going to look at the wear on the drums tomorrow, but they were fine 6 months ago when the new shoes went in so I dont think it is caused by worn drums, or that worn drums would have such an effect. I have bled the brakes a few times, again working around the correct corners so I am pretty sure there is no air in the system, and fluid level is at MAX. I have tested the brake booster as per the test procedure in the manual and it seems to be acting as it should, and seems to be airtight, but it is hard to tell with the amount of pedal travel. While bleeding the brakes I have recently learned the it is not a good idea to allow the pedal to hit the floor as the master cyclinder can be damaged when the seals pass over parts that are not in daily use and may be corroded, I have done this in the past and think that may be what has happened. Basically I just want you to confirm my suspisions that I have a bad master cylinder, is there any way to tell for sure, the manual I have doesnt cover it in much detail. Also will a bad master cylinder cause problems with the ebrake operation, or have I got another separate problem there? Cheers, John www.irishrex.cjb.net
