Sounds like a decent chance that the master cylinder might be failing. If you have to change it you might consider going to a larger bore master cylinder if you want to get a higher pedal but then the brakes attack just a bit quicker as well. When I did my front Integra brake swap onto my CRX Si, I also added the larger bore late '80s Prelude master cylinder and cup. There are two sizes of Si master cylinder and the Prelude is bigger yet.
As for the rear brakes and the e-brake, it simply sounds like the rear brake shoes are probably out of adjustment. Although technically they have self-adjusters, I have never known them to work on any of my cars so I just periodically adjust them up myself when I notice that the e-brake is coming up a few extra clicks when engaging. I adjusted my rear brakes a few weeks ago and now they are in good shape and the e-brake starts working about 1-2 clicks form the bottom without actually adjusting the threaded adjuster of the e-brake at the back under the center hump cover. Adjust up your rears then if you continue to lose pedal pressure you are probably not far from a new master cylinder. My current car always had quirks in it and I replaced all but the master cylinder before scrapping the whole thing and going the Integra brakes/Prelude master route. Great brakes since then. Lee ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Urch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 7:43 PM Subject: CRX: Brake troubles > 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 > >
