Brakes and pulling power

Fourth Generation Honda Prelude topics

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elpachio
Lude Dude
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Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:12 am

Brakes and pulling power

Post by elpachio »

Hiya, I have a 95 Lude and would appreciate your thoughts on here fellow Lude fans!

My brakes have been lacking pressure recently, with the pedal dropping to the floor as I brake slowly.........Honda bled the brakes, but found no leaks or issues with drum or anti-lock hose, so are now assuming it's the master brake cylinder..........or failing that a servo (?).
It also pulls to the right a bit under hard braking........anyone have any thoughts on this?

Also, I have had two or three slow ignitions lately in warm weather (struggles for a few seconds before starting), and occasionally it hops a little when into third gear and pulling away, like it is momentarily starved of fuel.
I have had the ignition coil/module replaced two months ago, and just had the distributor cap cleaned, the spark plugs replaced and fuel filter replaced, and EGR valve was replaced last year, but it still does it. Any ideas?? Does the Lude have an auto choke?

Thank you all!
SP

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spiffyguido
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Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:55 am
Prelude Model: 1991 SE-SR
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Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by spiffyguido »

Regarding your engine troubles, are you getting any codes from the ECU when this occurs? It does sound like a fuel problem, possibly caused by a sensor. I have had slightly similar problems caused by a faulty coolant temperature sensor, but it mainly impacted engine starts and not pulling away.

For the brakes, I suspect that your problem might be the master cylinder provided that the brakes were bled correctly. Somewhere the system is losing pressure, either at the cylinder, the booster or along the lines. You might want to crawl under your dash and poke around for leaks. The shaft for the master cylinder extends into the cabin, and leaks will sometimes form and leak fluid onto the cylinder input shaft.

elpachio
Lude Dude
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Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:12 am

Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by elpachio »

Thank you - it's gone in for a master brake cylinder replacement today so hopefully that'll fix it. They said they bled all brakes, except offside front because it was seized up a bit and they needed to whack some heat on the wheel. But they found no leaks on the hoses/drum.

ECU is not showing anything - it had the EGR valve replaced last year, but everything diagnostically seems okay. Does the 95 Lude have an auto-choke? Could that be causing a warm day starting delay?

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spiffyguido
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Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by spiffyguido »

There isn't a mechanical auto-choke. The concept of 'choke' in a PGM-FI Honda is achieved by metering a different amount of fuel and air by the ECU and the IAC valve.

crizma
Lude Lady
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:27 pm
Prelude Model: 1994 S
Location: texas

Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by crizma »

I have the same problem with the brakes. Took my car to a used tire place and bought a used tire because the back tires are wearing out from the inside out. When I left that place my brakes were not working right. Could of been a fluke that they went crazy that day but could it of been something to do with them putting a tire on?

By the way I have a 5 speed 92 prelude SI with 4ws. Purchase this car last Feb and I put an INSANE amount of miles on it, showing 205000 now.
The ABS light goes off some days and stays on somedays same goews for the 4ws since day 1. I have learned a lot about 4 ws from this site, in fact I reset it but it came back on the next day. Ya sure can tell the difference when it is off.


Back to the brake problem. Pumping my brakes before I come to a stop helps but right when I think I have it stopped the brakes go all the way to the floor. I have slid through a few lights. Heaven forbid someone pulls out in front of me cause if I just hit the brakes without pumping them it just slows me down before going to floor. My tread was wearing out from the inside of my car to the out but just the back wheels. They were going slick woth a quickness. Purchased 4 new tires thinking it may be why my brakes were screwed up, it sure helped but still same problem.

The used tire place said the would do alignment for 50.00 that to me sounded good but I waited til next day. Different guy working there was smart enough to look my car up in the book/ manual and straightup told me they do not have the proper equipment for my car. Whew! Thank God he was honest. The 4ws takes a special type of alignment correct? I'm freaking out because everyone wants to tell me it is the same as any car but the guy showed me in the book that it is totally different.

My stepdad has an appointment for my car tomorrow morning a.m to be aligned and it is another one of those really low cost "deals" and I would like to know if this is okay? Sure don't want to ruin anything! Hope someone can respond to this before a hand over the keys to some nimwit that is clueless bout 4ws.

Forgot to mention that since the day my car started acting strange when I went to the used tire place that my freaking steering wheel is cockeyed like a 25%. How can all of this happen just by getting tires rotated and replacing a bad one?

One more thing that has been happening even before the used tire place.. when I'm backing
up to the right I hear a popping in the rear, sounds like it could be serious. Probably has something to do with why the back tires are wearing out?
Sheesh! I though abs was something to do with air bag . See how easy it would be to put one over on me , "they" see it and thats why I am consulting you peeps because you have no financial gain to suggest what may be the problem. Thank Goodness for the internet : )

Thank u for your time.

Rani :shock: :oops:

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spiffyguido
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Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by spiffyguido »

Rani,

You've got multiple issues going on right now from the sounds of things. I'll do my best to give what advice I can.

First of all, getting an alignment on a 4WS Prelude is a delicate procedure and does require a special tool that in general only Honda service garages will have. On this site, we always suggest that people go directly to Honda to get a 4WS alignment AND quiz the actual mechanic who will be doing the alignment before letting the car up on the hoist. The special tool has to be used to get the alignment right.

Regarding your brake problems: Stop driving your car. Stop now. If you can't get the car to reliably stop you have a serious braking problem and have no business on a public road. You need to either have the car towed (yes, towed) to a reputable garage or do some repairs yourself immediately. Sliding through an intersection is a great way to get yourself and others killed. You obviously have a serious problem with your braking system. There is probably a leak somewhere or the master cylinder is completely defective. If you're going to work on the car yourself, get it up on jackstands, take the wheels off, and start investigating. You are losing brake pressure somewhere, OR your brake lines are so full of bubbles that they are completely useless. Read the brake maintenance section of the service manual and go over everything.

Regarding your tire wear, if the inside of your tires are wearing out really quickly I have to assume that your car has been lowered incorrectly and the wheels camber is very wrong. Either that or you have some serious alignment issues. Your steering wheel being cockeyed could also be alignment related.

I can't say for sure what the popping from the back end might be. Sounds like something isn't right. When you have the car up to do the brakes, you better have a peek around back there as well. Something must be loose.

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RedRacer
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Prelude Model: 1995 Si w/mods
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Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by RedRacer »

Everything Spiffy has said is right on the mark.

Most importantly and the responsible thing to do is STOP DRIVING THE CAR. You're putting innocents at risk, as well as yourself. Not a cool thing to do, no matter how bad you need to be wherever it is you're going. If you die or go to prison for killing someone, you won't be going anywhere.

And trust me, as I learned today, sh*t happens, to us all. When we least expect it. Even to those of us who try to be sensible and be safe and stay away from trouble -- I would have never thought I'd end up 2 or 3 feet of water, floating in my Prelude with my cylinders full of water. I've always been the guy watching the TV news going "Stupid people! - How did they end up in that water like that, I can't believe they'd even think about going into that water?!!" -- yep, and now I know, despite best efforts, accidents happen, and they happen FAST. You can't control all things all the time. Even though we like to think we can.

So stop driving the car with a malfunctioning braking system. It's not worth it. If you don't then you're going to get to experience that same feeling of utter helplessness that I felt in the rising flash-water -- as you try to stop your car and can't.

As for the tires, etc. 4WS is a very delicate creature and pretty advanced for what it is. Not everybody can (or will) work on that alignment. Take it to a Honda dealer or verify that the service center working on it has the tools to align that setup correctly. All the things that you listed off, the wear, popping, offset steering wheel, etc. can definitely come about from people doing the wrong kind of alignment on your 4WS vehicle.

Best of luck! And again, please, stop driving and get the braking system fixed. We're not berating you. It's out of concern. We want you to be safe, and come back to PDriver!

crizma
Lude Lady
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:27 pm
Prelude Model: 1994 S
Location: texas

Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by crizma »

thank you both for your advice.
You were right on the money!
MY car has been fixed: aligned not by Honda but it seems gto be just fine now, The steering wheel is back like it should be, new tires, master cylinder. Sure do appreciate your help.
I have had a problem with ac since summer began and I will post the symptoms on the right thread.
Have a wonderful day : )

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spiffyguido
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Re: Brakes and pulling power

Post by spiffyguido »

Glad to hear you got it fixed. Thank you for coming back and telling us about the resolution. It really helps others who might view this thread with similar problems.



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