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Excessive brake pedal travel

Tiny
RONRIVERA
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 HONDA ACCORD
  • 131,500 MILES
Pads, Rotors & Master Cylinder replaced by my local mechanic but excessive brake pedal travel remains a problem. I brought it to the Honda dealer and they flushed the brake fluid system and bled the lines but that did not resolve the issue, Is there anything else that can be causing such a long brake?
The car is 2002 Accord Coupe EX-V6
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 6:16 PM

25 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
Do you have rear drum brakes?
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 6:19 PM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
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  • 10 POSTS
Raybestos Advanced Technology Pads & Rotors on all 4 wheels
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 6:22 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Were the calipers checked for binding? Seized caliper slider bolts would often result in low brake pedal and so would a failing master cylinder.
Is the ABS system working correctly?
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 6:29 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
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I have seen bad brake booster check valves cause low brake pedals.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 6:30 PM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
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  • 10 POSTS
Its going back to the dealer tomorrow morning. The Master Cylinder is new but I don't believe the calipers were checked nor was the ABS system. I had to brake hard today for a deer crossing in front of me and it felt like the ABS never kicked in as my foot practically went to the floor.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 6:42 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Is your abs light always on while your driving?
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 6:47 PM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
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ABS light is not lit at all
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 7:15 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Then the abs should be working if the light is out and you have abs on your car.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 7:28 PM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
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  • 10 POSTS
It has the ABS system. Was reading elsewhere that it may be caused by a leaking wheel bearing also but I have no signs of any leaks and the Master Cyl is full.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 7:31 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
Also a sticking caliper pin internal leaking etc.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 8:44 PM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
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  • 10 POSTS
Thanks for all your help. Will post the results if the dealer can locate the problem. It just seemed odd to me that after changing rotors and pads all around that the car would develop a stopping problem. This was just preventive maintenance and the car didn't actually need pads or rotors at this time. The car actually stopped better before.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 9:19 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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I have seen some of the aftermarket brake pads cause extra brake pedal travel. Do you have the old brake pads?
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 9:24 PM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
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No, I had no reason to keep the old pads and I assume my tech threw them out by now. That's an odd one but I did have Raybestos on the front, replaced at about 70,000 miles without a problem and the rear's were a no name brand thrown on by a shop I really didn't care for.
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Thursday, October 4th, 2012 AT 11:48 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Were the old pads worn evenly or sloped?
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Friday, October 5th, 2012 AT 12:07 AM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
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I think evenly but the front rotors were definitely warped.
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Friday, October 5th, 2012 AT 12:09 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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What you need to do now is to check if the slider bolts are seized. Quite often when there are insufficient lubricants on them, they tend to stck when new pads are installed. One more thing to check would be the handbrake cables.

I have seen many cases of wrong adjustment whereby the rear brakes would not self adjust and this would also result in low brake pedal.
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Friday, October 5th, 2012 AT 12:55 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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If they live where they salt the roads then the ebrake cables seize caliper pins etc.
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Friday, October 5th, 2012 AT 4:05 AM
Tiny
RONRIVERA
  • MEMBER
  • 10 POSTS
OK. Thanks for all the replies guys! I just returned from my local Honda dealer. Their recommendation afer bleeding the brake lines was for me to go back to my local mechanic that installed a new Master Cyl or let them, the dealer, install a "Honda" Master Cylinder. My local mechanis installed a brand new "Wagner" Master Cylinder last week after receiving a bad one from the warehouse initially.
At this point, I think I need a local pro to REALLY check things out!
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Friday, October 5th, 2012 AT 2:46 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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New parts failing are not news and that is a logical explanation and since they have inspected the problem, we believe the diagnosis should be correct.
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Friday, October 5th, 2012 AT 2:58 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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I would go with the dealers diagnosis.
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Friday, October 5th, 2012 AT 5:17 PM

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