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2007 Accord Brake Problem

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  #1  
Old 04-27-2011 | 01:16 PM
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Question 2007 Accord Brake Problem

I’m new to this forum and would appreciate any help you can provide.

My wife drives a 2007 Accord SE 4 door with the 4 cylinder. It’s currently got around 57,000 miles on it. A problem started to develop with the brakes at around 40 or 45,000 miles that is still continuing. First thing in the morning, after the car has sat in the garage all night, when we back out of the garage onto our downward sloping driveway, the brakes are almost nonexistent. You can push the pedal as hard as you want, but the brakes are basically not functioning. The cars rolls backwards down the short driveway out into the street (thankfully we live in a cul-de-sac and have no traffic coming by). As soon as we drive the one block up the street to the first stop sign, the brakes are working normally and will continue to work normally for the rest of the day.

I replaced the brake pads, front and rear, at 50,000 miles and the problem did not change. I just had the car to my local Honda dealer this week to have the brake lines flushed and new fluid put it. I spoke to the dealer about the problem and they came back saying that they could find nothing wrong in the brake system to account for it. Their hope was that flushing the fluid would clear out any trapped air bubbles that may be contributing. Turns out the brake flush did nothing to address the problem either.

Has anyone encountered a similar problem on their Accord? I’ve searched the DIY postings and have not come up with anything. Any ideas out there on what may be going on?
 
  #2  
Old 04-27-2011 | 05:59 PM
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First silly question.... you back out with the engine running, right? If you back out by gravity downhill, you'll have no vacuum boost for your brakes.

Other than that, I've occasionally had something like that when brake rotors are wet. Think of bicycle rim brakes in the rain...

Do you get moisture in the garage? I'm thinking of times when parked outside overnight & there's a heavy amount of dew on the ground.
 
  #3  
Old 04-27-2011 | 08:46 PM
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Originally Posted by JimBlake
First silly question.... you back out with the engine running, right? If you back out by gravity downhill, you'll have no vacuum boost for your brakes.

Other than that, I've occasionally had something like that when brake rotors are wet. Think of bicycle rim brakes in the rain...

Do you get moisture in the garage? I'm thinking of times when parked outside overnight & there's a heavy amount of dew on the ground.
Ya good questions! The car is definitely running when we back it out. The rotors shouldn't be wet. First off, we live in a very dry climate (Colorado), and the car is in the garage every night regardless of the weather outside. This problem occurs everyday, dry or wet outside.

The brake pedal doesn't go down to the floor, it feels like it normally does when the brakes are functioning correctly. It's like the pistons don't have enough pressure behind them to push the pads until the car has run for a minute or two. I've tried letting it idle in the garage for a minute or more before backing out and that has helped it a few times.
 
  #4  
Old 05-01-2011 | 07:20 PM
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That's still really confusing. If you had installed track brakes, they normally don't work well untill they're warmed up. But across 2 different sets of brake pads? Was one set the original ones?

Are any warning lights on, especially ABS or stability control?
 
  #5  
Old 05-02-2011 | 08:53 PM
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The problem started occurring with the factory brake pads. I replaced all of the pads and the problem continues.

As an experiment this weekend, I tried pumping the brakes about 10 times in the garage before putting the car in reverse and backing out. That solved the problem and the brakes worked fine in the driveway. If I don't pump them first and just back out, I have no brakes at all.
 
  #6  
Old 05-02-2011 | 08:55 PM
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To answer your other question - there are no warning lights on. The brakes work great once I drive 1 block up the street to the first stop sign, and will continue to work fine for the rest of the day.
 
  #7  
Old 05-03-2011 | 01:09 AM
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Does the brake pedal go to the floor? Does the brake pedal feel spongy?
 
  #8  
Old 05-06-2011 | 08:50 AM
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Actually the pedal doesn't go down as far as it normally would and it feels very firm, almost hard to push it down at all.
 
  #9  
Old 05-06-2011 | 12:34 PM
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This sounds like a mechanical problem, possibly in the brake pedal hinge, vacuum booster or master cylinder (MC). Basically, something is binding on the brake preventing the MC from squeezing the hydraulic fluid. You have no brakes becaus you have no brake pedal pressure to the MC.

You should be able to confirm this theory by pulling a wheel and checking disc brake caliper for movement when you press the brake (cold first thing in morning). If nothing moves, there is no brake hydaulic pressure at caliper as proposed above.

I would start by examining the brake pedal hinge and connection w/ the vaccum booster linkage for possible binding or interference.

If you can't find a source for the problem, I would remove the MC and vacuum booster and replace these elemants. This is potentially a very serious issue if it occurred during normal driving.

good luck
 
  #10  
Old 05-08-2011 | 02:36 AM
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Check that you're getting good vacuum into your brake booster. Check-valve installed backwards or something silly like that?
 


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