I have a 1997 Accord LX and my brakes are pretty spongy, they work fine but i would like them not to be so spongy. Is it possible to manually bleed them? (Person hold down brake pedal while you loosen bleed valve until fluid is visible)

And if it is possible, would you recommend i have the car on a lift? or can i just have it on cinder blocks and crawl under it?

 

before you get to far into it have you checked your fluid level?

 

I have checked my fluid levels and they are fine

 

Then yes, I have done it before with good results. Have a bottle honda brake fluid on hand

 

First thing is that cinder blocks are not safe to use, buy a set of jack stands from the parts store.
Secondly there is a honda TSB about bleeding brakes by pumping the pedal;
The main part of the bulletin is to NOT push the pedal all the way to the floor because that pushes the master cylinder piston up into the crud in the end of the cylinder [where the piston has never been]and can damage the piston seal.

 

^more detail plz? What is a TSB and how can i find it?

 

TSB = technical service bulletin. Honda doesn't really like us civilians to see them, so you have to get some friendly dealer or shop types like the HondaDude to tell us about them.

When you're bleeding the brakes, you stroke the pedal down to pump fluid out the bleeder valve. Probably the TSB just says don't go all the way to the floor. That would push the piston down into the part of the cylinder where it never goes, so that part of the cylinder isn't kept clean & polished by the normal motion of the brake pedal.

Concrete blocks can suddenly fracture. If you're underneath the car, it'll hurt. Maybe only for a very brief moment. Steel jack stands don't cost nearlyas much as a trip to the ER (or morgue).

You may be able to lay down & reach the bleeder valves without lifting the car at all.

 

Good Heads up you two guys..HondaDude and JimBlake..
Thanks for getting the new member up to speed on his brake post...

WheelBrokerAng [sm=groupwave.gif]

 

FYI - you can do one wheel at a time and not have to put the whole car up on stands. Just jack up andput a stand under the one wheel you are bleeding at a time. I did it that way cause I didn't have 4 jackstands to use. Pump the pedal a few times, then hold it down, but not all the way to the floor
I used regular old DOTIII and didn't buy Honda brand fluid[:'(]