"You start with the longest line first. "
From an Acura tech on another blog:
"No. Honda brake bleeding sequence is generally LF, RF, RR, LR. I've bled hundreds of various Honda cars with this sequence without a problem. That's the service manual recommended sequence."
Also, from the service manual for a 2007 Civic:
Interesting. Not sure why they do it in reverse but hey if thats whats called for then bleed them in that order.
As for what pads to buy - cheap pads are a pain in the ass. They make lots of break dust which dirties up your wheels quickly and constantly, and can be squeaky. This is one scenario where I dont cheap out - ceramic pads are what you want. I used NAPA brand ceramics and am very pleased with them.
In my opinion, one benefit of DIY is that you buy good parts at discounted online prices. You know you are actually paying for quality parts, not an inflated price to cover shop expenses.
So I did the job and have encountered an issue. The brake pedal goes all the way down with only a faint hint of braking. But with a few pumps the pressure and braking is there. Fluid is topped off. I did notice a small leak from the front right calipers piston seal during pad installation but it was minor.
My current plan is to replace the front calipers next weekend. Should I be concerned with anything else? Is this problem the result of something else?
Btw job was to replace front rotors and pads, rear calipers and rotors.
Hopefully you are not driving the car…
Have you bled the system? The caliper has to be changed, but if there is no air in the system you might also need a new master cylinder.
When we changed the calipers we just let the lines drip a little as we changed them over to the new calipers.
I am not sure what calipers you bought, but if they didn’t have brake fluid in them and were not bench bled, it takes more than a few drops to get all the air out. More like half an hour in my experience. Have you checked the level in the reservoir? I will wait for others to chime in, but I would go ahead and rebleed the brakes.
Letting the lines drip a little is not bleeding the lines and calipers. New calipers are full of air. I suspect all you need is a proper bleeding.
Reread the instructions that others posted on how to bleed the brakes.
I thnik you may have missed a step…or not followed it to the letter.
You must follow those instructions exactly or you will never remove the air.
Yosemite
“I did notice a small leak from the front right calipers piston seal during pad installation”
I would concentrate on that, at the moment
If that piston seal is leaking, it’s probably letting in air
Overhaul or replace that caliper, then do the bleeding procedure again
Your specific knowledge trumps the old general rule I quoted.
Check to make sure you have the calipers on the correct side. The bleeder needs to be on the top. If it’s on the bottom - then you have them on the wrong side.
note: I did not pore over the entries in this thread -
I qualify as a “first time DIY” entire brake system self-appointee: this job has been taking a long time for me because of all the “while you are at it” jobs that came up in addition to the homework for the brakes themselves: wheel hub, brake wear sensors, cleaning the CV grease from the trailing arm (you are doing front only I think?), replacing the parking brake shoes/dinky things…
then once I have the system put together, I have to figure out how to break my pads in. I have read stories about this as being simple, to requiring specific steps. whatever the case, something to bear in mind - anyways, something I am taking seriously.
There indeed was air inside the new calipers, I did a quick bleed on most the air (was short on time), will give them a proper bleed when I install the front calipers and have a kit.
Is there any particular brake bleeding kit that anyone recommends? I would like to get one for this job and future jobs. a kit with a vac pump would be nice addition so I could do the job solo if needed.
I like the small one man bleed kits that cost about $8. Just be sure to mount the cup above the caliper so the fluid has to go up hill to the bleed cup. These kits have a magnet to hold them in place.
But I also will use some fish tank tubing that I get from the pet department at WalMart. Its a clear vinyl 1/8 or 3/16’ tubing sold in 8 and 25’ lengths. Any cup will do or sometimes I just drape it over a spring or something higher than the bleed valve and let it drain into a pan on the ground. As long as you have a foot or so of tubing above the bleed valve and rising at least 3" above, it will keep air from getting sucked back into the caliper.
You can just open the bleed valve about a turn with the tube attached and brake fluid will gravity drain down from the master cylinder and push air out the caliper and lines. When the tubing is full of brake fluid and no bubbles rising, the line is bled. Just close the bleed valve.
You can also get one-way bleed screws. I haven’t used them myself but I have heard plenty of testimonies on them. If you try them, let us know how they work. I’ve seen them in the help section at AutoZone, but I’m pretty sure that the other chain stores will have them too.
I have one of those vacuum pump bleed kits, I don’t care for it very much and would not recommend one.
Thanks for that fish tank tubing idea, I just bought 8’ of it for $3. I’ll use that and a cheap kit that I’ll pick up this week. I have consistently heard nothing but bad reviews for the vacuum pump kits, therefore I’ll be steering clear of them. In the end, there is nothing wrong with a 2 man job, most the time it’s better that way for safety and just for the company.
Job is finished, and brakes are fully bled. All seems to have worked out well. I went with the inexpensive Lisle brand brake bleeding kit. Cup could have been a little bigger but was overall good for the job.
Thanks for all the feedback and help along the way.
Zar, you da MAN!