Soft Brakes

[sonicsc1]

hello all my 2007 sport manual shift car just hit 20000 mark . my brakes seem very soft the car stops fine,but at a stop i can press it to the floor very easly . the pads on the front have plenty of meat left and the fluid is light at color and is on the full mark. it just feels very soft .what do you guys think???

[doctordoom]

when you're stopped, does it feel like the brake is turning softer and softer the longer you're stopped? and you can keep pressing the pedal further and further until it's quite literally floored? if that's the case i think it might be a problem with the master cylinder and you should take it to the dealer to be repaired.

[Tofuman]

have you done any heavy braking lately? like on a race track or somewhere that requires lots of high speed braking?

[sonicsc1]

no just regular driving i tryed pumping the brake to see if i can feel it get harder but its the same pressure and when i pump fast my rpm goes up alittle so i guess the master cylinder is working

[doctordoom]

Originally Posted by sonicsc1

no just regular driving i tryed pumping the brake to see if i can feel it get harder but its the same pressure and when i pump fast my rpm goes up alittle so i guess the master cylinder is working

what i mean is if you're just holding down the brake, like if you're stopped at a light for example. does it feel like you have to gradually press further and further down on the pedal just to hold the same amount of braking force? or since your car is manual, if you're stopped on an incline, do you have to press further and further on the brake just to keep your car from moving downhill? the reason i'm asking this is because on one of my parents' acuras, this was the symptom, and the mechanic told us that the master cylinder needed replacement, and after that everything was ok.

[cojaro]

You may have air bubbles in your brake lines. Drain and replace your brake fluid then if that's the problem.

[Tofuman]

Originally Posted by cojaro

You may have air bubbles in your brake lines. Drain and replace your brake fluid then if that's the problem.

that would create a spongy feel to the pedal. is that what you feel, sonicsc1? if so, you can just bleed the brakes and top off the brake fluid. you don't have to drain it all out.

[toxicavenger]

that could be true but at 20k I would think you wouldn't have to bleed anything. but you never know so I would give it a shot to see what happens.

[sonicsc1]

say could i have to adjust my drums???? maybe they are a few clicks to lose is this possible what do you guys think?? hate to take it to the dealer .dont want to remove my hitch which i only carry my bicycles on never ever hitched anything or pulled anything . does the dealer ever do these kind of adjustments during a maint?? i mean i never go to the dealer unless its warrenty work ,have 100,000 / 7 year so i hope to never see those ripoff mother @#$%.

[Fitftw]

What i would do is try to bleed the brakes and see if that fixes any problems. Brake work should be under warrenty so if all else fails maybe a trip to the dealership is needed.

[mahout]

Bleed your brakes. Properly and thoroughly.

[CorrodesTheFilm]

This car does have pretty soft/spongy brakes.

At a stop I can press my pedal to the floor as well, at least easier than in other cars I have driven. Still stops on a dime though.

[Rob22315]

Two likely trouble items

- as others posted, air in brake lines - have them bled, easy DIY but should also be cheap at the brake local shop.
- misadjusted rear drum brake shoes - I don't know the specifics of the Fit rear drums but I had an old S-10 blazer that had very spongy brakes unless I got the rear brake shoes adjusted correctly. The auto adjust mechanisms in some (maybe all?) drum brakes are mechanical (a screw), not hydraulic, so the shoes have to be set 'close enough' to get the adjust mechanism to engage. If the shoes are outside a certain set point, the mechanical auto adjust mechanism won't work. The assembly line could easily get this wrong out-of-the-box.

If you are still under warrantee, a trip to the dealer is warranted to have them look at this. Don't wait around for problems with braking and steering to fix themselves!!

[richard612]

Pull drums, adjust ratchet thingy.