I have a 2013 Honda Fit I bought a year ago with 30k miles on it. I just had the front discs and brakes replaced. The inspected and found warping on one rear brake wheel hub so they replaced. Nevertheless, every time I stop, no matter the speed of travel, the brakes are fine until just before stopping when they ease up a bit before grabbing hard. I just can’t get used to it. One mechanic said this is normal for subcompact cars. Is it? Or does this issue ring a bell with anyone? I have research online but just can’t find any help regarding smooth braking that eases or releases just before a harder grab at a stop, causing the vehicle to jerk from a sudden stop. It’s driving me 😜

 

1) It's not normal.

2) A '13 with 30k mi. should not need brake work except new brake fluid.

3) You might begin with this question: Is there air in the brake system?

Who did the work?

 

Most of us are going 50-60k before swapping the stock brakes. The only time my brakes feel funny is if I'm at a light stopped i can feel the pedal go slightly soft when the AC compressor cycles on the fans. It's just a few milometers of travel, but I can feel it. It's done that since new, so I've never bothered to read into it.

 

inclined to believe a fluid change (where no air enters the system) will cure what ails yuh. nearing 90k miles here. think i'm on my second set of OEM front pads, did re-lube drum assemblies out back. It stops great, incredibly predictable. "It's normal for subcompacts." I should start calling myself a professional. That's a total load.
I'll put that up there with "It's a small truck, it's supposed to vibrate."

 

Thank you for replies. I did have the brake fluid flushed and changed last year but it made no difference. Regarding changing the front rotors and brake pads, I elected to do this in my attempt to resolve the issue, which it did not. That work was done at a Honda dealer. I have discussed this issue with them and to date no one has a definitive answer. So, front rotors & pads are new, brake fluid has been flushed and changed, one rear wheel brake hub has been replaced after it was reported warped, and I was told rear pads are OK. At one point, a different repair shop said they found my e-brake was sticking and supposedly unstuck it. Not sure I would know if that remains trouble-free or if it could cause my reported issue. Not a whole lot left to test or replace. Can an slow air leak in lines cause this? What about the brake booster, or the ABS System? Anything else to check? Doesn’t seem like the Master brake cylinder would be a problem...

 

Could certainly be ABS related.

You can try removing the ABS fuse to disable it and see if that helps.

 

You got ripped off. Sorry. But it's too late to worry about that now, so let's not worry about it.

You don't have an air leak in the braking system. However, air might have entered the system while the above work was being done. The simplest, cheapest thing to do right now is to bleed the brake system. This is simply a process that will bleed out any air that is in there. It shouldn't cost you more than labor plus one bottle of brake fluid (which they may not even use in its entirety). Do this first. You can do it yourself with one friend to help you and some youtube videos. If you have to go to a shop, tell them before they start that you are only going to pay for a brake bleed and some fluid. No more parts. No more b.s.

 

I would not do this first.

Dandruff could certainly be related to insanity. But that's a long shot.

 

I bought this Jan 2019 and it came with this problem, so the local Honda dealer didn’t cause this when I had them put in new front rotors and pads. If this is due to air in the lines when first purchased, I was under the impression the lines would be purged of any air when the discs and rotors were installed. That was my call to install those, not the dealer, so my bad, but I was willing to eliminate that in the hopes it might resolve the braking issue. Anyway, if it is standard practice to bleed the lines during rotor and pad replacement, I can check that off my list of culprits. If it is not standard procedure, then I’ll ask them to try that next. Thanks again for all the suggestions. Any more ideas, I’m all ears!

 

It's just me but I normally don't bleed brakes with new pads and rotors. I have the service manual for the 2009-2010 and I'm left without a great answer weather to change fluid at pad change because that's left to the maintenance minder.

 

I'd like to head this off by saying I'm in no way attempting to talk down to you, just here to help because being stuck with a problem sucks.

Story time: I recently (1 month ago) purchased an 09 Toyota Tacoma from a Toyota dealership. Got it inspected and it passed the 140 point test at a separate mechanic shop at my expense. Brought it home and got to work. It shook while braking, vibrated at high speeds, (still) ran rough when starting cold for around 10 seconds, and the body vibrates when fully stopped for several seconds while in gear or at idle, enough to make you see double if you lean your head against the headrest. This was deemed as passing with flying colors and the issues were explained to me as being natural for "small trucks." If you were to hop in a brand new small truck, none of these issues would be present. That to me means that I can eliminate them through proper reparative maintenance.
I won't touch on the ideology of the salesman.

I will say that despite modern advancements and modifications, braking systems are relatively simple. Fluid gets compressed in a pipe running to the back of a piston (or pistons), pushing it out against a brake pad.
Here's a pair of youtube videos (part 1, then 2) to better explain the system to make it less intimidating through isolation of components function: Part 1, Part 2 (It was a lot of work finding videos that didn't suck! These are actually cool)
I'll be including some documents from our service manual also showing exploded images and brake bleeding procedures.

When brake pads and rotors are changed that does not necessarily mean that the system was bled. For a faster, more cost effective job, the mechanic would just squeeze the old pads against the calipers, pushing the fluid back up into the reservoir and creating enough space for new ones to be installed. The rotors are not involved in the hydraulic system and are just a thing for pads to grab. Were the fluid reservoir already near full prior to pushing the fluid back up, a syringe of sorts could be used to remove excess from said reservoir.
Now, I don't have a sciency explanation to express how air bubbles affect fluid in hydraulic lines. Maybe something to the affect of using a see-through straw and soda could help with imagery. Setting the straw in soda (or whatever).. Pulling it up with a thumb on the top, then covering the bottom hole with a finger. Should still have some pop in there. Then, still holding said straw at the bottom, blowing into the top to see how the fluid moves and applies pressure to your finger.
In a braking system this would be represented as a spongy feeling til enough pressure was achieved to actually put the squeeze on the rotors. It falls in line with your description to the best of my understanding. It's really easy to introduce air into a brake line. Just one screw up during the procedure and you gotta start over. The other components in the brake system aren't really subject to incompetence. Might be worthwhile to verify that the brake fluid reservoir isn't below the low line. That would also let in air. Its normal for the level to go down some over time as pads become thinner.

I know we're focusing on just one thing here, it's just that it fits the bill. Air introduction happens *all the time*

 

A long shot, but some brake pads have certain characteristics by design to have the "grab" behaviour. One is if there is any grease on the pads. The other is by design where the pads are heated up enough that they may experience a mild drop in brake feel, then bam, major grab.

When I bought my 2000 Integra, 2 of the caliper pistons were seized. Luckily for me the piston seals and all other rubber components were still in excellent shape, so I dismantled all the calipers and basically refreshed them so that they won't seize again.

 

The caliper pins as shown in the exploded image of the front brakes above are an excellent consideration.
Re-thinking the affects of corrosion on said pins or a brake piston, it would moreso affect release of the brakes vs initial grab. Again, not a science guy to elaborate well. In light of this I'd recommend a brake system inspection, potentially by the dealership.

I'd be quite surprised if someone put aggressive brake pads on the vehicle.. I always recommend OEM brakes for a quiet predictable stopping experience akin to when the car was new. That is, unless the vehicle has been modified and needs something more. Some auto parts stores have a bit of a customer manipulation thing going when it comes to pads. Companies (not necessarily employees) can profit from selling hard brakes that create premature rotor wear. Autozone even offers a lifetime warranty on some pads, assuming that you'll be back to purchase their more expensive counterpart.
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Thanks! All of this is very helpful, as I have been grabbing in the dark before. Now I have some great info so I can point the dealer in a good direction.

 

There are 3 fuses for ABS, which one(s) to safely test braking without ABS? Someone in another post suggested pulling the wrong one disables steering assist:

11) ABS/VSA - 7.5 A
37) ABA/VSA FSR - 30 A
58) ABS/VSA Motor - 30 A

I have yet to diagnose my brakes releasing and grabbing hard at end of a slow or fast stop, I brought it into the dealer to diagnose through OBD while driving and found nothing wrong, yet the brake release and grab continue daily. I am on my own to resolve this and thought I would test to see if ABS is doing anything weird by temporarily disabling it. Recap: I already have replaced the front disc brakes and pads, brake lines flushed, rear drum replaced. No one seems to know why this is happening. The dealer did notice it during their drive and noticed that the severity isn't consistent.

 

Your original post was over a year ago. Obviously this issue was never fixed.

 

Correct. It’s behaved like this since buying it used in Jan 2019 with only 27000 mi. Before that, it was owned by a Florida Honda dealer. Neither dealer or independent shops have discovered the cause, but all are happy to suggest things I have paid for with no difference to the problem. It’s a jerky brake to stop that happens independent of speed to stop or peddle pressure. Even letting up on brake peddle as I approach stop will not stop a hard jerk brake stop. Varies in severity too.