bled the clutch and brakes today...

this makes the second time ive done it to my 98 civic hatch. the first
was 3 years ago with under 30k on the clock. now it has 46k, so you can
tell i dont drive it a whole lot.

i also decided to pull the rear drums and measure the brake pad linings
and inspect the cylinders, wipe the dust out, etc. i was kinda worried,
since my e-brake has a lot of slack in it... takes 9 cliks to engage,
and thats not normal. i was afraid someone drove the car with the brake
on and wore the pads down.

consulted the helm manual, and it said the drums just come off. whew! i
was afraid theyd be part of the bearing assembly. just goes to show
honda spends time thinking when they design a car.

had to find a metric bolt that would fit in the holes to push the drum
off, but when i did it worked like a charm. shoes looked good- not near
the .08" min spec in the helm, so i was happy. cleaned everything, and
adjusted the star wheel adjuster from inside the hub so that the shoes
are *barely* rubbing. hopefully, that tip i learned here will firm the
pedal up a bit, and maybe take care of the e-brake.

i didnt spring for the speed bleeders, but i did take the bleed valves
out to inspect, clean, and put a little teflon tape on- another tip i
got from this group. a couple of em looked *slightly* corroded- probably
the effect of water getting in the system naturally. with the bleeders
off, a steady trickle of brake fluid came out. i figure if its coming
out, air isnt going in and gravity works pretty good to get the old
fluid out. didnt let the master cylinder empty.

i did em RR, LR, RF, LF... not according to helm, but just common sense
to do the wheels furthest from the master cylinder first. the teflon
worked great, and there were no air bubbles present, aside from the ones
that slipped past the bleeder connection to my mityvac. most of the old
fluid was drained out from gravity when i had the bleeder screws off, so
i really didnt have to use the mityvac too much until i was seeing
"straw-colored" fluid. the old fluid wasnt that bad... just kinda brown.

did the clutch, let that gravity bleed for a bit while i tefloned the
threads on the bleeder. kept it topped up, installed the screw, and got
any residual bubbles and old fluid out. pretty non-eventful.

then on to the e-brake... took the console out and noticed the "saddle"
had way too much slack on the right side. not good. took the right rear
wheel and drum back off, and adjusted the star wheel even more. put the
drum back on and checked. perfection! fully engaged in 4 clicks. didnt
have to adjust the cable in the console at all- it was just uneven.

which means im going to have to keep an eye on it, because im thinking
the self adjuster on the right rear isnt working all that well.
hopefully the cleaning will take care of it, but at least now i know
what to look for if and when it happens again.

sorry bout the long post, but im a happy camper right now. and i wont
have to do all that crap for another 3 years! but i figure if i keep
driving as little as i do now, i might put it off until 4 years... the
fluid wasnt bad at all. compared to some cars ive seen- my brothers 93
gmc truck has fluid that looks like coffee. probably never been changed,
either.

 

I am thinking the teflon was not a great idea. It may not hurt anything but
it is another foreign object into a hydraulic system that doesn't need to be
there. I have done a lot of brakes but I don't recall teflon tape being
mentioned as any kind of trick.

CaptainKrunch

 

=======================
Mike,

I'm guessing you never use your park brake much. It will do a pretty
good job of keeping the back brakes adjusted if you use it real regular.
Shoes will last longer and pedal will have less slack in it.

I can see the Teflon tape helping to keep the threads of the nipples
from siezing in salt coultry. (or for people who bleed brakes every ten
years) Just don't get it beyond the threads.

'Curly'

 

parking brake may adjust other cars, but not the civic! only the main
service brake does that. you need to press the pedal hard and release a
number of times for the self adjuster to operate. it's possible for the
threads to get stiff and for it not to work, but disassembly & cleaning
usually fixes that.

teflon on the bleeder threads is not a bad idea, but not necessary
unless you're trying to use a vacuum bleeder. i never bother.

 

5 speed, so i use it all the time.

hm. one side was off, for some reason. hopefully the problem does not
reoccur.

i did 1.5 wraps, all on the top half of the threaded part.

 

yup... i was using my mityvac. it definately made a difference.

 

SoCalMike wrote:

Report back after replacing the front rotors on an Accord!

 

If you use a vacuum bleeder you need to use something to prevent air from
leaking *in* past the threads of the bleed screws. MityVac recommends some
silicone grease, which didn't work too well for me, or teflon tape.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

20 minutes a side! you have to know what you are doing though. and
yes i am talking about the rotor behind the hub...
i never use tape or grease on bleeders, anad i use a vaccuum
bleeder everyday and never have a problem, as long as you close the
bleeder before droping vaccuum.
Chip