brakes

I have a 1987 honda wagovan 4wd with mushy brakes. I first got the car the
master cylinder resevoir was empty. I have since replaced the master
cylinder and have bled the brakes 5 x's with a pressure bleeder. Still
mushy! No leaks or siezed calipers. I need help!

 

Do you have drum brakes on the rear?

If so, consider a rear brake adjustment.

I flushed my 1991 Civic's brake system a few weeks ago. I goofed and let the
level in the MC reservoir go below the bottom. Gotta bubble of air in there. I
bled the brakes several times, using a Mityvac kit. The brakes still seemed
mushy. Then I read that mis-adjusted rear drum brakes may fool a person into
thinking air was in the system.

I did a rear brake adjustment (as well as clean and lube), and this improved the
brakes significantly.

A brake drum adjustment reduces the gap between shoe and drum. It's supposed to
happen automatically, but I wasn't having much luck "encouraging" that to happen
(via driving in reverse, hitting the brakes etc.)

I'm new to brake bleeds and drum brake adjustments, so I should note that some
dispute that such a manual adjustment should be necessary. OTOH, others in the
auto archives state otherwise.

 

I remove the rear drums, grind off the protrusions on the drum's brim
(form from wear) with a silicone carbine angle grinder. I install them, then
make tight adjustments and the brake pedal appears to meet the
standard for firmness. I agree that a manual adjustment is necessary.
It'll take forever to do it automatically in a worn out drum, which is
practically in most cars who tend to avoid machine shop
resurfacings.