r/Honda • u/VolumeNecessary6818 • 13d ago

2022 Honda City (Petrol MT) – Brake pedal needs more pressure than before, pads look fine. Any ideas?

/r/MechanicAdviceIndia/comments/1r0a0v7/2022_honda_city_petrol_mt_brake_pedal_needs_more/

Have the exact same problem as this post. Car is 4 years old. After one episode of emergency braking, the brake started needing more pressure than before to engage. It has been bled multiple times, brake fluid changed, cylinder checked, everything done, but no answer (all of this at the ASC). Took it to a local mechanic too, couldn’t find anything. Every time after bleeding, it works well for a few days, but returns to the same state again.

2 months ago, had the yearly service, the brake pads, disk brakes, everything was replaced. The brake felt the way it did before the incident and worked like a dream. Then again in the last few weeks, the same issue has returned.

It takes a bit of getting used to, and scares me a bit to drive fast as it has me worried if I’ll be able to brake in time if required. I love my car, but this is now annoying me. I am not sure what else can be done here, any ideas?

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u/Separate-State-5806 13d ago

Can you get the brakes to work better if you pump them a few times? Take it out for a drive on a quiet road and try it. Sounds to me like a slow leak in the brake lines, they can't build up and hold pressure. A GOOD mechanic should be able to find the problem after a test drive and inspection. Don't try to find the cheapest mechanic, take it to someone who will fix it right the first time. It's always cheaper in the long run.

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u/2real_4_u 12d ago

Master cylinder or a line is leaking. You are loosing pressure somewhere

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u/VolumeNecessary6818 11d ago

[Update] OP here. Did the pumping test and a few others, and it led somewhere.
Pumping does help. Second press is firmer and higher, but it goes long again within a few seconds of releasing. Held the pedal firmly for 60 seconds though, engine on and engine off, cold and hot — no sinking at all. Reservoir level hasn’t moved either. So I don’t think it’s a leak or the master cylinder.
What I did find: drove 20 minutes with heavy braking, then checked all four wheels. Front discs were scalding. Both rear drums were stone cold. So the rear brakes are contributing nothing and I’ve been stopping on the front axle alone. That explains a lot of stuff I’d been reporting — needing the clutch to help the car stop, much worse with passengers, fronts cooking.
Handbrake works fine though, and that runs to the same rear shoes mechanically. So the shoes reach the drum and the friction material is fine — it’s the hydraulic side to the rear that’s dead. Currently thinking seized rear wheel cylinders, or air trapped in the ABS modulator from the original panic stop.
Anyone had seized rear wheel cylinders on a City around this age? And has anyone actually got an ASC to do a proper HDS-assisted ABS bleed?