Being on vacation, I decided to take my S2000 in to the dealer to have my brakes looked at. This is my 2nd S2000 and since getting this S2000, the brakes have simply not been there. ABS engages way to soon and the braking power is simply not there. the brakes started feeling worse and worse as time went by (note: I have 3300 miles on it). I took the S2000 to PIR once and the brakes were having all kinds of problems, by the end of the not so long day, I had to really press on the brakes to barely stop. I've been in a few emergency situations in rush hour traffic and stopping the brakes has almost thrown me into the curb while my other S2000 would have stopped 30 feet sooner. It really shows itself at high speeds (freeway) on hard braking, it will actually make the rear jerk (due simply to braking). My last s2000 never had these problems and I spend a good amount of time AutoXing it. What are you to think when you press the brakes down and there is not stopping?

So... I took it to the dealer. They "test" drove it and said they could not feel a problem, they refuse to do anything. I told them that I don

 

Brakes are a simple thing - there is fluid and pads. Change your fluid and your pads and see if that makes a difference.

If you boiled your stock fluid (not hard) during your track event then this is the problem.

 

I have always thought it was a fluid problem, thinking that there were pocket of air in the brake lines (which might have causes boiling at the track) or flaws in the pads. You would have thunk the dealer would have been able to "detect this with testing"... lol!

BUT:

I had a lot of problems with my Del Sol VTEC

 

Honda fluid is DOT3. Upgrade to some Motul Racing 600.

Rusting rotors are not really an issue after your first couple of stops when all the rust is removed by the pads.

Get a good fluid flush and possibly some new pads and you will be good to go.

 

Replace the Fluid with Motul. You won't fade after that. Its really easy to boil the brake fluid on any Honda.

I've actually ran many different fluids in my Prelude. The Honda fluid was better than all the store brands (Castrol, etc). But, Motul surpassed them all. No squishy pedal whatsover. The pads can get too hot and braking distance increases, but no squishy pedal.

Good Luck.

You're right, driving a car with squishy brakes feels dangerous. A hard brake pedal makes a world of difference.

 

When you have fade from a fluid problem you normally have a mushy pedal. When you have pad fade you have longer stops requiring higher pedal pressures.

Of all these common problems it is possible that you have some pad fade from over heating new pads.

The description of the rear jerking and braking that is not smooth from front to rear is less common. I guess it could be a proportioning valve, but it could just be your perception/reaction when the brakes don

 

y2ks2k:

I am a little bit confused, so I probably will not able to be any help, but maybe you can describe the problem a little bit more clearly.

You mention that the ABS engages way too early. That is really strange, since they are only to engage when the wheels are actually blocking. Therefore you must have the 'optimal' braking power right there!

If you have any problems with the wheel sensors, you should get an error message in the ABS unit, causing the ABS light to come on. It constantly monitors integrity of the system components. It also checks for wheel speed differences (or at least the wheel speeds that the sensors pick up).

Our Stooks have a 3-channel ABS, which means that there is a sensor on both front wheels and one on the rear axle (I believe in the differential). Also, the car has Electronic Brake Distribution, which replaces the 'oldfashioned' proportioning valve (which isn't on our cars). This device is also run by the wheel speed sensors and the ABS unit. When the rear wheels start to lock up, it will start to cycle and reduce the rear wheels brake pressure.

The problem you describe could than in fact only be a result of all sensors having exactly the same error, so the computer, which compares them all to eachother, cannot see any error. That is highly unlikely.

If your pads are 'glazed' the wheels will also not lock up very fast, and no ABS as a result, just hard stomping necessary.

My guess would therefore be that your brake fluid is indeed boiling (there would be moist/water in the lines) and that you feel and mistake that spongy feeling for the actuation of the ABS, when in reality it doesn't.

Maybe it is a good idea to drive over a really slick surface (like a plastic layer with water over it, or basalt stones with water, which we use during ABS brake testing) and brake until the wheels lock up. This does not require high pressure at all (no boiling of brake fluid hopefully), and you should be able to really 'experience' what the ABS action feels like on your pedal. You would have to have a speed exceeding 10 mph, I guess.

Get out there and do some of these tests (safely!!!)

I'm interested in your findings!!!

Good luck!!

 

Once you've experienced "fluid fade" will it correct itself or is it neccessary to bleed the brakes. I experienced this at my last AutoX on my last run and things seemed to improve once the car cooled.

Thanks

 

......you boiled your brake fluid plain and simple. Change it out. If you want to continue your incursions onto the race track you may want to get a better grade.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mack
[B]Once you've experienced "fluid fade" will it correct itself or is it neccessary to bleed the brakes. I experienced this at my last AutoX on my last run and things seemed to improve once the car cooled.