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Extremely frustrating issue with my front brakes! Please help.

4K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Rustedwrench 
#1 ·
Hi, I'm going to try my best to explain this as my father explained it to me. I don't know much about the mechanics of my Honda so I had to translate from my dad (who is my mechanic). Ask any questions if you need to!

I've had my 03 Honda Element for 5 years. Recently, I had an issue where I was driving and the brakes would get stuck. I didn't even need to press on the brake for the car to brake, and I couldn't get it out of the second gear. This will happen once the brakes warm up, so I am able to drive just fine for like, 5 or 6 miles before my brakes lock up.

Within the last week, the master cylinder was replaced as were the calipers and the brake pads. However, I am still having this issue. I ran into a post with someone having the same issue and their problem was they needed to replace the master cylinder. I haven't been able to find another post with the same problem I'm having. Since the master cylinder has been replaced and the issue persists, did we miss something? We think it may be a problem with the brake booster but did not want to spend additional money replacing something that may not need to be replaced.

I am curious as to if it is an easy fix that we may have missed and can take care of at home rather than taking it to fix at a Honda dealership. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this has been such a frustrating issue this past week.

Thank you!
 
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#3 ·
Welcome, Lgarcia24.

Dana56 nailed it. Replace all four rubber brake lines. You didn't tell us how many miles are on the vehicle, but regardless it's not too soon to replace the flex lines on a 13-year-old car. You might have saved yourself replacing the master cylinder and calipers, but it's nice to have all new brake parts.
 
#4 ·
Brake lines would also be my guess. Look at it this way, when you have a problem, start at one end of the problem and work your way through the system. Brake pads and calipers was a good starting place, then work back, brake line would be next. I do this with plumbing, electrical , etc. problems. It helps eliminate random repairs.
 
#5 ·
I took my car into the shop and the mechanic told me that it's the entire anti lock break system, needing to be replaced. He also told me that upon replacing it, that it needs to be reprogrammed to the Element's computer system? Which is going to end up costing me $600.

Does this sound correct? He didn't mention anything about the brake lines needing to be replaced.
 
#7 ·
The first thing to determine is whether the fault lies with a single wheel or all. The brake on a single wheel dragging will be considerably hotter than the rest. No point checking them all if only one has a problem.

The brakes stay engaged because the system is under pressure, which applying the brakes. The proper way to diagnose is to determine where the pressure is being held. If, for example, one drives the vehicle until the problem presents itself, then slightly loosen a brake line at the master cylinder and the brakes release, then the master cylinder is at fault or the pushrod to it does not have enough free play (not common). Just because a master cylinder is new does not mean it can not be the culprit.

If the fault is not at the master cylinder then do the same to the lines between the ABS hydraulic unit and the rubber lines to the wheels. If none of those release the brakes then proceed to the caliper hose by releasing the caliper bleeder. If none show a result there may be a mechanical fault.
 
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