Did everything I can think of but brakes still soft (Honda Element 2007)

Asked by Dave Jan 25, 2020 at 09:02 PM about the 2007 Honda Element LX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

We had some extreme cold weather and my brakes started getting soft. By
the time I got home I was having to pump them to stop. I got to my home and
my fluid level was low. I figured I had a leak and searched everywhere but no
leak. I changed out my front calipers as the old ones looked like maybe they
had a bulge in the rubber near the piston and I thought maybe they leaked in
the cold weather - bled my brakes again, still no brakes. Replaced the
master cylinder, bench bled, then bled my brakes again. I get some pressure
with car off, no air bubbles after bleed, but it's still soft and not stiffening
during bleed process. When I turn on the car the pedal just goes to the floor,
if I pump it quickly I can build up a tiny amount of pressure but can't even get
enough pressure to stop car. What the heck is going on. No leaks with
bleeding or tests now - why can't I get brake pressure? I was told that with
Honda Element the sequence is RF, LF, LR, RR.

1 Answer

157,465

Did you put the calipers on the correct side. Getting them mixed up puts the bleeder at the bottom of the caliper and not at the top where they should be. That makes it impossible to get all the air out. I would think the RR,LR,RF,LF makes more sense. Always bleed from the farthest from the master cylinder first.

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