So I had a 98 Civic ex gifted to me at Christmas by my FIL. Its been taken care of very well with all documents on oil changes, tires, brakes, etc. Today I was driving and had to brake hard and had the WORST vibration you can imagine. The pedal pulsed HARD and felt like it was going to come through the floor and the car made a funny noise (besides the grinding/banging noise). I just looked at the records and it had new calipers, rotors, pads, lines, fluid, etc., in the summer of 2012, 1 1/2 years ago. Its only had 9K put on it since. Any ideas?????

 

Sounds like the ABS kicked in. Does your car have ABS? If so, sounds fairly normal.

 

I didn't think 96-00 non si even had the option of coming with ABS but I wouldn't rule it out.

 

''besides the grinding banging noise'' ???

 

Yeah, it made a bunch of noise under braking, like a grinding, clunking, dragging noise. It sound like something broke and was being dragged under the car, but nothing did/was, and it made a weird humming noise too and I cant even describe it. The best I can say is it was like a humming/electronic sound similar to a low=pitch bell.

This felt like someone was under the car hammering the brake pedal with a sledge hammer. Tons of noise, SEVERE pulsing in the pedal, etc. It was REALLY bad. If you brake "normally" there isn't any problem. I did replicate it a couple more times by putting the pedal to the floor.

I have NO idea about Hondas. Im a Jeep guy, my FIL gave this car to my wife because our truck died and he got a new car. I want to give it to someone else. lol

 

The early ABS systems do not operate smoothly. They are rather simple and smooth quiet operation in lockup situations was not a major design criteria.

ABS was an option on the 1998 EX. If your car has ABS, there will be a red "ABS" trouble light on the dash that will light up when you turn the key on but don't start. I think that ABS can be disabled by pulling all the fuses out of the ABS fuse box under the hood-- then the car will "fail safe" and work like it has conventional brakes, but you didn't hear that from me.

 

Thanks, Ill check it out when my wife brings it home. The thing that drives me nuts is, Ive replaced a head gasket on a Cherokee in 5 hours no problem. This thing I have NOOOOO clue about. lol

 

if it only does it under heavy braking then its most likely the ABS.

 

It has ABS. Took it to the garage yesterday with my receipts and they looked at it and said nothing was wrong that they could see. I cant imagine this is normal? I mean, it seriously sounds and feels like the front end is ripping apart. That's normal?