Hello all,

heres my situation. I drove to work last night with my brakes working fine, when I got out of work this morning i got in my car put my foot on the brakes a few secs later i felt something weird from the pedal then it went to the fall I shut the car off and check my brake fluid level, and it was really low. I also noticed that my brake were doing a little something though, like when i pulled out of my packing place they would slowly stop me, but they would be worth less if i was going over 10mph. I also noticed when I shut the car off and pumped the brakes they would get tight again until i turned the car back on then the pedal would go to the floor again.

So I know i some how lost all my brake fluid the last time i got in my car, and i'm wondering if they maybe something common with this car that goes wrong i should know about?

My plan is to put brake fluid back in it tonight and see if i can find where its loosing it at. I tried looking this morning, but it was raining hard and i had no luck in finding any unusual looking wet spots.

I am sure i'll get a lot of replys telling me to toe it to a shop and have them take care of it, but I just drop 1k in this car, and dont have any more money. so before i even think about taking the car back to another shop i'd like to at least try and figure out whats wrong with it and do it myself.

so am i on the right track of buying some brake fluid, putting it in the car, have a buddy pump the brakes, while i look for a leak? is there anything else i should try?

 

As your brake pads wear, the master cylinder fluid level will get lower. You may need to bleed the brakes, but try not to push the brake pedal all the way to the floor. The master cylinder rod seal can be damaged that way.
If you bleed the brakes and still have a soft pedal, the master cylinder could need replacing.

 

alright thanks a lot i'll give it ago, but would that cause my brakes to soddenly stop working like they did? they were working perfectly on the way to work, and they seemed to be ok for a few secs when i was about to leave work, but then the brake pedal suddenly gave in and went to the floor, leaving me with no brakes.

 

Did you find out whst the problem was? i had the exact same thing just happen to my car (also a 97 civic). Please post what you found out. thanks.

 

Yes I did after taking a better look at it, it turned out to be the brake lines that run under the car. i'm waiting on the fuel lines to rust out next :-/

I fixed them was by going up to the auto parts store grabbing some lines and fittings and just ran new lines. I didn't take out the old ones because that may have disrupted the fuel lines.

Also you may need to replace the cylinders that are in the drums in the rear, and maybe a caliper or two if the bleeders or the line running to them get rusted out and snap off . so i'd suggest trying to remove everything then going up to the auto parts store and getting everything you need at once.

Hopefully that was helpful enough. if that is the problem your having and you need more help i'm sure someone can help around here.