89 civic dx - brake pedal issue

[Moe Arif]

Folks: Need your adivse.
Got new front brake pads, and new calipers installed. The car brakes well but only when I depress / floor the brake pedal. When I need to stop, depressing the pedal to almost 60% does not stop the car. Further flooring the pedal starts stoping the baby.
Mechanic says there is a cable adjustment required, on the cable that links the front and the back drum barakes. He wants me to bring the car to his shop, and says it is not a big deal - once the cable is tightened / adjusted, the brake will work upon initial depression.
Any ideas, please let me know.

[viper-blue]

he's right, if the rear brakes are out of adjustment that could cause your problem. Its also possible that he didn't bleed the brakes properly after replacing the calipers and whatnot. Also keep in mind that the new brake pads take a while to mate to the disc. Most pads bond real quick these days, but you could have got cheaper ones. If the brake pedal wasn't soft like you mentioned before you had the pads and calipers replaced..maybe give it a week of driving before you let this guy charge you more money

[Christ]

mmk.. first of all, adjusting a cable isn't going to give you a brake pedal... those are two parts of the braking system that are unrelated.

If you're pressing your brakes down all the way, and you are barely getting a brake, you need to bleed them... first off, check your brake fluid, and check around all your brakes, for signs of fluid leakage... sometimes, after changing your brake pads, it's possible to develop a leak b/c of the change in brake system pressure.

If your reservoir is full, and there are no signs of leakage, then you just need to bleed your brakes... a simple task.

[Moe Arif]

Thanks guys.The bleed was done. Not sure but the cable adjustment theory sounds like the issue, bc while driving when I pull the emergency brake handle a little bit, the brake pedal seems to tighten and then the braking seems normal !
What do you think about that guys ?

[turtlecrxsi]

Did you replace or resurface the rotors/discs when you had the pads replaced? If not, you should have.

[Christ]

that just means that you need to adjust your rear brakes.. when you pull the cable, it puts them closer to the drums, logically, it would take less movement from the brake system to get them the rest of the way there...

the bleed is done, so the next step is adjusting your rear brake shoes.. you should have them adjusted so that you can *just barely* feel a lil drag when you turn the rear tires by hand, the excess that is creating friction will rub off the first time you drive your car.

[FrodoGT]

Yeah sounds like youve got more front brake then you used to..and the rears need to be adjusted. They are SUPPOSED to have self adjusters on them, however its unlikely that they will work anymore. You can try them though. Find an empty parking lot and get going in reverse..about 15mph should do, then smash the brake pedal. Id do this about 2-3 times and they should, SHOULD adjust lol.

[Moe Arif]

I bled the system again last night, and nothing happened. Seems, bleed is not the issue.
I will get the rear adjustments checked today.
Thx.

[Moe Arif]

Problem Resolved.
Rear drum brake adjusted.
Thx all.