Howdy all,
I've run into an issue with my 1997 Honda Accord coupe that I'm having a
heck of a time trying to figure out. I'm hoping that the collective wisdom
of the list can help me figure out what is happening.
A couple of weeks ago, someone pulled out in front of me, so I had to do a
'slam on the brakes' stop. In the past, ABS would kick in, the pedal would
judder, and the car would safely and quickly come to a stop. This time
though, the car dove to the right and the front right wheel locked up.
Didn't hit anything, but that was not the result I was expecting.
I've had the car since new, and it now has over 276,000 miles on it. So I
figured that one of the calipers was sticking, and since the calipers were
original to the car, it was time to swap them out. So I got a new set of
front calipers, plus new flexible brake lines all around and got everything
installed. Took it on a test drive, and same thing. Car dives to the
right, front right wheel locks up and if you don't have your hand on the
steering wheel, the wheel actually turns. So I then tried swapping the
front wheels to see if it was a tire or wheel issue, and nothing changed.
I then swapped the calipers, rotors and pads from side to side, and that
wasn't it either. I got the car up off of the ground, and then did a
visual check of all of the suspension parts. I had replaced just about
everything (lower control arms, upper control arms, tie rod ends, hubs,
bushings all the way around) back in the fall. Nothing appeared to be
loose or out of place.
At this point, I was stumped. I took the car to the local mechanic, and
let them have a crack at it. They rechecked everything, and ran through
some tests of their own, but couldn't find the issue. They thought maybe
the ball joints on the bottom of the steering knuckles were too loose, so I
had them replace those and recheck the alignment. Alignment checked out
ok, but the car still dives to the right under hard braking.
So now I'm leaning towards master cylinder or ABS unit issue. I don't see
any fluid leaking, but that doesn't rule out an internal issue. I checked
the temps of the rotors with an infrared thermometer, but the difference
between the two sides was only 10 degrees F after a 20 minute drive. The
car evidently has a split system, with the right front/left rear on one
circuit and left front/right rear on the other.
This has been one of the more difficult issues to track down. Anyone have
any ideas or thoughts on other things to check? Any info or help would be
much appreciated.
Greg Gowins
'69 Sprite/'97 Accord
Driftwood, TX
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spridgets@autox.team.net
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