'90 Integra brakes; oil light

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H - 21 Oct 2008 17:43 GMT

1990 Integra LS - no ALB; Brake pedal slowly goes to the floor. After
pumping once or twice, it recovers and may or may not slowly sink to floor
again. This only seems to occur after driving for awhile or when the car
sits after driving and the engine compartment is hot. Doesn't seem to have
problem in cool weather or when car is not running. Checked vacuum assist
as outlined in manual, it seems OK. I'm not losing fluid. I suspect the
master cylinder, but the intermittent occurrence confuses me. Before
digging into the master cylinder, I'd like to know your thoughts on this.

Oil light sometimes comes on but not at full brightness. Is the pressure
switch an on/off thing, or does it have degrees of on? Ground problem?

Thanx for assistance

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Tegger - 21 Oct 2008 22:01 GMT

> 1990 Integra LS - no ALB; Brake pedal slowly goes to the floor.
> After pumping once or twice, it recovers and may or may not slowly
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> intermittent occurrence confuses me. Before digging into the master
> cylinder, I'd like to know your thoughts on this.

Does the master cylinder fluid level stay that same during all of this?
Then the master cylinder is bad. Replace it.

The intermittency just means the MC seals are reaching the end of their
lives but haven't yet failed entirely. Eventually it will happen more and
more often.

> Oil light sometimes comes on but not at full brightness. Is the
> pressure switch an on/off thing, or does it have degrees of on?
> Ground problem?

The pressure switch is an on-off thing. Comes on below 6psi (IIRC).

It is easily damaged through the use of the wrong kind of oil filter wrench
(breaks the switch), but that usually results in a non-functional switch.

Since oil pressure is critical to the health of your engine, you need to
get this looked at right away. You need to either have the pressure checked
with a real gauge plumbed into the oil pressure switch hole, or replace the
switch on the gamble that it's bad. A new switch is about $40.

Signature

Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

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