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Is this a problem?

1705 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Odyinid
I have had my Ody now for three weeks now and a couple of times I have been sitting at a stop light with my foot on the brake pedal when the pedal appears to sink down another 1/4 to 3/8 inch. The pedal is firm then it just sinks closer to the floor for no apparent reason???? The car does not move or change idle when this happens. Am I imagining this or is it really occuring? Has anyone else had this happen to them? Is this something that I should be concerned about? More important, am I going crazy???? :)

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'01 TW EX, Cargo Tray,
Weathertech mats, Helms manual
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Odyinid:
I have had my Ody now for three weeks now and a couple of times I have been sitting at a stop light with my foot on the brake pedal when the pedal appears to sink down another 1/4 to 3/8 inch. The pedal is firm then it just sinks closer to the floor for no apparent reason???? The car does not move or change idle when this happens. Am I imagining this or is it really occuring? Has anyone else had this happen to them? Is this something that I should be concerned about? More important, am I going crazy???? :)

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Hi Odyinid,

No, you're not going crazy!
I'm not sure if what I'm going to say is 100% accurate but I think it's close.

The power brakes on the car are vacuum operated. The system takes vacuum off the intake manifold when the engine is running. The engine itself is computer controlled. The computer controls many things including idle speed. It compensates for various loads on the engine, like when the AC cycles. The minute changes made in the throttle to control this, also make minute changes in the vacuue level in the engine and you feel that as a slight shift in the position of the brake pedal. It is perfectly normal and I can't remember owning a car that didn't do this at one time or another. You can duplicate this effect on purpose if you want to. Next time you take the Ody on an errand, try this when you return to the house. Pull in the driveway and let it sit for a few seconds with the transmission in drive. Then simply put the transmission in neutral and pay close attention to what the brake pedal does. If it's like mine, it should settle that short distance you've noticed. That's because you just took the load of the transmission itself off the engine and the computer compensated with the throttle to keep the idle constant.

Now, if the brake pedal ever moves significantly more than that 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch, have the brakes checked ASAP! Other than that, I wouldn't worry about it.

Take Care & Drive Safe,
Steve
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Well explained ,Steve. It's pretty normal. Our '91 Civic did that.

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-Rob-
'01 GG LX "Lagreat"(with stuff,just S-T-U-F-F)
http://community.webshots.com/album/18601743AkjQIJiKqK
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I THINK THIS IS NORMAL, BUT ANY OF YOU GUY'S OR GAL'S BRAKE PEDAL HAVE A
SLIGHT PLAY, ABOUT 1/4 INCH SIDE TO SIDE
THANKS

[This message has been edited by JERRY (edited 08-05-2001).]
man i thought my brakes were funy, good to see someone has noticed the same thing. kinda freaky when it does it.
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JERRY:
I THINK THIS IS NORMAL, BUT ANY OF YOU GUY'S OR GAL'S BRAKE PEDAL HAVE A
SLIGHT PLAY, ABOUT 1/4 INCH SIDE TO SIDE
THANKS

[This message has been edited by JERRY (edited 08-05-2001).]
</font>
Well, I just walked out to the car to check that and "yes" my brake pedal does have some movement side to side. Actually, if I had to guess, I think it's a little more than a 1/4 inch but it's not bad.

Out of curiosity, how'd you find that? It's not something that I think you'd notice by simply driving the car. I know I sure didn't!

Drive Safe,
Steve
Phew. Mine does it too, and I've been waiting/wondering if it was going to go to the floor one of these days, so I keep my senses tuned to it. Thanks for the great explanation Steve. Now I can pay more attention to the rattles...
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I thought I was having problems too! None of my older cars did this but before the ODY, the closest any of my cars got to new was about 11 years old!
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Intrepid175:
Well, I just walked out to the car to check that and "yes" my brake pedal does have some movement side to side. Actually, if I had to guess, I think it's a little more than a 1/4 inch but it's not bad.

Out of curiosity, how'd you find that? It's not something that I think you'd notice by simply driving the car. I know I sure didn't!

Drive Safe,
Steve
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Steve:

My 01 did the same thing floating left to right a little! I noticed it while I was driving bare foot a week ago when I went to pick my my kid. You can only feel it when you drive barefoot if you wear any kind of shoes or sandles you won't notice it. I tried it feel it with my shoes on, I can't!



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'01 GG EX
Mud Guard, Wheel Lock, Cargo Tray, Weathertech Mats
leather steerling wheel cover, Pioneer 1655 speakers,
Lojack
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JERRY:
I THINK THIS IS NORMAL, BUT ANY OF YOU GUY'S OR GAL'S BRAKE PEDAL HAVE A
SLIGHT PLAY, ABOUT 1/4 INCH SIDE TO SIDE
THANKS

[This message has been edited by JERRY (edited 08-05-2001).]
</font>
THANKS FOR THE INPUT ,APPRECIATE IT.




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JERRY
01' SS EX,MUD FLAPS,WEATHERTECH MATS,WHEEL LOCKS
Thanks Steve.....at least I know now that I am not going crazy! Well....OK....at least THAT isn't an indicator that I am going crazy... I checked my pedal and it has about 1/4 inch side to side play also. Hmmmmm? I wonder why that is???? Oh well, thanks for the input everyone!
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