John wrote:
> Hi To All:
>
> I just had a lot of work done on the brake system of my '92 four door
> Accord, but am having two new problems that I would like to understand
> before I take the car back to the dealer:
>
> 1) I have to press unusually hard on the brake to get the car
> to stop when rolling (to a stop light, stop sign, etc.)
>
> 2) I smell a strong burning odor (like burning tar) from under
> the car when parking it after driving on the hiway.
>
> Does anyone know what could be causing these issues? The work I
> had done was as follows: 1) replaced rear cylinder drums 2) replaced
> master cylinder 3) replaced ball joints 4) replaced front pads and
> machined rotors 5) replaced rear shoes and machined drums.
> Thanks for any help on what this could be. - John


==========================

I'll bet your car also feels like you're carrying a bunch of cargo as
well, like no get-up-and-go? Fuel mileage is down the toilet too, right?

It sounds like they failed to get the adjustment exact, so your power
brakes are on all the time, and burning up your pads, shoes, disks, and
drums like crazy. That's why you can't get your brakes to work when you
need them. It's called brake 'fade' because really (smoking) hot brakes
just can't stop you very well.

You've probably got a big fight on your hands, so you'll need an
alternate witness to prove that the shop now owes you new pads, shoes,
rotors, drums, maybe piston kits, maybe caliper rebuilds. If you've only
put 50 miles on it, just get the master cylinder removed and adjusted to
correct the problem. If 2,000+ miles, find an expert you can take for a
(possibly paid) spin, and show him how it smokes.

Fight the original guy if he won't correct the (very dangerous) error.

'Curly'