New doesn't mean good!

[TomQuick]

So last spring / summer, right after I bought my Accord, I replaced most of the steering / suspension system in the front, including inner and outer rod ends on both sides, sway bar end links, radius rod bushings, upper arms and lower ball joints. In the rear, I replaced the upper arms, and the struts.

After all the work, I had it aligned, only to find out that the caster was WAY off in the front on both sides. Sadly, the car wandered all over the road over the slightest bump, or groove. After some head scratching, and looking at plenty of pictures on the internet, I realized that the front upper arms were on the wrong sides (I just matched up the new ones to what was already in place because the new ones weren't labeled as to which side they went on), so I switched them around, and then paid to have it aligned again.

It was a lot better after the alignment, but it was still wandering around over rough roads / grooved pavement / ruts, and especially under moderate braking. I made several trips back to Sears (why do I use them?) but they couldn't find anything wrong with it, and I finally decided that it wasn't that bad, so I'd just leave it be until what ever it was wore out enough for me to identify it.

Lately, I've been getting some noise from the right front, and a bit of a vibration at speed. I'm about positive that it's the wheel bearings starting to go, so I put the car up on the stands today to see if there was enough play in the bearings to cause steering issues. Sadly, though it sounds like crap, there was not a bit of noticeable play in the bearing.

On I went, moving things around, and eventually, I noticed that there was a bit of side to side play in the left front wheel. No up and down movement, no in and out movement, just the side to side play. I must have messed around with that thing for 15 minutes, and finally had my daughter come out and rock wheel back and forth while I looked, and felt. Eventually, I traced the play to the outer tie rod end. It hasn't been on the car for a full year yet, so I really wasn't paying much attention to it, figuring that it was new. At least I know where the problem is now, though how / why Sears was able to align it two times, and inspect the front end three more times without locating the bad tie rod end, I'll never know. I just hope that this is the end of the steering problems!

[19dabeast85]

What brand did you use a year ago?

You are right though that the alignment shop should have informed you about the tie rod end, there's no way they missed it. I had a Firestone shop tell me about a bad tie rod end recently that had no more than 3/100" of play in the joint and was barely noticeable while driving, sounds like yours was much more noticeable. Too bad there's probably no way you can get your money back for those alignments.

[TomQuick]

Sadly, I used the Autozone parts, basically because I had to have it then to get past inspection, and couldn't wait a week or so to order from Majestic.

On the positive side, they have a lifetime warranty, so they'll replace the part for free. The alignments were done a year ago, and even though I went back to them a couple of times to try to find the problem, and they couldn't find it, in the end I'd be hard pressed to really prove that the tie rod end was loose a year ago, so I'll suck it up. Cars should be aligned once a year anyway, and I'm going to be doing some significant work to the front end when I do the clutch, so I'll just do the tie rod end at the same time, then get it aligned once.

[19dabeast85]

Sadly, I used the Autozone parts, basically because I had to have it then to get past inspection, and couldn't wait a week or so to order from Majestic.

On the positive side, they have a lifetime warranty, so they'll replace the part for free. The alignments were done a year ago, and even though I went back to them a couple of times to try to find the problem, and they couldn't find it, in the end I'd be hard pressed to really prove that the tie rod end was loose a year ago, so I'll suck it up. Cars should be aligned once a year anyway, and I'm going to be doing some significant work to the front end when I do the clutch, so I'll just do the tie rod end at the same time, then get it aligned once.

Sounds like a good plan of action, I buy almost exclusively at Majestic, although I do currently have a Napa inner tie rod....I think it'll be fine.

[TomQuick]

Generally, I think Napa stuff is a couple of notches above Auto Zone. In addition to the outer tie rod end from Auto Zone that crapped the bed, I've already replaced one CV shaft only a couple of months after I put it in. The other CV shaft is a bit short of a year old now, and the inner joint is making noise, and visibly loose.

Today, I replaced both rear calipers, which were new less than a year ago. On the passengers side, the emergency brake lever wasn't releasing, so every time I used the parking brake, I would have to take the wheel off, and pry the lever to release it. On the drivers side, when I went to compress the piston to change the brake pads, it wouldn't budge, even using the big "C" clamp on it, and opening the bleeder screw.

I know that Auto Zone parts aren't great, they never have been, but I've never had this much trouble with them before. I'm having to redo half of the work I did last summer just because the new parts are bad.

Fortunately, once I got the car past inspection, nearly everything else I've done to it has been using genuine Honda parts, so there aren't too many more Auto Zone pieces to fail, and if I have too many more problems with these parts, I'll just buy Honda stuff and replace them.

[CB7Man]

Generally, I think Napa stuff is a couple of notches above Auto Zone. In addition to the outer tie rod end from Auto Zone that crapped the bed, I've already replaced one CV shaft only a couple of months after I put it in. The other CV shaft is a bit short of a year old now, and the inner joint is making noise, and visibly loose.

Today, I replaced both rear calipers, which were new less than a year ago. On the passengers side, the emergency brake lever wasn't releasing, so every time I used the parking brake, I would have to take the wheel off, and pry the lever to release it. On the drivers side, when I went to compress the piston to change the brake pads, it wouldn't budge, even using the big "C" clamp on it, and opening the bleeder screw.

I know that Auto Zone parts aren't great, they never have been, but I've never had this much trouble with them before. I'm having to redo half of the work I did last summer just because the new parts are bad.

Fortunately, once I got the car past inspection, nearly everything else I've done to it has been using genuine Honda parts, so there aren't too many more Auto Zone pieces to fail, and if I have too many more problems with these parts, I'll just buy Honda stuff and replace them.

Well on the accord rear calipers, you dont compress them, you put a "Crow's foot" or equivilent prying tool in the plus sign of the piston and you turn it clockwise untill it seats back at the bottom.
If you got it to compress with a C-Clamp, then I can see why your E-Brake doesnt work right.
The E-Brake on the rear calipers is a ratchet like design, similar to the H22's auto tensioner.

[TomQuick]

Well crap, would have been good if I had known that! Damn cars aren't anything like the Chevy's I've been working on my entire life. I guess I should have read the freaking manual before I did the brake job :o) FWIW, the ebrake wasn't working right before I screwed up trying to seat the piston on the caliper.

Finally, I've got everything working as it should. The pedal sucks, but it has since I got the car, and that is even after I replaced the master cylinder, and had a mechanic look it over. I'm thinking that I just got a bad master cylinder. The brakes work fine now, just a low pedal. I really thought it was air in the system, but I've bled everything five different times, and no air is coming out anywhere any more. At least for now, it is stopping properly, and the ebrake is finally working right.

[CB7Man]

I know it sounds crazy, but try taking it to a dealer.
I had a really crappy pedal, my mechanic only got it to get a little better.
The dealer flushed the fluid and sucked the air out the brake lines with a tool.
Now its rock solid
Then a couple months later the master cylinder blew out
But it was 20 years old lol

[TomQuick]

I may go that route eventually, but I've worked as a mechanic some, and done my own repairs for 25 years now, so I really hate to have to take my car to someone else, and that goes double if it is because I can't figure it out on my own!

I am very confident that all four brakes are indeed working properly, and there is no air in the system, however when I bench bled the brand new master cylinder, it just didn't seem right to me, so before I give up on it, I'm going to take a shot at replacing the new master cylinder with another new master cylinder, and see if that doesn't make a difference. That was also the suggestion that my mechanic had, and he's an old friend, and quite knowledgeable, so it's at least worth a shot.

If the new master doesn't work, I may just get a pressure gauge, and start checking line pressures in the system to see where the problem is.