Brake Help- spongy pedal

[fopsie]

Angry Need advice re: brakes

I just joined this forum because I now have a problem. I changed front brake pads and bled some fluid. Now pedal is really low and spongy. I see from ctobio's comments that this is can be a common problem if done wrong. "I don't recommend to the average DIYer to loosen the bleeder screws a little when replacing pads. Car forums are littered with folks who post "I changed my brakes and now the pedal sinks to the floor, even after seating the pads!"
I have done brakes on other cars many time and have never had this problem. Did this on my 2004 Pontiac GTP last weekend without any problems. Even had to rebuild calipers. Are Honda's significantly different>
Any suggestions for fixing this?

Its my wife's car and she is quite ticked.

[N_Jay]

Did you do anything but change the pads?
Bleed brakes, etc.?

[fopsie]

I did bleed front brakes only. Noticed that the fluid in reservoir got low when I was bleeding brakes. I checked one of my manuals on bleeding brakes in general and thay said not to push pedal to floor. This is first time I have ever seen this in print as I have performed amny brake jobs on my cars over the years and never had a problem. Any ideas to fix problem>

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by fopsie
I did bleed front brakes only. Noticed that the fluid in reservoir got low when I was bleeding brakes. I checked one of my manuals on bleeding brakes in general and thay said not to push pedal to floor. This is first time I have ever seen this in print as I have performed amny brake jobs on my cars over the years and never had a problem. Any ideas to fix problem>

Before we start guessing how to fix, it, it would be helpful to know EXACTLY what happened.

How did you bleed the brakes (exactly)?
Did the brake fluid ever get low enough to pull in any air?
Is there a chance you dot air in through on of the bleeder screws?
Did you add fluid? What type? Was it new?
Did you press the peddle to the floor? How hard? How many times?

[ctobio]

There's nothing fundamentally different about the Honda Pilot's brakes that make bleeding different from any other car. One thing that is vaguely different is that one of the halves of the reservoir is hard to see, so one of two things must have happened:

1. That particular reservoir half did empty out, but you didn't see it.
2. When you pressed the brake pedal to push out the fluid, you let go of the pedal slightly and pulled in air.

Here's what you might want to try:

-Fill up the brake reservoir.
-Take some clear 3/16" vinyl tubing and put it on the bleeder. Loop the tubing upwards before pointing it down.
-Loosen the bleeder 1/2 turn
-Watch brake fluid come out. There should be no bubbles coming out the bleeder. If there are, keep watching until there are no bubbles coming out anymore.