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It doesn't much better than before it went to the garage! I can almost pull it back fully but they've told me it's been adjusted to legal spec?

I wasn't able to resolve the brakes myself. I ended up taking her to an independent garage & when I picked her up was told they never thought the pedal was as bad I thought it was. Subsequently, they bled the brakes again & adjusted the handbrake & have informed me they're happy with the brakes. I'm unsatisfied however. I've driven three different vehicles these last few days, even an old banger & they've all had a vastly superior braking system to my Coupe. If I'm driving at speed along the motorway at a decent speed, I have zero confidence the Coupe will be able to stop in time if I have to perform an emergency stop!

My brakes are still bloody spongy! The reservoir transferred onto the new MS perfectly.

I'll take you up on that offer my friend if the final bleed doesn't rectify the problem, I'm putting her through an MOT on Saturday. I'll happily pay you for your trouble, then I'll know what to do to resolve this problem in the future should I ever be blessed by it again lol .

Haha, I hope not lol? The old reservoir is a perfect fit, they swapped straight over without issue. But, after bleeding the brakes my pedal is still f*****g spongy! I've replaced all the rotors, all the pads and a master cylinder and still have spongy brakes. I'm gonna do a final hot bleed on Saturday morning, and if it's still spongy afterwards I'm simply going to accept that I've got a spongy pedal and be at peace with it. I've read a lot of reports where drivers who'd replaced their entire brake system suffered with a spongy pedal afterwards, even after repeated visits to dealers and independent garages to try and resolve it to no avail. So they just accepted it too!

We'll know this evening if I'm successful or not? I have a question. I've obviously got a problem with the piston seals on my old MS, but how important are the seals that help secure the reservoir onto the MS, can these compromise the breaking system or is it only the seals inside the piston that we need to be concerned about? Finally have a sunny day up North, I'll get the reservoirs swapped over and brakes bled after work. If the reservoirs aren't compatible, I've found a breakers who have 4 Accord Coupes and have quoted me £70 or so for a delivered MS (I'll reckon I've got room to barter there).

The aluminium part of the MS appears to be a perfect fit. But, the plastic reservoir isn't the right shape, so you can't unscrew the cap to add fluid after installation lol. If my old reservoir fits onto the aluminium part of the new MS, can I use it in conjunction with the new MS?

It's a great example, complete factory stock, no aftermarket gadgets or gizmos, and is low mileage. There's cosmetic damage to the front and rear bumpers, and the alloys are filthy and need some TLC, not sure if there's a product to restore them? However, let's get her brakes sorted, then I'll change the oil, filter and flush the coolant. From there, I can make her look pretty again.

lol, tell me you thought I was "skipping" my Coupe out of frustration?

As long as the weather holds off after work I'll know for certain this evening. The weather has been shocking while getting her roadworthy, snow, sludge, sleet and equatorial downpours! The good news is a skip is being delivered to my driveway on Saturday, and all of the contents from my garage are being directly transferred from the garage to said skip. Finally, I'll be able to work on a car in a dry and warm environment.

You could be right, maybe that's why I was able to secure the Coupe for such a great price? Either way, I'll know either tonight or tomorrow whether it's gonna work. I'm quietly confident it's going to be compatible lol.

The one currently fitted to my Accord doesn't resemble any of those from the schematics you posted lol. It looks like a hybrid between two different versions, it has an aluminium body that appears to be identical to one I purchased yesterday evening, but the reservoir looks like one from a 7th gen CDTI!

I don't quite follow your logic Laird, but indeed you appear to completely correct, it's from a 6th gen 2002? For the love of God, please don't tell me it's not compatible with my Coupe lol, it looks like it should work?

Managed to source a master cylinder, it's been bled and is currently sealed and sat on my kitchen window. I was planning on fitting it this evening, but after driving a fair distance to collect it straight from work, cleaning it up then bleeding it, the heavens opened up once again just as I was about to fit it. So, weather permitting I'll be fitting it either tomorrow or Thursday after work. That's if the little devil actually fits as I've taken a gamble on it being compatible? It was listed as being removed from an ABS equipped, VTEC sport 1.8 Accord. I'll add photographs of the fittings I used to bleed the master cylinder, and comparisons of my current and replacement MS in the hope that it'll be of use to somebody in the future?

I have brand new pads & rotors all round, so I'm hoping it's just the MS that's the achilles heel of my braking system? Once I've replaced the MS, there shouldn't be any way on God's green Earth that my old ladies VW polo has more stopping power than my Coupe!

Hopefully replacing the MS will sort her out. I'm under duress too as my Wife is moving to another part of the company so I need her roadworthy ASAP. I'd rather purchase an MS from a member here than give my cash to some crackhead online.

Thanks for the advice Laird. It's frustrating as my Wife's VW has amazing brakes, you only need to tap the pedal and the stopping power is incredible, her VW's brake pedal is solid and firm. Yet my Coupe, with disks all round and dual pistons at the front and its brakes are spongy, unresponsive and generally pathetic lol!

I think my MS could be toasted. I removed it and stripped it down, I was only able to remove the first piston, the second piston wouldn't budge. The piston that did come loose looked in beautiful condition though, it looked brand new as did the seals. After removing the master cylinder there appeared to be a tiny bit of cosmetic damage to the booster from brake fluid, it wasn't swimming in brake fluid or really wet to the touch, but there was a little cosmetic damage. Looking on eBay for replacement master cylinders there's a few that are listed as being compatible with my Coupe but they look a little different, do I need an MS that's cosmetically identical to my current MS in order for it to be compatible?

Could not find any kind of kit online to bleed the master cylinder, they're only available from the states lol. It was driving me up the wall trying to figure out a way to connect two lengths of hose into the ports of the MS. I was eventually able to figure out a way. I purchased a pair of John Guest tap connectors, they're BSP 10mm (M10) male threaded (they're not tapered like NPT threads) and are a perfect fit for the master cylinders two 10mm (M10) female threaded ports, they also have washers to create a good seal. I just need to extend the length of the hoses slightly so they're able to feed directly back into the MS. I'll upload a photo of the setup tomorrow. I'm purchasing 2Ltr of DOT 4, then putting them to the test and bench bleeding the MS tomorrow.

I've decided to simply remove the MS tonight & do the job properly. This way I'll know it's been properly bled, not sure what size the brake line threads are on the MS but I'll know tonight once it's been removed, look like they'll be 8 - 10mm?

Bled the brakes again, the regular way, still no change. I plan on stripping down and servicing all four calipers on Friday (weather permitting). After reassembling the calipers I'm going to bleed the brakes again but this time bang the calipers with a hammer in an attempt to dislodge any stubborn pockets of air. If the pedal is still spongy after this, my next plan is to tackle the master cylinder. Rather than purchasing a brand new one, I'm going to bleed my current MS first. I read a post describing a method used where the OP was able to successfully bleed the MS by "cracking open the brake lines that enter the MS", then repeatedly depressing the brake pedal lightly, he claims air was observed escaping the MS when peering into the MS through the cap. Anybody heard or tried this method, sounds easier than removing the MS and bench bleeding? I was also planning on purchasing a pressure brake bleeder only to discover the're not compatible with Honda MS caps without a universal adapter (the universal adapter apparently doesn't work well), so I'm going to purchase a vacuum style one instead. I'd still like to purchase @hughezee front caliper brake clips on Thursday if they're still available?

Thanks Laird, I'll be sure to give that ago first then. Will brake fluid corrode the rubber caliper boots if it comes into contact with them?

Excellent, I'll be getting 2Lts of DOT 4 fluid in a few days. I'll follow Hughezee's advice & remove the bleed nipples entirely and bleed out a load of brake fluid. Then I'll get my old lady to pump that pedal good and proper! If that doesn't resolve the issue, I reckon simply gravity bleeding all the calipers has to purge all of the trapped out?

Haha, I used one of those little buggers when I bled the brakes, thought I was ahead of the game by using a one way valve lol. Some great advice here guys. So, the spongy brake pedal can only be caused by air in the brake system or a damaged master cylinder? Either way it's only down to air in the brake lines?

Ok, initially bled the brakes starting from the rear, bleeding from the caliper furthest from the master cylinder. After bleeding and finding the pedal was spongy I researched further & read that Honda advise bleeding from the front on ABS enabled vehicles. So I bled the front calipers first and a load of air bubbles were released from the system, so I figured my initial bleeding sequence was incorrect after all, problem sorted. However pedal was still spongy. So, I bled them again. From front to rear, no bubbles were observed though. Two person method: Kept the lid closed on the master cylinder during process, slowly topped up with brand new DOT 4 as needed. Kept the brake pedal pushed down, opened up bleed nipple, brake fluid is forced out, closed bleed nipple, released pedal. Repeated procedure on all four calipers.