Your braking system is one of those parts of your car that you barely think about, unless you need them. There are several different parts to your braking system, each with their very own important job to do.
The hydraulic brakes inside your vehicle are controlled by your brake pedal, which is attached to the brake master cylinder. This master cylinder is filled with hydraulic brake fluid that forces your brake calipers and brake shoes into action.
Most modern vehicles come equipped with disc brakes up front, and some like our 1998 Honda Civic come with drum brakes in the rear. It’s not always clear what needs to be done when you are working on drum brakes, which is what our guide is here for. Today we’ll be servicing the drum brakes in the back of a Civic to show you how to replace a Honda Civic wheel cylinder.
The wheel cylinder is the hydraulic two way piston that pushes your drum shoes outward and into the drum itself. When your wheel cylinder becomes contaminated or fails, the hydraulic fluid may leak from this cylinder causing problems with your brakes.
If you leave this condition unchecked, it could create a very dangerous driving condition in your Honda Civic. If you need a How To Service Drum Brakes tutorial, check here for the back of a Honda Odyssey instructions. Knowing how to check your brakes and service them is a big part of owning a vehicle and should be part of your regularly scheduled maintenance.
Before we begin our how to replace a Honda Civic wheel cylinder article, you must first raise the vehicle and secure it safely. Always use jackstands and never raise your vehicle on anything that isn’t a level surface. If you need more help looking at the safety guidelines for working on your car, check our guide here.
Once you have the Civic raised, go ahead and remove the rear wheels to access the drum brakes and the hardware, including the wheel cylinder you must replace.
With your rear wheels now removed, you should be able to see the outer drum hub. Remove this hub to expose the insides of your drum brakes. If your vehicle is equipped with ABS, you may need to remove the set screw using an impact screwdriver.
Slide off the drum hat and you’ll be faced with the wheel cylinder, the drum shoes and the backing plate.
Inspect your wheel bearing for any obvious seal failures, we notice our failure pretty quickly, as it looks like the rear seal is done for.
If you need to know how to Replace a Honda Civic Wheel Cylinder, you will need to look on the backside of the wheel hub assembly to see where your Honda Civic wheel cylinder is connected.
Shown below is the back of your 1998 Honda Civic drum brakes, note there are 2 10mm bolts that hold this unit in place.
Before you remove the 10mm bolts, you should relieve and disconnect the brake lines. Use a box wrench or flare wrench so you do not round or curb the edges of the brake line.
Once you have disconnected this line, you can remove the 10mm bolts and take off your wheel cylinder.
With the old cylinder removed, you can now mount the new wheel cylinder onto your Honda Civic. The Honda OE part number for this unit is 43300-S04-003, but this wheel cylinder is found in many Acura and Hondas and can also be found under the following part numbers ; 43300-SH3-J01, 43300-SM4-A01 and 43300-SR3-003.
Line up the new Civic wheel cylinder and make sure that the grooves line up to the drum shoes. Once you have this lined up, loosely reconnect the 10mm bolts and then work to connect your brake line.
Make sure your brake line is clean and tightened and free of any leaking before you begin to bleed your brakes.
Congratulations you now know how to replace a Honda Civic wheel cylinder, if you have any questions or comments regarding our DIY how to, please leave them for us below!
