21 replies to this topic

[Adcuz]

I've got major brake issues at the moment. When I push the brake pedal down it just bottoms out and the brakes only work a little bit, at very low speed. The handbrake also doesn't do much at all. I don't know if that's how it's always been or if it's linked to the same issue as I just got the car and it already had the issue.

The master cylinder was quite low on brake fluid so it was topped up, this didn't help obviously. I know it could be anything causing the problems, but I thought I would see if anyone could point me in the direction of a common fault or something.

[m1tch]

I've got major brake issues at the moment. When I push the brake pedal down it just bottoms out and the brakes only work a little bit, at very low speed. The handbrake also doesn't do much at all. I don't know if that's how it's always been or if it's linked to the same issue as I just got the car and it already had the issue.

The master cylinder was quite low on brake fluid so it was topped up, this didn't help obviously. I know it could be anything causing the problems, but I thought I would see if anyone could point me in the direction of a common fault or something.

The system needs bleeding, you are running on the emergency brakes like mine use to be lol not a good idea! I have got myself a Gunson Eezibleed kit that uses tyre pressure to presurise the braking system and feeds new fluid into the system making it easy to get all the air out! Even if you just top up the fluid in the master cylnder resiviour, its not going to get the air bubbles out of the system!

Edited by m1tch, 13 August 2009 - 09:36 PM.

[Adcuz]

OK, thanks! I'll pick up a bleed kit tomorrow and see if it helps. I always thought that if the rears needed bleeding then it wouldn't make the fronts not work? As they seem to be doing nothing aswell!

Will update my findings tomorrow

[m1tch]

If your system has 2 circuits - my 1982 does, so im guessing all of them after mine do, you need to bleed them in a certain order:

Rear passenger
Rear driver
Front passenger
Front driver

[olds_kool_lews]

If your system has 2 circuits - my 1982 does, so im guessing all of them after mine do, you need to bleed them in a certain order:

Rear passenger
Rear driver
Front passenger
Front driver

i always bleed my brakes in this order, no matter what circuit its got on it, n always seems to work

[minitomfoolery]

Check there's no brake oil leaked around your rear brake drums.

The rear brake cylinders inside the drum are a common fault for brake leaks, there very cheap and fairly straightforward to replace, apart from that circlip!!!

[Gaffer]

The rear brake cylinders inside the drum are a common fault for brake leaks, there very cheap and fairly straightforward to replace, apart from that circlip!!!

I taught myself with help from good old haynes how to replace the rear brakes. Took me half hour messing around with the cylinders, shoes etc, and 4 hours messing about with that circlip. That was just one side. by the way, im a sparky and not very mechanically minded, the circlips im used to when stripping down motors and pumps are A LOT easier to remove.

[998dave]

ALL STOP!!!

Right, now I've got your attention, the two issues are linked, so follow these steps to try to resolve, stick to this order as well or it won't work;

1 - Get into the car and gently lift the carpet from behind the handbrake lever, assuming you've got a later, single cable car, you'll find two 10mm adjusting nuts, one is a lock nut, so unlock them, and wind that out of the way, now slacken off the handbrake cable so you can easily wobble it with your fingers.

2 - Jack up the rear of the car, axle stands if possible, now wheels off, and locate the brake adjuster on the rear of the brake backplate, (should be a small square nut), you want to turn this until the wheels are locked, note it's a square, so turn 90degrees at a time, and make sure the wheel is locked when on the flats, (hard to explain - you'll see). Now back off until the wheel turns, but you can still hear it rubbing, and the wheel stops within a few turns if you spin it. (making sure you're on the flats again).

The adjuster may be a bit stuck if they've not been used in a while, in this case I tend to remove the brake drum and pads, so I can see what's going on better, and get a good spanner on the nut, wobble it a little at first, then more until you're going through most of the range of the adjuster, you'll also see the small square pins operation, and better understand how the adjuster works doing this.

3 - Repeat on other rear wheel.

4 - Now adjust that handbrake back up and tighten so that the lever comes up three clicks to stop the wheels, (you can put the wheel and tyres back on and spin them to check this), grab the wheel and try to push it round with the brake on...

5 - Now bonnet up, and brake fluid cap off, bring the fluid up to level, you've now got to bleed the brakes, orders differ depending on cars, but i go for rear right, rear left, front left, front right.

6- Once happy check each wheel is braking, e.g. lift one end of the car, spint the wheel, and get someone to press the pedal. While doing this also check for leaks at the wheel cylinder, and brake pipe unions. Also check the handbrake again.

Once happy that everything is working check teh car brakes straight when driving. If you're happy that things are better then all is good, for the first few days keep checking the fluid resevoir, if it goes down more then a little bit, or at all consistantly, you'll have to look for leaks.

Any questions just shoot, if I don't reply then feel free to drop me a PM with a link to let me know there's something here.

Dave

[Adcuz]

998 Dave,

Thank you very much! I did exactly as you said (minus the handbrake adjustment as I couldn't find the right spanner, getting some tomorrow) and it that's made a huge difference! I now have some braking ability. I feel that the brakes need another bleed as there may still be some air in there as there is a bit of sponge in it still. Hopefuly once that's done I'll have full braking ability again.

A weird thing I'm finding is when braking there is sort of a movement in the pedal on every revolution of the wheels, almost like something is loose. My last mini had the same issue but it wasn's as apparent. Any ideas on this?

You guys are awesome, thanks for the help.

[bmcecosse]

Seems to me you have a serious leak somewhere - probably in the rear cylinders - so inspect them before doing anything else! And meantime - DO NOT drive the car!!

[Adcuz]

Seems to me you have a serious leak somewhere - probably in the rear cylinders - so inspect them before doing anything else! And meantime - DO NOT drive the car!!

Surely if there was a leak the brake fluid would go down and pressure would be lost?

[bmcecosse]

Seems to me that's what's happening! Pedal is at the floor - and the fluid level was reported as being low.

[Adcuz]

Like I said, I bled the brakes today, pedal no longer goes to the floor - there is now pressure in the system. The next issue I need to tackle is the juddering felt in the pedal when braking and it seems very ineficient / still very faint braking. However, I do still feel a little bit of "spongeyness" in the pedal so I'll give bleeding them another go to see if it sorts it. It almost feels like the front discs aren't doing anything.

I've not yet had a chance to try 998Dave's suggestion of jacking each side up and spinning the wheel while somone presses the pedal, so will tomorrow to confirm.

Edited by Adcuz, 14 August 2009 - 09:11 PM.

[Cooperman]

The juddering could be 'run-out' on one or both discs. That is where the discs are not a constant thickness all the way around. it used to be a very common fault on some new Fords many years ago. You can check this with a dial gauge (DTI) if you can beg or borrow one. If the run out exceeds about 0.004" you should change the discs. Change both of them even if only none is 'out-of-true'.
As for the pedal pressure, the pedal should nor 'pump-up' if all the air is out of the system.
But do check for a leak. Take the rear drums off and see if there is a seepage of fluid from the rear cylinders before going any further. And adjust the rear brakes before bleeding again.

[Adcuz]

Cheers Cooperman,

I'll get the rear in the air tomorrow and get the drums off to see what's going on and get them adjusted up. I'll worry about the juddering once the brakes actually work properly. Thanks for your help.