Brakes, I give up!!!!

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Garef

Member
Brakes, I give up!!!! Fixed!!!!

Ok, got my new brake master cylinder for the small fee of £170, came home fitted it and it has solved nothing, I've still got exactly the same problem, which is, brake pressure builds up the more u press the pedal but as soon as you leave it for 5 seconds all the pressure is gone, any ideas, cheers.
 
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pulsarboby

Guest
servos what the master cylinders bolted to (big round metal thing) it provides assistance through vacuum pressure to the brakes in a nutshell!
and if it has an internal leak then its possible that it could well be the problem.

why on earth did you pay that much for a master cylinder:doh: i could have sold you a known good one for much much less than you paid for that.

could also still be air left in the system, try borrowing a power bleeder from someone and see what happens then, before you start splashing out more money.
 
Fusion Ed

Fusion Ed

Active Member
Can also be (although doesn't sound it in this case) a lack of vacuum or a faulty one way vacuum valve.
 
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Garef

Member
I only bought a new one so that I knew that if the problem was still there then it wasn't that, I'd rather be safe than sorry with the car, and if i'm gonna be keeping it for a while then it's not so much wasted money as a long term investment, haha.

Think am gonna bite the bullet and take it to a garage in the morning, I was determined not to do that but I'm out of my depth now, God loves a tryer tho, and I tried my best.
 
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azboy

New Member
brake pressure builds up meaning ( the pedal does not hit the floor, the brake pedal goes hard, as if a servo was leaking the more u pump the harder the pedal gets or just like pumping the brake with the engine off, also the note of the engine normally changes when pedal pressed on and off, if u need to pump the brakes to get a pedal u most likely have a leak of fluid or air in the system.
 
saddler

saddler

Active Member
Garef said:
Ok, got my new brake master cylinder for the small fee of £170, came home fitted it and it has solved nothing, I've still got exactly the same problem, which is, brake pressure builds up the more u press the pedal but as soon as you leave it for 5 seconds all the pressure is gone, any ideas, cheers.
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is your car ABS have you bleed the breaks with the engine running !!!
 
D

dobby

New Member
Why does that matter. Bleeding with the engine on makes no sense. all you are doing is getting the air out of the lines. Nothing complicated there.
 
saddler

saddler

Active Member
I was always told to bleed ABS Breaks with the Car Running something to do with the pressure
From a Site !!!
ABS you may need to either leave the engine running or short out a test connector to ensure the ABS pump cycles while bleeding
 
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MarkTurbo

Well-Known Member
On some newer cars it does say in the manual to leave it running whilst bleeding the brakes! My R has got abs and ive never once bled the brakes with the engine running (and they've been bled quite a few times over the years due to boiling the fluid all the time with standard brakes :lol: ) and ive never had a problem with spongey brakes ;-)

Back to the original subject. Are you sure you didnt let the fluid in reservoir run low whilst bleeding them? From what you've said it sounds a bit like theres still air in the system!
 
neil240z

neil240z

Member
I had the same or similar problem, i tried 3 master cylinders and a servo with no luck, the system was pressure bled and the ABS pump was bled with no luck.

It could possibly be the junction that sits down on the bulk head behind the engine.

do you notice that when you pump the pedal to get it firm, does the fluid in the reservoir go down then when you let off it go back up?

bloody mental, only thing that stopped me driving my car.

Neil
 
Braveheart

Braveheart

New Member
Gareth.... I can't advise of the fault but I find that gravity bleeding the brakes gives me good results every time. Not sure if this works with ABS fitted though. Here's my method though.

Make sure you keep the reservoir topped up at all times.
You can try just bleeding the front first and see what the paddle is like.
When I upgraded my brake. New front four pots and braided lines and 5.1 fluid, I just gravity bleed the lot. I quickly blead the air out the front then gravity blead all four.

Opened (you can even screw it right) out the bleed nipple on n/s rear caliper, gravity bleed (i.e. without pressing brake pedal just let the fluid seep/flow out) until the new fluid started to come through. Do the same for o/s rear, n/s front then finally o/s front.

If you have changed pads and not disks, the pedal will feel a bit sloppy/spongy until the pads bed in to the old disks.
 
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Garef

Member
Hey all, thanks for the help, went to The Garage today in Wishaw, guys sorted me out no bother.

No laughing now, but the problem was.......wait for it......... I had the calipers on the wrong side, thus meaning the nipples were on the bottom instead of the top and thus impossible to bleed. I know it is a simple problem, but this is my first time doing such a thing and an easy mistake. Also not once did anyone mention this, but you can only learn with these things.

On a plus not, having not driven it for two months, as soon as it was sorted, it felt like I had just purchased it, smile was back instantly.

Thanks again.
 
Braveheart

Braveheart

New Member
Oops...... :lol: :lol: ;-)
You live and learn!
Least it's all sorted now.

I should edit my gravity bleed instructions and begin with:

"Make sure you keep the reservoir topped up at all times and your calipers are fitted to the correct side of the car"
 
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MarkTurbo

Well-Known Member
Garef said:
I had the calipers on the wrong side, thus meaning the nipples were on the bottom instead of the top and thus impossible to bleed
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May i be the first to call you a :mong: :lol:
 
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