ZX brakes always seem to have quite a long pedal travel, but they should feel good and solid once you get them on. Do you really mean 'spongy' ie you get some braking effort, but the pedal feels bouncy, or do you mean long travel, eg the pedal goes a long way down before anything happens, but when it does the feel is quite solid? It's well known for the self adjusters on the rear to stop working, which leads to long pedal travel, check for this by pulling the handbrake on a bit and seeing if this helps things after a couple of presses of the pedal. If so, then it's time to get the rear drums off and see what's what. It may well need new wheel cylinders, which can be a big job. If it is spongy, then change the fluid and bleed the brakes, then check for ballooning hoses.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Yep and after following Richards spot-on advice you may be looking at a new master cylinder. I've found if everything else has been gone through on a ZX 1.4 without success then replacing the master cylinder has always sorted it.
M.M
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Even fully pushed down the brakes do not stop solidly. Having the fluid changed tomorrow so will knock something else of the possible problem list. Thanks!
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They've changed the brake fluid over and it's a bit better. The mechanic suggested that adjusting the back brakes and putting on new front discs would help matters further. I think the discs should be within my capabilities, will the adjustment to the rear brakes be very complicated?? Has anybody done this? He mentioned pulling the calipers outward?
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I can't see how changing the front discs will improve the pedal travel / feel, but they may need doing anyway. Not done a set on ZX, but you almost certainly have to remove the calipersto get enough clearance to get the old discs, and you will probably need an impact driver to get the retaining screws undone.
The rear brakes should not need 'adjusting' - they are supposed to be self adjusting, so if they don't then the mechanism needs cleaning / lubricating, or the shoes are worn out and it has run out of adjsutment (you may be able to adjsut it through one of the wheel bolt holes, but this is a temporary measure, as it will need doing again in a few 000 miles). Did you try my suggestion of trying the pedal with the handbrake pulled on (remember to pump the pedal a few times to extend the cylinders before concluding if the rears are at fault)? You need a 32mm socket and good breaker to get the hub nut undone on the rear. Stripping / rebuilding the shoes is not too difficult - keep one side on the car so you can use it as a reference to rebuild the other side. I found getting the handbrake cable in and out of the shoes trying.
If you are not comfortable with the thought of stripping the brakes down, then probably best left to someone with experience - you do want them to work after all! When I rebuilt the rear brakes on my ZX, I ended up with new drums, bearings, shoes, adjusters, cylinders and pipes, which made it rather a big job!
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Hi Richard,
Thanks for this, I'm going to go the mechanic route on this one!
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had the very same problem,put in brake fluid and bled it.helpd a bit but was bac to square one the next day.It was the master a cylinder that was causing it which i replaced.Bought one from the breakers.Immediatley there was a huge difference and have not had a problem since.
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