The fault is this:
When the footbrake is used it works fine, however when I take my foot off the brake, the pedal is reluctant to come beck up to its normal position and the brakes continue to apply themselves, but do not sieze.
Only by lifting the brake pedal up with my right toe can I make the brakes come off.
On the advice of two mechanics I have lubricated the pivot point on the pedal, and then changed the brake servo. The problem persists, and my wallet is lighter by £165 - ouch!
The only thing I can think is that the master cylinder is sticking and its spring doesn't quite have the strength to push the piston out again, working against the servo without assistance from my foot toeing up the pedal.
If it is the Master cylinder, can the problem easily be recified without disconnecting it from the brake lines? eg by greasing the piston etc.
Thanks
Hugo
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Hugo the pedal has its own return spring so if you are returning it yourself and everything else seems ok then is the spring broken?or is the bush its pivoting on seized or out of shape?often if there is a problem with the master you will get some fluid on the linkage where it comes in the car above the pedal and the pedal returns to its stop but needs a lot more travel to do anything and the brakes will bind.
if you move the pedal down a little bit with your fingers and it doesnt return I would say the problem is with the pedal
To remove the master cylinder you must take of the two brake pipes then take of the two nuts holding it to the bulkhead then it pulls out,when you replace it the easy way to bleed it is pump clean fluid back to the master from the bleed screws on each side as it only needs a little bit to replace the air in the join of the pipe,must do both cicuits though
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Defender,
Thanks for your advice, I'll have a look at the spring tomorrow.
When I was changing the servo I had to hold the brake pedal down with one hand to access the securing nuts for the servo. Maybe the spring is worn.
Thanks
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I once had a VW Beetle that had this fault, and bizarrely it turned out to be collapsed front brake hoses - the flexible sections were so old that they had collapsed inside and although they would allow brake fluid to travel toward the calipers there was not enough pressure to force the fluid back when the brake pedal was released. Might be worth checking if you draw a blank with everything else.
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Thanks WB
That would certainly sense.
I'm going to entrust it to the garage tomorrow. For around an hours labout he'll properly diagnose the fault, fix it and bleed the brakes through.
I have to say, there is some improvement with the new servo, though, the problem still persists to a lesser extent.
H
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Update.
As per usual I have rushed into fixing the problem without proper diagnosis:(
Fault, stiff pedal, which makes a lot of sense. I'm ashamed to say that the garage spotted it and dealt with it. No charge and it works liek a dream. I have been worked off my backside lately. I have just ripped up a whole floor (boards, joists the lot) and I have to put a new one down before Chistmas Day!
Being under pressure to get the Disco back on the road ASAP got the better of me.
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