1985 240td

[terry24]

Problem with brakes


On leaving to go out brake pedal hard and at top of travel,brakes v/good

Travel 20/30 miles brake pedal travels long way down and not firm,brakes not that good.
Can you help me in this matter.
TERRY

 

[television]

Problem with brakes


On leaving to go out brake pedal hard and at top of travel,brakes v/good

Travel 20/30 miles brake pedal travels long way down and not firm,brakes not that good.
Can you help me in this matter.
TERRY

Terry, welcome to the forum can you please post your question in the brakes section, where it will get answered

You can cut and paste

 

[wireman]

Does your car have ABS?
Has the brake fluid been changed regularly, at 2 year intervals?
Are the flexible brake pipes in good order?
Has the mastercylinder been replaced as it should after each 10 years of the cars life?

My bet is the master cylinder at fault, but all the above could seriously affect your cars ability to stop. It is an offence to drive a car which you are aware of any serious fault on.

 

[roadhog]

I'd start with a fluid change as the cheapest option. After that suspect the master cylinder.
Does the brake performance return if you pump the pedal?

 

[wireman]

Your symptoms are of an almost dead master cylinder (I cannot think of any other fault with the same symptoms), being a dual circuit unit if one circuit fails (and the pedal goes long and soggy) the other will hopefully remain operational, each half of the master cylinder operates either the front or back brakes.
If the front circuit is failing then you only have the rears to stop you and at high speed this will not happen very quickly, in an emergency hard braking situation the cars stability could be adversly affected by the loss of brakes at either end and collateral damage may occur.

Changing the fluid will entail pumping the pedal all the way down thus moving the master cylinders pistons through more travel than normal which might or might not clear up the intermittent action of one circuit, it might just make it ready to let go completely as a result of the intervention.

If the existing fluid has a blackish content the rubber seals or hoses are begining to disolve and will eventualy fail abruptly.

I do not think that just changing the fluid is a sensible action without a new master cylinder (~£60) in place.
Replacing the flexible hoses (~£8ea) while you are taking the system down is probably a good idea too.

Avoid using the car untill its fixed, stopping distance is very important when a 9 year old decides to cross the road in front of you without taking a good look, (the 9 year old I hit was lucky, there was only about half an inch of running over took place resulting in one minor bruise, I see his horrified face every time I use the A6 through Chorley).

 

[SilverSaloon]

sorry i'm refusing to comment on your issue since you've not come back online since to see anyone's answer!

 

[television]

sorry i'm refusing to comment on your issue since you've not come back online since to see anyone's answer!

He did stay online for 10 mins though on the day he posted

 

[roadhog]

Give him a break guys, he's probably crashed his car and will be back when he's recovered.