No Brakes !

[Peter M]

Spent the weekend painting some of the chassis, oil change, putting the exhaust back on after getting a split repaired in the box, then took it off the ramps and had no brakes !

Pedal goes to the floor, resevoir was empty (both sections), no sign of leakage from the master cylinder, front calipers, or any signs of oil from the drums. Added oil into the resevoir but no sign of any brakes.

I know the rear cylinders are seeping, and are due for renewal, but this forces the issue, and only 1 week before SCH ! Arrgh. I will be stripping the rear brakes this week, and still hope to make SCH next sunday.

The worst thing is if I need a master cylinder repair kit. Anyone know where I can get one quickly ?

Thanks
Pete

[ketvrin]

Sounds like you might just have air in the lines and need to bleed the whole system to get the air out... I would do that before looking elsewhere...

hopefully that will sort that out and you can still make SCH

K

[Barkychoc]

The master cylinder is from a fiesta Mk2 I think, the interesting bit is figuring out exactly which one as there are a few variants I think.

A few on fleabay

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?from=R4...

Chris

[ketvrin]

Peter M said:

The worst thing is if I need a master cylinder repair kit. Anyone know where I can get one quickly ?

Thanks
Pete

try the links in the "Brakes" section of the useful links wiki Peter... hopefully something on there will get you what you need

K

[Barkychoc]

Just had a thought - unbolt the master cylinder from the servo and pull it forwards slightly - I bet thats where your fluid has gone if there are no leaks elsewhere!

[Peter M]

This it the true meaning of "Bleeding Brakes" Well you gotta laugh

I'll be working on it later, thanks for the tips. Just as long as the brake fluid has not got onto my newly painted chassis.

Pete

[greymrj]

I agree with Chris, if you have lost that much fluid from the master cylinder, and from both chambers, it looks like that has failed. Loosen it from the servo and see if there is fluid hidden there. Not sure which car you have so I am not sure which master cylinder you have but if you find the recent thread about servos it shows the different cylinders. I'm not sure if you will get a seal kit but if you get back to me with info (better still, picture) on the master cylinder I can look up the part numbers and see if a kit is listed by the main suppliers, or tell you which cars to look on for a second hand one.

[Barkychoc]

The other thing is that if it has been sucked into the servo expect the engine so smoke like hell / run rough if it sucks some of the fluid into the inlet manifold at startup.
It may be worth sorting the servo out - not the best idea to leave it with the fluid sat in there is thats what it is.

Chris

[Peter M]

I removed the master cylinder tonight as far as I could with the pipes connected, and it was dry as a bone between the servo and cylinder, so there is no leak there.
For information, this is an S2 and the master cylinder has a plastic tag on it with the following code 6814-as/as-26bf if that means anything.

I will take a look at the rear cylinders tomorrow, however I suspect the master cylinder seals are not 100% as both sections of the resevoir are empty.

[Barkychoc]

Peter although it looks like 2 sections of reservoir it is in fact all one, so a single leak will drain the lot.
There is a joint in the pipes in the middle of the car at the rear just in front of the diff, if it hasn't been disturbed then I think its unlikely but worth a look.

Each front brake has a pipe of its own direct from the front of the master cylinder.

[ketvrin]

I think you should fill the reservoir up and start pumping the pedal and bleed the brakes topping up as you go along... you'll either bleed the air out until you have brakes again or will see the leak as the new fluid escapes

K

[Barkychoc]

Buy an eezibleed kit from Halfrauds - really really easy even with noone to help.

[spludge]

I think I'd change the rear cylinders before pumping any more fluid through. tvrgit has a useful guide to changing the brake shoes on his website which might help a bit.

If there isn't fluid leaked into the front of the servo then I doubt whether the master cylinder seals are shot, there aren't too many other places for the fluid to leak out. Check the resevoir to cylinder joint, I've seen them weeping fluid from there. Then check everything else once bleeding is underway.

K

[Peter M]

Thanks guys,

I stripped the OS rear brake assembly last night, and removed the cylinder after very carefully undoing the pipe. The shoes and complete assembly were covered in lots of think black gunge, as expected. I cleaned all components and the hub with meths, it's a lot cleaner now. After stripping the cylinder, there is obvious wear on the bores so not surprising it has been leaking.

I went to the local Bennetts motor factors on the way to work this morning, picked up 2 new rear cylinders (22.2mm pistons), and new set of shoes, and dot4 brake fluid, all before 8:15, excellent service. So tonight will reassemble this wheel and set about the near side one.

Sure beats watching TV in the evenings