2.8 braking woes and leaking expansion bottle

[car450]

I posted some while ago on my brakes. They continue to remain horrid. Lots of pedal travel, little sensation and generally poor. I know they aren't upto the standards of a modern car but the all drum non servo brakes on my 1963 Austin Cambridge are better!

I've put on new front discs, calipers and pads. New flexi hoses and new rear wheel cylinders. Also a new master cylinder. All that's left of the original system is the metal pipes, servo and rear shoes. The system has been bled through loads of time so air is not an issue. The rear brakes are correctly adjusted and the handbrake travel is low. No leakage of fluid. All the parts I've put on are standard and not the the cheapest unbranded names.

Whilst it has an MOT, is it possible the servo is partly defective? It is working but the wooden nature of the pedal and the excessive travel makes me wonder. Any thoughts out there?

On a separate issue I've got a leak from the top outlet on the water expansion bottle. Usual problem of the metal sleeve corroding, expanding and cracking the plastic moulding. Whistles like a kettle! Any thoughts as to a repair or has any good person good a spare one they are willing to part with for ££?

Thanks, Simon

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi Simon,
Try Martin at Caprigear for the expansion bottle (degas tank). They also do come up for sale on Ebay fairly regularly, the last one I saw sold at the start of May for £62, but one sold the week before for £10 on a B-I-N listing!

Andrew.

[renaulthater]

long pedal travel.......... sounds normal to me..............

[MS Injection]

Sorry to hear of your problems. I changed my calipers, flexis and flexi to caliper pipes the other day. There will a little travel at the top of the pedal, but should be firm thereafter with little or no travel.

How much braking are you getting? Is it stopping properly, and how does is it compare to when you were last happy with it? Is it front, back or both?

What method did you use to bleed? Have you had somebody check that the calipers are actually working the pads? What about the pipes from flexi to caliper, are they good?

Mike

[Peter-S]

If the servo was defective I would expect a hard pedal as there would be no braking assistance.
I used to have the same problem on my 2.0, never made it particularly satisfactory until I put Princess 4 pots on it which I am happy with. Currently I am using my 2.8 which has standard brakes and whilst maybe not quite as bad as you suggest yours are they remind me very much of how my 2.0 used to be made worse by having a heavier lump up front to slow down. I plan to put 4 pots on that as well in time.

On the expansion tank I've just posted up a repair method that I've tried. It's in the projects page.

[car450]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll have a go at repairing the bottle as I've nothing to lose. I'll keep an eye out on ebay.

With the brakes I'll try to borrow a servo to see if it makes any change.

The pedal travels but is firm. It does require quite a bit of foot pressure to get any stopping power. There is no braking assistance until the travel has been used up. There is no progressive response in the brakes and they really are quite unpleasant. It passed the mot last week so are legal.

I've bled the system the old way with 2 people slackening off the nipple for each bleed.

[MS Injection]

I'm no expert but having just done my brakes, sounds like fluid flow issue/air rather than servo for the reason Peter said.

Take it that you removed all the old fluid before changing for new?

If you're happy with the flexi to caliper pipes (the only thing you haven't mentioned changing or as being happy are good), maybe try bleeding again but do one corner at a time rather than both at the same time. 2 slow steady pumps to the floor first, once fluid is coming out, 1 or 2 more but a firmer and quicker, and close the nipple when the pedal is fully down. Repeat for the other side, top up fluid, then 3 or 4 strong pedal steps to get pads working. Or borrow a pump like easibleed to do it.

[Swishy]

Was going to suggest master cylinder but re-read and noticed you'd replaced it.

Wondering - are the rear shoes adjusted up correctly? This could cause long pedal travel.

[340truck]

Are you bleeding with the engine running? You need the servo assistance to do it properly.

[car450]

Ah, good point. No, I've always bled with the engine off. I'll try that over the weekend and update you.