Club 80-90 Forums

I have just had the master cylinder replaced as it suffered from seal failure causing the peddle to creap downwards to the floor, and in the end almost no brakes. The cylinder was 31 years old so I thought a new one was prudent. JK to the rescue, but now although I was assured that all was well, no air in system etc, rear brakes nicely adjusted, the brake peddle is a long way down its travel before brakes work. They dont pump up, so whats wrong. They just dont feel like they used to.

There's probably an adjustable-length pushrod between the pedal and master, and it just needs adjusting to the right length for that cylinder. It's too short at the mo, so you've got some wasted travel before the master starts to do anything.

crazydiamond wrote:I have just had the master cylinder replaced as it suffered from seal failure causing the peddle to creap downwards to the floor, and in the end almost no brakes. The cylinder was 31 years old so I thought a new one was prudent. JK to the rescue, but now although I was assured that all was well, no air in system etc, rear brakes nicely adjusted, the brake peddle is a long way down its travel before brakes work. They dont pump up, so whats wrong. They just dont feel like they used to.

did you adjust up the rear brakes manually with the wheel first?
if they haven't been adjusted up then you'll never get any pedal

Yeh I adjusted up rear brakes manually, I dont trust the auto adjusters, even though they arnt that old. Never heard about an adjustable push-rod, will look into that Kev. I seem to remember something about bleeding the clutch as well as brakes to get things right? any one got any thoughts? Its many years since I did them myself (getting lazy these days . There was a time not so long ago when I would never go to a garage to get things like this doe, but I hav'nt got the time now)

crazydiamond wrote:I seem to remember something about bleeding the clutch as well as brakes to get things right?

If the clutch is leaking, you'll lose fluid from the brake reservoir (but not completely - the clutch will run out before the brakes get to the bottom, since the clutch's take-off is higher up), but apart from that shared reservoir there's no commonality between the two. So, no, bleeding the clutch won't make a difference to the brake circuit.

Thanks for that Adrian, have to look at this "adjustable rod" thingy?