Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all,
The van just failed its MOT for rusted brake lines and a valve at the front end of the vehicle which the garage can't get any details on. They've checked for this part on ETKA website and they say the part is discontinued. Can't see why this would be presuming it is the compensating valve, its bloody important! The van is a 89' 1.6TD LHD. Can anyone help me on this one?

Cheers

Matt

I have never had to replace one.
Yes they look rusty, but if you remove them and give them a clean up they usually come up good.
I have never had one fail either, not saying yours hasn't but I find it hard to believe one has failed.

Hi Simon,
Thanks for the quick reply. After seeing the part for myself i can see why its failed. Question is where can i get one from? Do you know of anyone? I checked your site, JK and a load of others from google search to no avail.

Cheers Matt

I tend not to stock things that don't go wrong!
You'll have to find a second hand one I reckon.
Why has it failled?
take it off, which will probably mean cutting the brake pipes, and chuck it on the floor a few times to break all the "pooh" off it, then scrape and wire brush till it looks okay, then remove broken bits of pipe with some moleys.
I would say clean it with a needle scaler but you won't have one of those.

Simon,
Think one of my mates in our workshop has one. I can get my hands on pretty much most kit. I noticed it on the previous MOT but since then I've been serving queen and country in sandier climates which means the van was sat idle. I reckon that if i take it off and throw it on the ground it'll shatter. All the pipes into it were shot so the examiner deemed it a fail. Passed the RBT though

Matt

I've been trying to find out the specification of this part - can anyone let me know exactly what it does? I know it is inertia based pressure relief valve but could anyone let me know the spec. (pressure switch points etc.). Thanks, Nic

How to test it is covered in the legendary Bentleys Manual, easier to phone Cj at syncrospares for a good second hand one though.

What does it do?
It's a ball bearing in a tube set at a specific angle.
Sited in brake line to rear brakes it reduces the pressure to the rear brakes under heavy braking.
basically if they a*** end of the van comes up then if full pressure went to the back brakes they would lock up and thats not a good thing as the a*** end could step out and set you off spinning.
Thats why it's not a good idea to have a nose down stance when lowering as it upsets the bias valve thingamy doo dar.

Simon Baxter wrote:What does it do?
It's a ball bearing in a tube set at a specific angle.
Sited in brake line to rear brakes it reduces the pressure to the rear brakes under heavy braking.
basically if they a*** end of the van comes up then if full pressure went to the back brakes they would lock up and thats not a good thing as the a*** end could step out and set you off spinning.
Thats why it's not a good idea to have a nose down stance when lowering as it upsets the bias valve thingamy doo dar.

So are you suggesting that it works like the seatbelt lock? Surely it Is not so simple that the ball/s roll foreward and kind of block the holes! I havent noticed if I have something like it in My WBX but I had one on my CF and it was chassis mounted with a link to the axle and was called a load compensator. Must get my brain around this one!
Cheers
Wolfie

yep it's a very simple thing, the mounting of it on the chassis correctly is what matters, I've seen one hanging on the pipes, never drove it though so don't know what it braked like. You only really notice that it's working on steep hill decents.