Thread: 300Tdi - no brake pedal pressure

Originally Posted by travelrover

Thanks hydronaut. I called the guy that has serviced my defenders and range rovers for the last 30 years and said to crack the two connections on the side of the mc (there are three altogether on this model, the other underneath) and pump the pedal slowly a couple of times. Much as you suggest.
No assistant for a couple of days and going to be 40+ until Tuesday so i guess she will not be keen to pump the pedal till it cools down a little.

Anyway i will try that first thing tomorrow. Have managed to get some hose clamps and a replacement hose for the rear. Re the no fluid flow at the rear he suggested removing the nipples and poking a small drill bit in the hole to dislodge any foreign matter. Hope i dont run out of fresh brake fluid.

Rego is due tomorrow :-)

some supercheaps have brake fluid by 4+ litres. much cheaper

You might like to check the brake damper as when it fails you will get no brake pressure.

When they are on the way out, the pedal will act intermittently, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not work, and sometime it half works. There is no way I know of to test it, and it is sealed, so the only option is to replace it. It is the small disk like object between the master cylinder and the slave cylinder, located next to the slave cylinder. It is cheap and easy to get and easy to replace, and may cure your dodgy pedal.

Originally Posted by travelrover

I was having trouble getting brake peddle pressure as I had decided to flush the system last year. I had some on the second pump which was sort of ok. I bleed the system three times and no change, but rego is coming up so on advice of a few I replaced the master cylinder. The replacement was the genuine item.

When bleeding got plenty of pressure and fluid through the front brakes, but bleeding the rear brakes very very little fluid came through but there was peddle pressure. But then when I went to test the vehicle there was zero pressure, no resistance at all.

I will re-bleed during the week weather permitting but was wondering what else it may be? No leaks, everything looks fine. Can’t help thinking the new master cylinder..???

Any clues?

Also does anyone know what this is, mounted next to the master cylinder. It has three wires (all cut) red white and black and couple of tubes plugged into it.
Attachment 134882

Yesterday I cracked the two lines off the top of the m/c and slowly pumped the pedal a couple of times and I could see bubbles weeping out of the unions. I left it like this for maybe an hour and then tightened them up and finally had some pedal pressure. I left it overnight and this morning there was much more pressure so I took it for a run and it performed well under some heavy braking :-)
Hopefully problem solved, at least for now.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.