Thread: Introducing DaOot

I replaced the leaking wheel cylinders & started again with bleeding.

Got a much better response from the pedal but still not great.

I can't remeber why but I thought the large amount of free play in the pedal might be contributing to my woes so I set about adjusting that with the bolt on the pedal.

Well the brakes came up so well that they will lock & not move until I allow a little free play back in the pedal & then I'm left with ordinary brakes again.

A quarter turn on the adjustment bolt is all that's needed to either lock or unlock the brakes

Losing my mind a little now

Help

When the adjustment bolt is tightened and locks the brakes, which wheel or wheels is/are locked up?

Could you be locking just one wheel, and the others still being too far out of adjustment? Just a thought.

Are all the flexible lines ok? Have you tried crimping the back flex to see if you can isolate the problem? If you do this, you may find the front brakes are fine and the backs are letting you down, or vice versa.

Originally Posted by bacicat

When the adjustment bolt is tightened and locks the brakes, which wheel or wheels is/are locked up? All of them

Could you be locking just one wheel, and the others still being too far out of adjustment? Just a thought.

Are all the flexible lines ok? Have you tried crimping the back flex to see if you can isolate the problem? Crimped the rear flex & the pedal is fine.

If you do this, you may find the front brakes are fine and the backs are letting you down, or vice versa.

I bought new flexi hoses & replaced them today. We still could not get a good pedal & were consuming brake fluid at an alarming rate.

So I nipped down to the hardware shop & got 4m of plastic hose so I could just put in on the bleed nipple & feed it back to the fluid reservoir & just keep pumping

My son now needs bigger shorts to accommodate his Chris Close thighs

Am I being pedantic?

It's been a long time since I've had a car without power brakes.

Is this OK?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAJnZ9qtVxE]Brake_Pedal - YouTube[/ame]

That is a bit much travel, you can see in the vid where the pressure starts, but to get to full pressure its a bit further down-this shows that somewhere something is not properly adjusted, has air in it, or is deforming as pressure builds. Deformation can either be flex hoses or the shoes themselves. Have you had the drums and shoes off and checked to make sure the shoes are the right radius to match the drums? If the shoes are new and drums old and worn they may be out of spec for each other.
If you have replaced the flex hoses front and rear then that shouldn't be a problem area.

My Series has better brakes than my 110, stupid boosted disc/drum combo...Series brakes can and should feel very good.

Have you tried stamping on the pedal as hard as you can when you bleed?

Do you get a firm pedal when you apply the pedal a few times quickly? If so the shoes need adjusting; or as isuzutoo-eh suggested the shoes and drums need matching,

Cheers Charlie

Yes I do get a firm pedal if I pump quickly.

I adjust the shoes by turning the adjustment bolt until the drum won't move then backing of until it just starts moving.

I can still get a rock hard pedal and all brakes locked by adjusting the pedal screw as well.

I'll pull the drums off and compare the old shoes to the new ones later today.

Originally Posted by chazza

Have you tried stamping on the pedal as hard as you can when you bleed?

When I stamp as hard as I can the fluid seems to get very aerated. Instead of large bubbles I get heaps of little ones throughout the fluid

I got some time to pull the drums off & found shiny bits on the tops of all the shoes like this:



So I filed it off & offered it up to the drums & saw that the body of the shoe is contacting the drum much better than previously.

I didn't have time to perform another bleed but the pedal feels much smoother all the way through the travel now.

Still no pedal & I'm a bit perplexed how I'm supposed to get to 60kmh in my front yard to bed the brakes.

I might have to invest in a unregistered vehicle permit for the day.