Thread: Spongy D2 Brakes

Originally Posted by DI5CO

Hi all,
I'm a new D2 owner (had D1 for 9 yrs) & the brakes seem spongy on the 1st application, then if you quickly take the foot off & re apply, goes hard & seems more forceful. someone told me thats normal. Anyones else the same?

1 other thing, it has the rear air suspension, after you turn the car off, the rear lower about 1-2cm after about 10-30 seconds after you get out. Sounds like its normal & should do it as you can hear the valve shut off to stop it lowering further. It's just that I cant find anything in the manual about it lowering.
ps, its a 99 TD5 if that makes a difference.

All this is completely normal

I spent about $500 trying to find out why my brakes were spongy compaired to my D1............only to be told by several sources that this was how they are meant to be.

And the rear suspension ..........seems to happen sometimes then i doesn't other times - then you open or close a door and then it lowers.........

...........but again I have everything checked and it's all normal

This is a fairly common complaint.

I would try bleeding the brakes first by the conventional method yourself. If there's no improvement, then you need a dealer or someone else with Testbook to do a full bleed. Testbook (or similar) is needed to bleed the ABS system properly. If there's still no improvement, then it's probably the normal operation for the early D2.

Later cars have a different spec front caliper which is supposed to improve pedal height. Not performance, just to make the pedal feel better.

Originally Posted by Scouse

This is a fairly common complaint.

I would try bleeding the brakes first by the conventional method yourself. If there's no improvement, then you need a dealer or someone else with Testbook to do a full bleed. Testbook (or similar) is needed to bleed the ABS system properly. If there's still no improvement, then it's probably the normal operation for the early D2.

Later cars have a different spec front caliper which is supposed to improve pedal height. Not performance, just to make the pedal feel better.

Scott....

I had mine bled by testbook three times ........and it made not one jot of difference

The problem I think was D1 brakes were like rocks..........and the D2 are just much softer ........but normal

The best test I was told is to find a really steep hill and run the hill desecent system .............if it works it's okay, if it doesn't I guess you either crash or apply the brakes manually

its amazing how much better the d2 brakes are over the d1. some cold mornings even when your going slow & slam the brakes on, the d1 doesnt want to stop. the d2 even on the 1st stomp stop so much better.
With the susp, sometimes even after 10 seconds, the car goes down, then other times, you can start walking away & then it goes down. Ill guess i will just get used to it. Thanks heaps.
Dave.

Originally Posted by DI5CO

its amazing how much better the d2 brakes are over the d1. some cold mornings even when your going slow & slam the brakes on, the d1 doesnt want to stop. the d2 even on the 1st stomp stop so much better.
With the susp, sometimes even after 10 seconds, the car goes down, then other times, you can start walking away & then it goes down. Ill guess i will just get used to it. Thanks heaps.
Dave.

Dave, it's strange isn't it, how we become conditioned, I was absolutlely paranoid about the brakes ............

.........but when it got into my thick skull that the brakes were still a damn site effective despite the 'soft feel'

.........as I say I spent (read wasted) $500 just to find out I was stupid

(mind you there will be a few on here who could have told me that for nothing)

So if they stop the vehicle, and stop better than those rock hard ones on the D1 .........just get use to it, took me a while

Hi, from experience in my 06 Defender, if you have air in the brake circuit both the ABS and TC lights come on, not the third light - handbrake etc. I had this problem recently, thinking I had air in the front brake circuit ( which I did). I reset the lights (lucky enough to have a scanner available to borrow). The brakes were still a bit spongy and after a day or so the lights re-appeared. I also had air in the rear brakes. After bleeding these I reset the system again and all is good. I can't remember the fault indication descriptor but it was something like "shuttle valve failure". As mentioned above it is possible to bleed the brakes with test book as well as conventionally. Cheers, Erich.

Originally Posted by DI5CO

Hi all,
I'm a new D2 owner (had D1 for 9 yrs) & the brakes seem spongy on the 1st application, then if you quickly take the foot off & re apply, goes hard & seems more forceful. someone told me thats normal. Anyones else the same?

1 other thing, it has the rear air suspension, after you turn the car off, the rear lower about 1-2cm after about 10-30 seconds after you get out. Sounds like its normal & should do it as you can hear the valve shut off to stop it lowering further. It's just that I cant find anything in the manual about it lowering.
ps, its a 99 TD5 if that makes a difference.

DI5CO, All systems you mention on your D2 are completely normal. Do not worry.

I have same soft pedal on my '99 D2, and when I bought the car the RWC did not comment on it nor did the independant RACV Inspection or even a third inspection by another independant mechanic who I then asked to thoroughly inspect the brake cylinder.. all ok he said,... so I got him to bleed the brakes anyway... and still the same. (soft on first press and twice as hard on immediate second press). Damn good brakes though, just different.

Also, your SLS is normal. The Air Suspension (SLS) will automatically adjust the cars rear height immediately after the ignition is turned off for a few seconds to get the car to its factory set target ride height. Then again for up to 30 minutes after any of the 5 doors are opened to lower each side independantly (to theoretically level the car while unpacking the 100kgs of camping gear). However the SLABS Self Levelling Anti Lock Braking System ECU will automatically dissable this last function if the height sensors detect the rear suspension is articulated more on one side than the other by 100mm above its target ride height, ie parked with one wheel in a rut or on a rock.

Its just doing its job, all ok.

Well I've got a D1 with soft brakes, I've replaced the booster, master cylinder, pressure relief value, pads and bleed the system for hours. It's still soft, people think that I'm making it up when I say the brakes are soft but after spending close to a grand on the parts I'm starting to think maybe it is in my head.