Massive pedal travel on brakes

[Mat Jackson]

OK got a problem,

I have massive travel on my brake pedal before I get any action.  (about 3 inches).  I sat in a couple of other cars last night and ther brake pedals were rock hard.  I have bled the system over and over again and I am certain there is no air in there.  If you pump the pedal up it makes little difference.

The brakes work well, they just have a massive travel.  Could it be the self adjusters on the rear calipers?  If so does anyone know any tricks?

When you press the pedal there seems to be 1 inch of movement before anything happens (even the brake lights don`t come on) and then the pedal moves a hell of a long way before getting hard.  With the handbrake on tight it is massively better, but there is still the 1 inch or so of movement with nothing at all.

Help...............

[KerryS]

Sounds similar to my recently completed build too - "Madness" kit.

Kerry S

[oioi]

mat - how old is your car?  if it has the modded escort peddle box couple of easy things to check.  does the peddle box flex?  there are two nuts holding the peddle onto the cylinder push, are both these done?  if not the peddle will slip of the bite point and the first bit of travel is just moving the peddle onto the nut.

[Mat Jackson]

Car is only 1 year old with floor mounted pedals.  I`ve checkd the nuts and they are done up tight, with no flex in the connection at all.

Spoke to Westfield and they recomended checking the re-adjusters and also trying the blockof wood technique.

I`ll keep you posted.

[Matt Crisp]

if pedal is hard there is no air in system. if you have to pump a lot of fluid down pipes to expand pads/shoes onto disks/drums the pads/shoes are starting too far away from the disks/drums. it proves it as you have a ++++ better pedal with h brake on. it has 2 b the adjustment on the rear pads. they supposedly self adjust but read the relevant manual re golf/sierra etc

HTH  Matt

[Thrustyjust]

As matt says.I would be inclined to check the adjustment on the rear calipers.I had pedal problems after I fitted new pads on the rear,ad after winding the pistons back out,so as to just clear the discs and then trying again.

[Flappa]

With the self adjusters on the back, if you slacken off the tension on the hand brake all the way and then push the pedal a few times, re-tension the hand brake and things should be a lot better.

Biggest problem I had was getting to the HB adjuster

[Leon B]

Unscrew the piston thats connects to the brake pedal a bit further, then pump the brakes, wedge the pedal depressed overnight with a length of wood.  Certainly helped my setup... that and bledding them about 10000000 times  

[hilux]

*rant mode on*

Forget all about this length of wood cr*p

Air floats on brake fluid or will travel to the highest point.

Remove each caliper (its only a coupla bolts for Gods sake) and elevate

You are also allowed to `crack` joints open when the pedal is under pressure if you suspect that air is trapped.

Putting the system under pressure over a period of time will help small bubbles migrate (eventually) but will NOT guarantee an air free system.

These cars should not be hard to bleed and if there is soft pedal then there is air in the system

Long travel is usually cylinder ratios or handbrake adjustment on sierra calipers.

You cannot assume with brakes, you have to know as you have a responsibilty to the other road users.

*rant mode off*

[Leon B]

lol, just saying what worked for me.... and quite afew others.  Try it and tell us what the outcome is

[Mat Jackson]

OK heres the update.

Firstly, apologies I thought I was in Techie talk when I posted this.

After reading the threads and speaking to the factory I did two things.  Firstly I jammed the brake pedal down overnight and left the cap off the resevoir (would only do this on warm weather, not when damp).  I dont think this made a difference at all.

Next I wound back the handbrake adjuster all the way back and crawled under the car to notice the levers on the calipers had not gone all the way back to the stops.  Apparently for the self adjusters to kick in, the levers need to go all the way back.  A quick tap wwith the hammer and they went against the stops.

After a couple of pumps on the pedal the travel is far far less, and the feel is fantastic.  I wouldn`t describe the pedal as rock hard as their is some movement ( I had been a bit mislead by that description) but it is as good as other westies I have sat in so am happy these are now set up right.

Took it for a spin and the break feel is much much better, it is like haveing a new car.

Thanks for all the tips,

Mat