Brake servo confusion!

Hello,

I had a brake servo issue (mainly it was very old and no longer assisted) I didn’t really care as the brake performance was fine so just drove it with it. The pin to the servo sheered and the pedal no longer returned so decided to sort it. I didn’t have the time to do it myself so decided to bite the bullet and pay a decent classic car garage to do it for me.

Long story short, they couldn’t find the bits so I had to supply a new servo and pedal pivot pin. Got the landy back and the brakes were great but in the swap the garage managed to damage my paintwork buy not fitting the bonnet into its hinges!

Anyway back to the servo. The servo was good but after about two months it felt like it was hitting a hard spot (like semi seizing) and then it releases back to normal. Every now and again it feels like the assist goes and it has about 40% braking power unless you slam your foot down and then the brakes come back. It’s not all the time and there’s no telling when it’s going to happen. Now when it’s not acting up, the brake hiss from the servo is significantly louder like there’s a leak yet braking performance is fine. The servo itself looks perfect with no visible damage as you would hope being brand new.

My question is, do you reckon this is just a faulty part? which I can return under the warranty as I had to source it. I don’t really want to take back to garage and pay £60hr rates for them to look into it, especially when they damaged the car first time round.

Or if anyone else has experienced something like this Or has theories let me know!

Specs are
1981 series 3 petrol
Britpart servo
11” front drum 10” rear

Thanks

Is the pushrod play correct , checked the one way valve and sealed around it for leaks. Have you tested the servo by pressing the brake to get rid of vacuum press brake then start engine , the pedal should sink a bit if it’s working ok , do you have the vacuum reservoir and are all,pipes ok , I could leave mine for hours and the reservoir still held vacuum

My biggest worry would be using a Britpart servo but it sounds like it could be a leak in the pipe work.

steve2286w said:

Is the pushrod play correct , checked the one way valve and sealed around it for leaks. Have you tested the servo by pressing the brake to get rid of vacuum press brake then start engine , the pedal should sink a bit if it’s working ok , do you have the vacuum reservoir and are all,pipes ok , I could leave mine for hours and the reservoir still held vacuum

Click to expand...

Cool cheers for the info, give me a bit more to look over!

Bobsticle said:

My biggest worry would be using a Britpart servo but it sounds like it could be a leak in the pipe work.

Click to expand...

I didn’t want to go britpart but most companies I found when selling servos just class the brand as aftermarket and you don’t know what your getting until it arrives. I purposely didn’t buy the cheapest hoping I would get something that wasn’t crap quality, also time constraints of needing the landy back I had to make a panic purchase. What brand would you recommend

Not too many moving parts in the servo all it needs to do is move the piston rod under vacuum and do it without leaking, I would check things before condemning the servo

I stuck in a brit part servo from Paddocks about 3 years ago and to date it's given me no problems so in this case britpart done me ok. Holds its charge for good long while too. It's one of the easier replacement jobs so if you do end up having to swap it out you should be able to manage it easily yourself in short time - 'specially if all the bolts have been changed recently.

//HS88// said:

I didn’t want to go britpart but most companies I found when selling servos just class the brand as aftermarket and you don’t know what your getting until it arrives. I purposely didn’t buy the cheapest hoping I would get something that wasn’t crap quality, also time constraints of needing the landy back I had to make a panic purchase. What brand would you recommend

Click to expand...

Happens all the time. Anyone would think they’re trying to hide the fact

//HS88// said:

I didn’t want to go britpart but most companies I found when selling servos just class the brand as aftermarket and you don’t know what your getting until it arrives. I purposely didn’t buy the cheapest hoping I would get something that wasn’t crap quality, also time constraints of needing the landy back I had to make a panic purchase. What brand would you recommend

Click to expand...

Britpart are a wholesaler.
They don't make any parts.
They just buy them in, package them, put a mark up on the price, and sell them on.
As this is quite an old vehicle, it is quite possible that only one company actually makes those servos now, and sells them on to Britpart, Bearmach, and other wholesalers.
So it is likely that whatever brand you buy, you will get the same thing.

Turboman said:

Britpart are a wholesaler.
They don't make any parts.
They just buy them in, package them, put a mark up on the price, and sell them on.
As this is quite an old vehicle, it is quite possible that only one company actually makes those servos now, and sells them on to Britpart, Bearmach, and other wholesalers.
So it is likely that whatever brand you buy, you will get the same thing.

Click to expand...

But other companies may have a burd in a back room actually making sure they work.

Quality control...................if you can remember that far back

Bobsticle said:

But other companies may have a burd in a back room actually making sure they work.

Quality control...................if you can remember that far back

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Long gone. They test a few units in pre-production. If they pass, the others are thought to be fine, unless a problem crops up.

steve2286w said:

Is the pushrod play correct , checked the one way valve and sealed around it for leaks. Have you tested the servo by pressing the brake to get rid of vacuum press brake then start engine , the pedal should sink a bit if it’s working ok , do you have the vacuum reservoir and are all,pipes ok , I could leave mine for hours and the reservoir still held vacuum

Click to expand...

Managed to actually have a quick look today as I have been busy at work. When putting pressure on the pedal and starting the engine, it’s hard as if the servo isn’t working and has a loud leaking hiss sound, but then it seals and drops as should and sounds fine? It seems intermittent but I would say getting worse. Any ideas? I am proper stuck for time lately and am feeling maybe just bite the bullet and see if I can exchange or just buy another new one!

I exchanged 4 britpart radiators. All were faulty. It’s your call. You may be lucky. I wurnt