Freelander 1 Excessive brake pedal travel

'04 Td4 with 125,000 miles.

The pedal seems to move a good 2" before resistance is felt, although it always returns up to the stop. It's almost like the pushrod needs to be adjusted longer, but I can't see any way of doing this.

The brakes work fine, it's more a problem of feel. Rear shoes are adjusted properly. I've done the system with a pressure bleeder twice, even though it's not really a sponginess problem.

If I hold the pedal hard with the engine running, it very slowly sinks, suggesting master cylinder, but every Freelander I've driven has done this.

How would you go about finding the culprit? With a dodgy pedal, once I've bled the system and adjusted the rear shoes I'm pretty much out of ideas. I'm quite happy to swap the master if needed, but would rather know for sure what's going on.

sounds like mine when the front pads wore down ..
although i assume you've checked those

i had issues with one caliper sticking ..
so the opposite side wore rapidly .. all the way down to metal
happened twice .. one side was fixed ( freed up ) then the other side started to stick
ended up replacing both calipers

anyhow .. as the pads were wearing so quick .. i got the same symptoms you describe

other than that .. i.e. if the pads hadn't worn so much in a short time
i would have suspected the master cylinder ..
( i know the system had been bled .. and that the rear shoes were fine )

edited to add:
at the mot test .. it were noted that the brake pedal had too much travel
'till resistance were felt .. but ..
they failed to notice that one front pad had worn down almost to the metal
( replacing the pads .. and then with new calipers .. fixed the issue )
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If the pedal is sinking, then the master cylinder is past its best.

Excessive pedal travel is normally down rear shoes with to much clearance. It could also be your leaking master drawing in air, which gets pushed out again when the pedal is pressed.

OK, I'll have a good check of everything again.

How do you adjust your shoes? I click them up tight, then back off till the drum is free but with a slight drag.

Any tips for changing the master?