Hard brakes and history

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Captain Cavemen

Captain Cavemen

Member
Posts
28
Location
North Bristol
Dear all, I have a 1980 series 3 88” ex coastguard landy which aside from the shocking rust has served me well for 27 years (my first car which I kept while all my friends sold theirs and regretted it). I am no mechanic but potter about on her doing the easy stuff and passing to a friendly mechanic when it’s above my head we are in unusual times so I’m having a go at things I would normally pass on. She has had a new galv chassis; wiring loom; 90 bulkhead (couldn’t afford a s3) and lots of bits welded on and kicked! It’s a weekend working vechical so I don’t show it any quarter and it keeps taking the punishment brilliant machine.

Recently the breaks have been getting harder but still working fine with a good shove. So as per the forum notes I checked the vacuum, all good sucking away merrily. So I changed the servo. Still no luck. Before I dive into changing the master brake cylinder has anyone got any ideas for other causes? The shoes are all fairly new and adjusted properly and the lines appear to blead ok.

Secondly being an ex coastguard (my assumption because The under paint is dark blue and the roof canary yellow). Does anyone know how to research it’s history? I sent off for the heritage cert and that only told me it was an early Jan 1980 build.

Any thoughts gratefully received
 
You've replaced the shoes, do the pistons push back into the wheel cylinders easily?
If you open a bleed screw on one of the front wheel cylinders and then pump the brakes, the pedal should be easy and go all the way to the floor as oil escapes from the bleed nipple. Worth trying this with a friend so you don't get any air drawn into the system
 
Welcome, after having it 27 years you prob know more than most
If it’s the diesel it has a butterfly valve in the intake manifold, this should be closed when foot comes off accelerator pedal and increases vacuum for brakes when the linkage it set correctly

have you still,got the vacuum reservoir And no leaks on it or Rubber pipes
You can bypass that as a test
You can also test the servo works properly
Also test the non return valve
 
Last edited:
steve2286w said:
Welcome, after having it 27 years you prob know more than most
If it’s the diesel it has a butterfly valve in the intake manifold, this should be closed when foot comes off accelerator pedal and increases vacuum for brakes when the linkage it set correctly

have you still,got the vacuum reservoir And no leaks on it or Rubber pipes
You can bypass that as a test
You can also test the servo works properly
Click to expand...
I thought the diesels had a vacuum pump for the servo?
 
Dear all thanks for the input. Perhaps I should have mentioned it’s a standard 2 1/4 petrol 3 bearing engine, which had rattled along smoothly enough for the last 88,000 miles albeit some of the compression on the rear most cylinder (can’t remember if it’s 1 or 4) has just dipped below 100 so I guess I may be looking at a ream and new rings at some point.

Kermit-RR - I will try your idea to open a bleed nipple (once a mate is allowed round safely) and press the pedal to check movement. Another thought occurred to me, could the brake fluid have become contaminated (no obvious signs of water ingress) or the wrong viscosity added by a non concentrating garage member and have this effect? I would rather not have to flush the whole system but just trying to isolate each point.

The main issue with the loss of movement is getting the brake lights to operate effectively. I have tried both screw positions but there is just not enough travel to activate them.

Your continued assistance is greatly appreciated.
 
The shoes being new will take time to bed in , sometimes you can see where they touch the drum and it’s not all over , i have took shoes off and ran them inside drum to see the high spots and remove with grit paper
What activates you’re brake switch
 
steve2286w said:
The shoes being new will take time to bed in , sometimes you can see where they touch the drum and it’s not all over , i have took shoes off and ran them inside drum to see the high spots and remove with grit paper
What activates you’re brake switch
Click to expand...
The brake lights are controlled by a standard Lucas switch on the top of the brake pedal box.
 
the more you've said and the longer i've thought, it does sound more like you've not getting sufficient vacuum to the servo, how did you check it was sucking away merrily?
 
Is the pedal pivot free to move with ease?
As a former Coastguard [ 28 years ] I drove both series and 90 vehicles. Doing what they did I am not surprised about the rust as most will have splashed through the ogin at times and some will have gone too deep. As for history an ask on Coastguards 247 site may result in finding which station/ stations it served at.
 
kermit_rr said:
the more you've said and the longer i've thought, it does sound more like you've not getting sufficient vacuum to the servo, how did you check it was sucking away merrily?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I removed the vacuum pipe from the servo one way valve and started the engine. Thumb over the end It did give good suction. My hoses are getting a bit ropey so as soon as the online team are working again I will order some new ones.

If there is another test do let me know.
Thanks
 
tottot said:
Is the pedal pivot free to move with ease?
As a former Coastguard [ 28 years ] I drove both series and 90 vehicles. Doing what they did I am not surprised about the rust as most will have splashed through the ogin at times and some will have gone too deep. As for history an ask on Coastguards 247 site may result in finding which station/ stations it served at.
Click to expand...
Thanks Tottot I will try that.
 
Captain Cavemen said:
Thanks, I removed the vacuum pipe from the servo one way valve and started the engine. Thumb over the end It did give good suction. My hoses are getting a bit ropey so as soon as the online team are working again I will order some new ones.

If there is another test do let me know.
Thanks
Click to expand...
sounds good to me, i wondered if you'd disconnected at the manifold end instead, i was thinking about the pipe collapsing under a good vacuum but sounds like you've ruled that out already
 
tottot said:
Is the pedal pivot free to move with ease?
As a former Coastguard [ 28 years ] I drove both series and 90 vehicles. Doing what they did I am not surprised about the rust as most will have splashed through the ogin at times and some will have gone too deep. As for history an ask on Coastguards 247 site may result in finding which station/ stations it served at.
Click to expand...
Thank you yes, when I changed the servo I checked the pedal and it is all moving smoothly.
 
jamesmartin said:
hold your foot hard on brake pedal keep it there and start the engine does the pedal sink a little
Click to expand...
Thanks Jamesmartin- Interestingly no it doesn’t and that is what lead me to change the servo but still no joy. I can only assume it is either a faulty replacement servo or the issue is further down the line, hence the suspicion of the master brake cylinder.
 
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