SEAC brakes when hot

[chj]

Odd issue on the SEAC...

Brakes are fine - drive the car for 15 miles or so, still fine. Park for 10 minutes. Get in car, press brake pedal and foot goes flat to floor. Pump pedal once, everything fine. No fluid leaks and reservoir at correct level.

It did this driving back from picking up and also this evening. Any ideas?

Chris

[Jack Valiant]

What colour is the brake fluid? if black then 10 to 1 its failed or failing seals (Black indicates rubber braking down) :-(

Chris

[Snow Mole]

Hi Chris

I thought that the previous owner had a problem with this - has he any ideas?

Richard

[TDC-belgium]

It means the seals of your master cylinder are sometimes "glueing" inside the cylinder tube , just replace the seals of the mastercilinder : it can happen when a car is not used enough ; to avoid ; just use the brakes once in a month when the car is not used or driven

One tip more ; remove brake pads and sand them a little bit too , because the surface can be too smooth

I had same problem with my wedge a few years ago
and I use Mintex blue fluid ; it is a very good quality

cheers Paul

[chj]

Thanks for replies. Fluid looks a clear light oily colour.

Would the sticking seals only happen when the car is hot and has been standing?

[BadRed]

Chris, it could be a sticking / binding caliper. Drive for a bit, brakes binding, calipers and discs get very hot. Stop, heat transfers to brake fluid in caliper and boils causing bubbles. Should not be a major problem to jack up the car and make sure nothing is binding, check the caliper pistons are all free and the pads are not stuck to the calipers. Changing the brake fluid would also be a very good idea. Dot 5.1 has a higher boiling point than 4.1, if you are working the brakes hard it helps with brake fade

[rev-erend]

As said below - sounds like the master cylinder seal or bore ..

Best get it fixed asap.

[chj]

Okay, safety first - SEAC won't be going to wedgefest

Can anyone tell me what car is the master cylinder from or part number?


Thank you, Chris.

[rev-erend]

Well that would be a real shame but as you say - its very dangerous to drive it like that..

Parts list here (350) :

http://www.tvrwedgepages.co.uk/maint_parts.html

but with most things - you cannot always assume the part on your car is the same as it was built with..

Best to check the serial number on your master cylinder .. make sure you look at the brake and not the clutch cylinder. Mine is Girling 74660296 2344

Richard Thorpe at RT racing would be a good source of information.

Repair kit on ebay which may be the right one..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Cortina-Capri-Escor...


More here ..

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=20&...

Edited by rev-erend on Tuesday 26th June 12:09

[BadRed]

As the man said Rev ?

chj said:

Would the sticking seals only happen when the car is hot and has been standing?

How does that work ?

Boiling fuid sonds a better bet at least to start with as the cost would be low and its a easy thing to check

[rev-erend]

I've had the brakes go to the floor and the oh f*** moment and it has always been the master cylinder.

You need to look for the fluid behind the rubber seal (not easy to get to) and check all unions and slave and wheel brakes for evidence of brake fluid loss.

[adam quantrill]

If the fluid boils it tends to push fluid out of the reservoir - so if it's going up and down that would be a strong pointer to the boiling rather than the master.

It's fairly simple to check for binding calipers, but you have to drive it preferably without using the brakes at all to see which one is heating up on its own.

Do the master first, fresh fluid, then check for binding. Should be do-able before the fest - a few hours work.

[cuneus]

Snow Mole said:

Hi Chris

I thought that the previous owner had a problem with this - has he any ideas?

Richard

I never had the problem and had already emailed Chris

I have probably contributed to it by lack of use

The 2 brake related issues that were fixed recently were a stuck OSF caliper which was rebuilt and a binding handbrake pad which was adjusted.

These people are good for seal kits: http://www.powertrackbrakes.co.uk/wcylinder.html#c...

and I think I may have a spare cylinder (unknown condition) if you need it Chris

[combine]

chj said:

Okay, safety first - SEAC won't be going to wedgefest

Can anyone tell me what car is the master cylinder from or part number?


Thank you, Chris.

Ford cortina mk3 , you can put that into e-bay and should get some suppliers , make sure its the same as your master cylinder ie same plastic resovoir shape.

[chj]

Thank you for all the replies. I think it makes sense to change the cylinder and fluid as a precaution in any case. This looks like it might be the one ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-TASMIN-BRAKE-MASTER-...

Number stamped on the side of mine is Girling 46602945 0318 - not identical but similar. Interestingly although the part looks identical, the one on my 400se is also numbered differently but again similar. The only other common factor is that the red ring identifier on both starts with 66231 and later has 38/62 in the middle.

I'll make a few calls in the morning.

[dixiebabes]

This happened to mine the dif bearings had collapsed causing the rear brakes to bind wedg1e has had the same issue i believe.

Dix

[njhucker]

I have had this on 2 wedges I have owned. Both were due to pistons rear calipers sticking, after periods of no use.

[dixiebabes]

njhucker said:

I have had this on 2 wedges I have owned. Both were due to pistons rear calipers sticking, after periods of no use.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I would agree with this!!!

Dix

[BadRed]

dixiebabes said:

njhucker said:

I have had this on 2 wedges I have owned. Both were due to pistons rear calipers sticking, after periods of no use.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I would agree with this!!!

Dix

Like I said, Boiling fluid. Easy to check drive car for 15 miles stop and see which disc is smoking red hot. no cost. before you go taking the master cylinder to bits which may not be at fault.

[mikeb]

Here you go!

http://www.tvrwedgepages.co.uk/maint_brake_refurb....

MikeyB