Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[santa cant drive]

Hi all. im new to this forum and need some tips because the breaks on my car are bugging me! for the past 4 years ive ran my p4 75 on and off most days maily round town but the breaks on this car are a real pain in the neck. as they never seem to work as they should do!

As tonight for example. I set out to drive on a 7 mile round trip and the breaks felt real spungie to start as they always do. I have to press the break pedel halfway down 2 or 3 times to to get a good firm resonce from them, but sometimes the breaks pedal feels far too firm, too tight and the breaks bined on making the wheels heat up. No good!

Ive had a my garage fit a knew master cylinder and a wheel cylinder but the problem still has not been solved. Are there p4 owner famliar with this issue and give me a suggestion for a fix.

Thanks for replies in advance.

[Rick]

Welcome to the forum, I wonder if the flexible pipes in the brake system also need replacement?

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[ukdave2002]

I was thinking collapsed hose too.

If the brakes feel spongy it could be air in the system, pumping them will temporally compress the air, it could also be low level of fluid in the master cylinder, or a blockage limiting fluid from the reservoir?

When hoses collapse internally, they can act like a valve, stopping the fluid from returning quickly.

Finally there has been a problem with master cylinder cup valves recently; these valves are intended to maintain a little pressure in the braking system after the pedal is released, not all cars have them, but its possible that its either faulty or incorrectly installed.

Dave

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

Is the P4 (75) equipped with one of those wonderful remote servos? If so I would give that a good dose of looking at!

[santa cant drive]

my 75 is a non servo assisted model. one less thing to go wrong i spose. when i first bought the car from the last owner the breaks where spot on. i was surprised how good they where considering they are drum brakes but thinking about it i can see the main culprit being the flexi hoses since the problem has become more apparent since owning the vehicle in the past year or so. i will get strait on to it and have new hoses fitted.

thanks for the heads up about those hoses. at least i can leave the heavy concrete block at home from now on. the block was attached via chain to my towbar. my passengers had become so used to realeasing the block evey tme i needed to stop quickly. lol

[Penman]

Hi
There's your problem, if you are carrying a massive concrete block around you have increased the amount of braking force required to overcome the inertia of, the car + load's, mass/momentum.


_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[Phil - Nottingham]

Visit the P4DG forum - there is loads on SEARCH on brake issues.

Do not despair they are all easily fixable and without too much expense!
_________________
Rover P2
Rover P4
Rover P5 & P5B
Land Rover S2 & S3
Morris Mini Traveller Mk2

[Bitumen Boy]

If replacing flexihoses - on any car - it's well worth holding each one up to the light and wiggling it around till you can see through it, and try blowing through it both ways to make sure there are no blockages. The quality of aftermarket parts is frequently atrocious these days and without taking a minute to check them you could be jumping from the frying pan into the fire!

Another thing worth checking, if wheel cylinders have been replaced, take them apart for inspection and cleaning. Again, the quality can be a major issue these days and a tiny bit of crap in there can easily give a one-way valve effect, if it doesn't do anything worse like cut the seals