Brake Problem ?

[Guest kevinc]

Had a search but couldn't come up with anything so here goes ! Hooked up the brakes from a Sierra donor where they were working fine. Filled and bled the system, no leaks anywhere, but there is no pressure in the system when pressing the brake pedal ? Any ideas or things to check ?

 

Thanks !

[Guest Bazwaz]

First things to check are the front calipers, are they fitted the right way round?. when fitted the bleed nipple should be at the top of the caliper, if it isn't you can't get all the air out. It's a common mistake i did it myself some years ago.

Barry

[Guest paul thompson]

Check also that the brake pads are inthe calipers correctly, have agood look cause they might look like they are, mine were on the cock and when I depressed the pedal (by telling it I would not get the car on the road this side of xmas) the backing plate bent and the pedal felt like there was still air in the system. New pads on the front correctly fitted, then everything worked fine.

[Peter Bell]

Also the brake compensator unit if fitted can be a real pain to bleed properly.

Peter

[Guest Twoscoops]

what is the best angle to have the brake compensator at for bleeding...??? i read that the final angle should be somehere about 25 degrees of the horizontal.

 

Can anyone confirm this????

 

Cheers

 

T.

[Guest Fred2b]

I have set the compensator at about 30 deg. It passed the brake lockup test at SVA last week but I must admit I had problems bleeding the system with it. The solution was to fit it loosly at a steep angle so the ball inside falls back so the pipes are open. Then adjust the angle and tighten up permanently. I also used a pressure bleeder made by Gunsons.

Hope this helps

Peter

[Guest kevinc]

Great news, the calipers were on the wrong way round, sounds silly but I guess quite an easy mistake like you said ! Thanks for all the other suggestions too, much appreciated, hopefully if someone has the same problem they can now find this thread

[Peter Bell]

Glad you got it sorted Kevin, Hi Fred the brake compensator won't have any effect on a rolling road unless you have mounted it pointing downwards. It works on inertia, there is a bit about it in the build tips on the old site it may be of interest.

Peter.

[Guest klaxon]

Regarding the angle of the brake compensator. I measured mine carefully before removal from the donor car. It was indeed 25 degs. The unit was mounted on the near-side wing with the front end uppermost, NOT downwards as in "building tips".

The pipe from the front end of the unit goes to the Tee at the back axle. the other end connects to the master cylinder outlet nearest to the servo.

[Guest Phil Slater]

Yes, but if I understand matters correctly, the suggestion is, because the "give" in the suspension of a RH is much less than on the Sierra, and therefore the car will not "dive" at the front as much under heavy braking, the compensator should be fitted at a shallower angle. This is in order for it to work with the same efficiency. Point ing downwards would I think be taking things too far as the ball bearing in the compensator would be permanently obstructing the flow of fluid to the rear brakes.

 

HTH

 

Phil Slater

[Les Welsher]

I had mine fitted at slightly less of an angle as it was on the sierra, rear wheels locked up at SVA when driven down the sprint lane. Changed the angle to about 10 degrees for retest, no problem with locking up. No problems bleeding the brakes either.

 

Les

[Guest Fred2b]

The compensator must be fitted pointing upwards as it was in the Sierra. If it's pointing down then the pressure will be on the front all the time!! with nothing on the rear,and this has it's own problems i.e. front wheel skid. Look in the Haynes manual if you can't remember which way is up, there are a few pictures but I can tell you the front is the smaller end.

The actual angle of fitting is more trial and error then anything due to the Robinhood characteristics but mine works and passed SVA at about 30 deg.

Regards

Peter