Lack of brakes...

[bushy90]

Hi Guys,

My brakes have never been as good as they should be, I have a fair amount of pedal travel, I got used to this, when you push the pedal hard they work so no problems there.

Basically drove to work today no worries same as usual. On my way home my brakes were non existent. Pedal to the floor and literally crawled to a stop. Made it home just.....

I've checked the fluid and its empty. Is anyone able to shed some light on what the issue may be? Master Cylinder, brake hose's etc.

What's the first thing to look at?

Help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Matt

[rey]

Check all of the break lines, check where they join to the calipers, any joins etc for leaks.

[bushy90]

Cheers Rey.

[Quick]

Check calipers and pistons.

Could be a leak on the rear drums.

[outrage_uk]

There should be a big red ( ! ):

http://wheels.nabtron.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/060320_WarningLightsPR_2_small.jpg

to tell you to stop and sort it out before even moving off, ive read about 3 of the same stories like this within the last week i cant believe no ones been hurt yet :wacko:

Corroded brake lines on the rear are normally the culprit :n:

[bushy90]

Ahh that has been on for a while, I thought i had a dodgy handbrake sensor......

[Quick]

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/fail-owned-hand-brake-fail.jpg

[LScottBell]

exact same thing happened to me a few days ago mate. I was driving mine and heading for a fence and had to pull the handbrake lol no braking at all. Scary.

You need to get each wheel off and completely drain the brake bleed nipples which are found on each calliper as you will have air in the system. Its a two man job as someone needs to be pushing the pedal and forcing the brake oil out and then they need to slow push the pedal down whilst you tighten or you just pull air straight back into the lines.

Let us know how you get on.

[Manu]

Lost all fluid once while driving, almost no brakes left at all. scary times. As mentioned above, check for master cylinder, erar drums and rusty brake lines.

Ahh that has been on for a while, I thought i had a dodgy handbrake sensor......

rrrright. When your car indicates a fault, have a look into asap.

[bushy90]

Thanks for the replies, turned out to be a fucked rear brake cylinder.

New cylinder, shoes and fluid later and the brakes have never been better!