brakes

[james butler]

has anyone tried removing the brake linkage between pedal and servo and replacing it with a hydraulic unit?master cyl at pedal and slave behind servo, (maybe build in a bit of mechanical advantage?) basically to remove the spongines and hard work at the pedal. also what stops me moving the whole unit from the passenger side to the drivers side? cheers james

[Nate]

space is the reason it is where it is. I've seen a few that have been done using the cross beam from a fiesta, which it a rotating bar as opposed to the weird pushmepullyou arrangement that vw use. that said, if you change your brake fluid regularly, adjust up the drums and cross bar correctly (the self adjusters don't always do the job as well as they could) replace the flexi hoses with goodridge braided ones, and fit decent friction material there shouldn't be any sponginess or excessive movement in the brake pedal.

[james butler]

ive changed my flexis to gudridge stainless. am running ebc green stuff pads on vented, grooved and drilled disks and have adjusted the drums up as much as they can go. i just find it takes way to much effort to stop the car+ if i stomp on the brakes in the dry its impossible to mek the brakes lock up.ive changed and bled the brakes numerous times. the pedals firm but just doesnt want to stop quick enough. what about chenging the size of the servo? the FAQ on here suggests a servo from a 16valve, what will this do for the brakes?

[Tim_R]

You should be able to lock up the wheels in the dry even with standard servo and master cylinder.
Have you checked to make sure your pistons move in the calipers and that the sliders slide properly? Is your servo assistance working, try stomping on the pedal a few times with the engine off and is should get harder and harder to press as you use up the vacuum available, then start the engine with your foot on the pedal and it should sink slightly.

[james butler]

yeah the servos working and i dismantled pistons last year fitting new seals and evryfing + painting the callipers at the time. ive got suspition that the back brakes arent workin properly. the handbrakes adjusted as far as it can in the drums but the handbrake doesnt grip very well. ie pull the hand brake on as hard as you can and you can still drive the car 4wards. i mite ave a wheel cylinder leaking or sticking so am gonna ave a look at the weekend.

[Nate]

am running ebc green stuff pads

if i had a quid for every bad report of green stuff pads i'd heard i'd be a rich man. take the pads out and check they're not glazed (a common problem with high performance pads)

are your tyres at the correct pressure? makes a huge difference to the brake effort - can be the difference between a test pass or fail

how did you adjust the rear brakes?

how many clicks are there on the handbrake?

how much pedal travel have you got before it goes firm?

where abouts are you? if you're local i'll have a looky for ya

[MrD]

I have standard vented disks and normal pads on my gtx,hand brake 1 click before it full on ( was told by mot man to slacken it off a tad,as it`s adjusted a tad too much) It locks up very easily ,got brand new tyres on though

[james butler]

the hand brake is on two/three clicks adjusted at the drum end. ile ave a look at the pads to see if they are glazed. are they no good then the ebc green stuff? the pedal tarvel is about half way with the engine running with a gud stomp. with the engine off it will only travel about a quarter. tyres are new front and back. im sure the servo is good, i teasted it like you said and in the haynes manual. pump it up with engine off and it should be firm then turn engine on with foot on the pedal and it definately sank about an inch, and still firm when pumping. shall i try geting a standard set of pads to try and see if they make any difference?

[Nate]

the hand brake is on two/three clicks adjusted at the drum end.

how did you adjust it?

ile ave a look at the pads to see if they are glazed. are they no good then the ebc green stuff?
{snip}
shall i try geting a standard set of pads to try and see if they make any difference?

well worth pulling them out and giving them a bit or a rub. put some medium coarse abrasive paper on something very flat and give them a rub until they aren't shiny any more. if they (and the discs) are badly scored, probably worth considering changing them.

i've got nothing against performance / fast road pads per se, the whole time i owned my mk2 it was fitted with pagid fast road pads, but i've heard too many bad reports on the EBC pads to want to put them on my own car. the main complaints being that they glazed quickly, and started to crumble really badly if you got them hot.

by the same token, i'd also avoid "budget" pads (drivemaster, powertrain and similar) whilst their performance is adequate (ish!) they don't seem to last as long, so will end up costing you more long term. i usually fit either pagid or mintex these days and have never had a problem with them.

the pedal travel is about half way with the engine running with a gud stomp. with the engine off it will only travel about a quarter. tyres are new front and back. im sure the servo is good, i teasted it like you said and in the haynes manual. pump it up with engine off and it should be firm then turn engine on with foot on the pedal and it definately sank about an inch, and still firm when pumping.

yarp, sounds like the servo is doing what it should

another though - are all the front pads wearing evenly?

where abouts are you dude? if you're local i'll come and have a squint at it for you. can't hurt and may help avoid spending money tat you don't have to ;)

[james butler]

im in kings heath south birmingham. i adjusted the handbrake by levering the shoes apart with the drum off so that the wedge shape adjuster slid further down into place giving closer contact with the drum. its the front ones tho im worried about. its the fact that the wheels will not lock up in the dry. ive not got round to tekin the pads out yet to ave a look at there condition ,hoping to do that on the weekend. however when i 1st got the car the first thing i did was change the pads and disks because the last lot wasnt much cop, which was why i put the greenstuff pads in with vented/ drilld disks + stainless flexis.all i seem to have achieved up to date is make the pedal really firm.lol

[james butler]

im gonna really go to town on theses brakes this weekend startin at the rear and work my way forward. the pads will be comming out and see wot state they are in. ile let you know of my findings.

[mark1gls]

by james butler » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:02 pm
however when i 1st got the car the first thing i did was change the pads and disks because the last lot wasnt much cop, which was why i put the greenstuff pads in with vented/ drilld disks + stainless flexis.all i seem to have achieved up to date is make the pedal really firm.lol

Just a thought did you get all the air when you blead the brakes? When I changed my brake hoses I was surprised how much I had to bleed the system to get rid of all the air, I had a clear pipe attached to the bleed nipple so I could see when all the air came out. Might be worth doing it again when you look at the brakes. Did you use a new bottle of brake fuild when bleeding the system?

[Nate]

all i seem to have achieved up to date is make the pedal really firm

has anyone tried removing the brake linkage between pedal and servo and replacing it with a hydraulic unit?master cyl at pedal and slave behind servo, (maybe build in a bit of mechanical advantage?) basically to remove the spongines and hard work at the pedal.

this is why i'd like to see it rather than try to diagnose over the forum! the pedal can't be hard and spongey at the same time. i appreciate how it can be hard to describe stuff. you're not going to be heading towards the cotswolds at all in the near future?

[james butler]

sorry what i meant was the connecting rod going from your pedal to the servo isnt the the best idea in the world as you lose mechanical advantage at every link i.e friction. that is what i meant as being spongy/loosing power at the pedal. yeah i allways use a new bottle of brake fluid regardless. when i strip them down at the week end the last thing ile do is bleed them again if all else fails. because im sure its gud.

[dozzum]

Where abouts in the lovely cotswolds are you located then Nate?
Anywhere near Stroud?