brakes just went and i crashed into car in ireland help

[londonron]

pressed brake,nothing happend and i went straight into a car at a roundabout, smashed her car to bits and broke front of mine which all pulled out even though will all need replacing.

problem is the brakes and this is what i have.

almost new front brakes
ok rear
on the limit handbreak
no loss of fluid
no air in system (bled with irish guy at scene)

called out aa who sent local irish guy with a box of spanners and little else and he said this.

its your master cylinder, then after i asked him why he changed his mind as no fluid missing and also he undone it from the rear and said it was "dry" behind the unit where the lever pushes the cylinder.

he then took off an air hose tyoe thing which supplies air to the servo? and brakes firmed up and went spongy again once he put it back on.

when you pump the brakes the red light comes on when you really pump and that seems to be a sensor located by the servo thingy,

the brakes are now working but not right and in truth who knows, maybe they are like they have been for ages and i didnt know any differant, but what do you think, what part do i need? and any common compatable one. not fair it happend in ireland but what can you do.

please help. its a 95 2.5 diesle

[francophile1947]

Being dry behind the piston is a good thing, otherwise you'd have faulty seals.
Did the pedal go to the floor, or did it just feel like the brakes weren't working, even though the pedal was firm?

[dandywarhol]

Total brake failure is impossible unless 2 hoses/pipes/mastercylinder seals fail simultanously or the pivot pin on the pedal shears (very, very unlikely) Ron.

Vehicle systems since 1975 HAVE to have separate brake lines to eliminate total failure, although the pedal travel doubles if one circuit fails.

If theres no fluid loss it sounds like you may have suffered ONE master cylinder circuit fail - replacing the master cylinder should sort out the problem - it isn't worth trying to overhaul it - like franco says - "dry" is good..........

[francophile1947]

I just wondered if it was a servo problem.
I recently had the "pleasure" of driving an old Ford Consul and I'd forgotten just how hard you had to press the pedal in those days - It felt as though the brakes weren't working, until I virtually stood on the pedal. This theory is no good if the pedal went down to the floor but, as Dandy said, that shouldn't happen nowadays.

[dandywarhol]

Yep - a faulty servo would give a hard pedal and you'd need a lot of effort to push it - there would still be retardation though..................

[teenmal]

Hi Londonron,sorry to hear about your accident.Does your vehicle have ABS?

Cheers Mal..

[Bin Bongoed]

Yep - a faulty servo would give a hard pedal and you'd need a lot of effort to push it - there would still be retardation though..................

Similar effect when engine died on my Toyota freewheeling down a very steep slope (my drive!). Just couldn't stop the b%^&rd. You would not believe how much pressure I had to apply, nearly broke my foot. Had visions of bonnet poking thru the end garage wall, or worse, but did just manage a gently bump on the old kitchen furniture on the end wall. But the initial impression was that there was not braking at all.

[Bob]

If you're freewheeling, engine off (such as to move a few yards on your drive), dropping a manual box into gear, and release clutch can generate enough vacuum in the servo to help.

[londonron]

the dry behind the master cylinder was to explain its not got any leaks, irish guy said this meant was all ok.

servo hose off and brake pedal went firm back on its spongy again


the problem was of course 2 secs of shear panick as i drove into the other car so wasnt paying too much attention.
from what i remember the pedal floored i was certainly pushing it down and pumping hoping i would stop.

what bit should i change you think? as i am still driving it a bit when i have too and i think its going to happen again for sure, i seem to remember last week a moment and i thought i had gone through a puddle or something, maybe it was this problem

[spout]

Does your vehicle have ABS?

My first experience of ABS kicking in was at low speed on smooth wet (not frozen) concrete. I was convinced I'd had brake failure

[bigdaddycain]

Would the master cylinder fail so abruptly? This sounds like one scary scenario, especially if you have an auto, (at least you could wrok down the gears instictively with a manual).

You mention having new brakes at the front,had the pads had chance to bed in? That doesn't explain the spongy pedal though....

If by "new front brakes" you meant new discs, i do hope your mechanic cleaned off the light machine oil that the discs are covered in to protect them from rust....

[mikeonb4c]

What a strange tale this one is. One thing though, I think driving it at all until it's sorted is extremely unwise. They'll throw the book at you if you're caught or if anything happens. Hate to be a party pooper and all that but best said

[londonron]

i think everything is working as per norm. i was driving it very carefully and have now realised the brakes are just the same as they were. so i think a total brake overhaul is in order. the pads are new on front but have done a few months so not brand new.

so if we start again from scratch what on earth could have gone wrong where i put foot on brake and nothing happend. the brake pedal was just pumping and making a noise as i did it like i was pumping air into a tire.

should i take all the brake off one by one. bleed them all again (though mechanic did say no air was in it but that was roadside) cant hurt to try. also what else does anyone think i should try and change. servo,master cylinder ?

[teenmal]

Hi Londonron,sorry to hear about your accident.Does your vehicle have ABS?

Cheers Mal..

Does your vehicle have ABS???

[bigdaddycain]

the brake pedal was just pumping and making a noise as i did it like i was pumping air into a tire.

If you mean that the pedal was "pulsing" And there was a lot of effort needed to press the pedal as far as you'd like, (like the pedal was fighting back at you), then that is indicative of the A.B.S. Kicking in... This can be very unnerving the first time it happens, as it takes away the feeling of complete control. If you were on some spilt diesel at the time, you could have easily locked up the front wheels, at which stage the abs would simply take over, making the most of the available grip at that very second.