Spongy Brakes

[hitsfromthbong]

Hello -

I'm after some advice, I've recently purchased a Freda (v6) which had been sat in a yard for around 18 months doing nothing. I put the car through an MOT today and it failed with having spongy brake pedal! I asked for a brake fluid change and it hasn't improved.

I've read some posts about master brake cylinder issues and wondered if it could be this and if there was any way of telling if it was or not?

Many thanks
Andy

[Bongolia]

Welcome.
What was the stated reason(s) for rejection as shown on certificate. Did they refuse to test any items?

[mikeWalsall]

Did it pass the MOT after the brake fluid change..??

Air in the hydraulic brake system is normally the cause of a spongy pedal .. but how did air enter a closed system..??

As an aside .. you can test if the brake servo is working by pressing your foot down on the foot brake while starting the engine ..

If it's OK .. when the engine starts you should feel the brake pedal getting pulled down ..

[rita]

Spongey brakes can be caused by numerous faults, air in system ,master and wheel cylinder/calliper buckets/seals, rubber brake pipes perished etc etc .
You Need to get the vehicle to a reputable Mechanic/Garage .Don't take chances.

Good Luck.

[Northern Bongolow]

ive done a few fluid changes on bongo.s. they are sometimes hard to get the air out of the master cylinder if you just drain the res etc. ive found removing or loosening the pipes out of the master cylinder to bleed the master cylinder helps.
did the peeps who bled it start by bleeding the rear furthest away etc method as this makes a difference too.

[hitsfromthbong]

Thanks for all your replies.

The MOT Certificate had a failure "brake pedal Spongy"

The garage originally said the brakes were binding and offered to replace all the disc's and pads $$$ . I asked them to do a brake inspection instead and they found it was the handbrake that was over adjusted and not the brakes. The pedal was still a bit spongy still so i asked for a brake fluid change as the van had been sat for a while but this didn't make any difference. I was concerned that they didn't get all the air out...

When i Start the engine with my foot on the brake it sinks down which suggests the servo is working??

Anyway, i'm taking it to another garage tomorrow for them to take a look

thanks again

[Bongolia]

Yes the servo is working.
The "spongy brake" part of the test is done with all the air out of the servo ,so engine off pump the pedal a few times and then if it is spongy its a fail. If its done with engine running and there is sponginess it is not a fail providing the pedal does touch the floor.
I would guess you have air in the system, a ballooning brake hose or a master cylinder fault.Not much left after that.
Good luck.

[hitsfromthbong]

took it to a different MOT center, the MOT inspector took it for a test drive and said the brakes were fine and he had no issue with 'a spongy brake pedal'. it passed the brake test no problem.

Thanks for your help..

[Bob]

Good news.

[Bongolia]

Best guess is the other tester tested it with engine running a lot do, you will always get some travel with engine running.
Good result anyhow.