im having a hell of a time sorting the brakes on my rst.
it has new disks and pads upfront,new rear shoes,braided hoses all round,has the load compensators removed and has the brake lines and master cylnder from an non abs escort.

ive bled them 5 or 6 times to no avail,it had a nice firm pedal till i started the car then it went shit and i really had to stamp on the brakes to stop the car,today i replaced the servo and master cylnder and now its even worse there is absolutley nothing there when the cars running and i press the brake and the revs drop

ive been on this a few weekends off the trot now and its got my head battered

 

Three things then mate ..

Master Cylinder seals have given up when it was operated outside old seal limits.
Excessive mechanical movement .. Rear shoes not adjusted up on pawls.
Air .. somewhere. Tried opening fronts and stomping on pedal a few times?

 

thanks for replying mate.
this is the second master cylender ive tried and the problem still exists?except its worse now on the second master cylnder.
ive had a play with the rear shoes,but havent a clue how to adjust them?they seem to be firm when i have someone apply the brake wand i try to turn the rear wheel they feel pretty sold?
ive bled the system more times than i can remember,so im pretty sure most of the air is out?
cheers mate

 

Hope the rear shoe handbrake mechanism pivot points are not seized .. that wont help. Pistons in cylinder will have a lot of movement ... When fitted, they are automatically adjusted on a system behind the shoes.

TBH .. You certain about Master Cylinder? If more than a few years old, they easily get buggered (see mt other post)

If you open a front bleed .. can you see the Master Cylinder pumping? It should squirt nicely!

 

ill look today,thanks very much mate
im near finished rebuilding her and both cylnders came from known working cars but have sat in the garage off the cars for 2-3 years,i have a mate whos breaking his 3i so ill get his master cylnder
cheers mate.

 

if the revs drop when u press the pedal, cuold well be the servo, if the diaphragm is split insdie of the non return valve is stuck open on teh vac line from the inlet manifold.

 

..... except that when the Servo diaphragm goes ... you still get "a pedal", don't you?

 

thanks very much for the help lads
i put a new servo and master cylnder on her today and bled them again and they work 100% better
the rear brake pistons weep a little fluid,would the brakes improve further if i replaced them,im going to anyway and was just worndering?
thanks again,im over the moon their finnaly working

 

Great! As I thought ... Sorry, you need to get rear cylinders done ASAP, cos air will get in again .. In the meantime .. keep topped up and dont press the pedal if you can help it. When you fitted the new cylinders, let the fluid drip through by itself, the final bleed you can do with short presses on the pedal if necessary.

Well done .. .and

 

cheers mate