strange, but it would make sense why there's so much trouble with them

really, i would've expected the MOT in England to be a lot tougher on this subject; espescially if you see how panicking the insurance companies react on car mods

I see where you went wrong there...you assumed car insurers were remotely sensible...

cheers

James

volvodspec wrote:strange, but it would make sense why there's so much trouble with them

really, i would've expected the MOT in England to be a lot tougher on this subject; espescially if you see how panicking the insurance companies react on car mods

Our mot test for brakes is a p*ss take.

Does it have some?
Is there still more than 2mm on the pads?
Do they both have about the same stopping ness left to right?
Does the handbrake have more than (I think it's 10%, but something retardedly low) efficiency?

Chris_C wrote:Does the handbrake have more than (I think it's 10%, but something retardedly low) efficiency?

25% for single circuit brakes and 16% for split.

I've passed with cars that roll backwards down hills with the handbrake on as hard as I can get it

I managed to get my V70R to fail on handbrake...

...I went to adjust one side the day before the test, only to find that the linings had fallen off the handbrake shoes

cheers

James

I'll do it the slow way.. the nipples look pretty burned-in. BTW, theres some crud in the reservoir, how do I go about cleaning it and the pipes etc, should I just wash the reservoir out with detergent, rinse/dry then stomp clean fluid through with a no-return valve (thumb*) on the nipple?
Would having the servo operative (engine on) help while I stomp it through or are there risks with this?

You won't need the servo...there's no resistance once there's a nipple open. If the reservoir is really nasty, you might want to syringe out the fluid, then try to clean it out (with a toothbrush, perhaps?), then blow any residual crud through with fresh fluid.

cheers

James

the reservoir pops off on rubber grommets dont it? - i'm just gonna pull it out and wash it.

foggyjames wrote:If the reservoir is really nasty, you might want to syringe out the fluid, then try to clean it out (with a toothbrush, perhaps?), then blow any residual crud through with fresh fluid.

Please don't do that. Fogrill can often be a bear of very little brain.

Any crap in the res needs to come out, and not through the master cyl. Yes, it pops off the top, but it's scary the amount of force you'll put into it. I've done 4 or 5 and not broken one yet, but still panics me each time.

Chris_C wrote:

volvodspec wrote:really, i would've expected the MOT in England to be a lot tougher on this subject

Our mot test for brakes is a p*ss take.

Not much different here in Ireland, overall efficiency is higher at 55%, but imbalance can be up to 30%. Handbrake specs the same as UK. The main difference is independent testing stations, not Stevie Wonder's garage.

I've spent too much time looking at non-removable clutch master cylinder reservoirs lately, so had temporarily forgotten about that possibility. Obviously you remove as much crud as you can without pressurising the system, and removing the res to do it is the best way. You're still going to have to send the cruddy stuff in the cylinders and lines out the 'hard' way, though. I've not generally found the liquid-borne contents of the res to be any worse than what's in the lines anyway.

cheers

James

s'pose thats a fair point.. goint to be an annoying task!, I cant find any gloves that are impermeable to brake fluid.. the latex ones just melt - would marigolds work??

You shouldn't get any on your hands if you're careful...but if you're worried, try seeking out some of the fabric gloves which have been dipped in rubbery stuff...often found in hardware shops. They're cheap, and work well.

cheers

James

I got soaked in the stuff last time - I'll try the brickies gloves - thought they would rot too but I'll give it a shot