Poor braking

[Stevey]

Hello,
just asking a question - should the brakes on a 2500S be as bad as mine are?
I've had a Toledo, a Mk iv Spitfire and a couple of TR7s all of which had very good brake systems, almost on a par with a modern vehicle however my 2500 has brought on some hairy moments owing to its inability to slow down.
As a bit of background, I think my car had been standing for a year or more which meant that I've had to replace the rear wheel cylinders (they were sticking), springs and the shoes.
Before I load up the parts cannon, can anybody suggest where to start looking? The brake pedal drops when the engine is started suggesting that there is a vacuum of sorts and that the servo is doing something but that doesn't mean it's working as expected.
All pointers are welcome.

Thanks for reading.

Steve

[Charles H]

The most effective way of getting better brakes is to use decent pads especially on an auto. I use Mintex 1144 pads. Even the MoT man was surprised how well they performed.

[Alec]

Hello Steve,

can you describe in a little more detail the performance of the brakes. Does it pull up in a straight line, is the pedal hard and need a lot of pressure?

I think I would look at the front cylinders in case one or more pistons are stuck, you should be able to lever the pads back from the discs with a stout screwdriver. (Don't forget to pump the brakes afterwards to get the pads back on the disc surface to make sure they will work)
What are the disc surfaces like?
You could take it for an MOT and get a measure of the effectiveness of all the brakes which could give a clue as to which area to look at?

Alec?

[Stevey]

Thanks all.
The car pulls up straight but the pedal needs an awful lot of pressure. It does slow and stop but it doesn't inspire any confidence when driving and I'm sure my right thigh is now larger than my left!
Hopefully I'll get some time in the next couple of days when I can take the wheels off and inspect discs, pads and pistons so will report back any findings. All being well, this car will be my daily driver so it needs to be fixed.
Taking it for an MOT is a good suggestion should I not see something obvious.
Thanks again.

Steve

[Roscoe]

From memory when I had my PI in the early eighties sometimes the brake pedal would go hard as if the servo was not working I found out it was the non return valve in the servo pipe from the servo to the vacuum tank (I think it’s a non return valve) it must have stopped the servo from creating a vacuum not sure if the S has one though.

[Stevey]

Thanks Roscoe, all worth a look just in case.
Cheers.

Steve

[valencia]

A couple years back I replaced my pads with green stuff types and new discs, the difference and improvement in braking efficiency was immense. If your car has stood a while the disc surface could be poor. All my parts came from Chris witor. All the above regarding hydraulics still applies of course.

[Stevey]

Just got down and dirty with the front end and can report that the offside caliper has one stuck piston and the other is reluctant to move but will do so under duress. As this needs replacing - I once tried to rebuild a caliper and vowed never again - I'll also replace the nearside to maintain balance. Discs look clean but whilst I'm there, I might just as well change the discs too and thanks Valencia, this will be a toss up between the green pads and the Mintex.
Will order everything once CW has stock available so Basil will be sitting nose up for a little while yet.
I'll post back my findings once these are replaced.
Thanks again.

Steve

[GinettaG15]

glazed pads....quikest and economic test is to replace the front pads. a decent kit (e.g. Ferodo), incl. fitting-kit is about 24,- pound.

i recently had some sitcky calipers too. this happend when my pads were worn near to the limit and the caliper-pistons moved outside quite a lot.

during pad eplacement i pushed the pistons back in, pumped them out, pushed them back etc....this i made a few times, installed my new Ferodo´s and had a fantastic brake after, even with my discs looking quite old.

this procedere has cured a "sticky caliper" problem on 90% all my cars (not onyl triumph´s) since the past 25years without doing any refurbishment to a caliper.
and in case a caliper was really needed to be refurbished i have never done it myselves. for my former Ford´s i got complete refurbed calipers ( or a refurbishment-service for my calipers) at 40pound...for the Trumph it costs around 60,-€...(new seals, new pistons, new bleed-screw, dis-asembly and external galvanizing treatment)

[Stevey]

Thanks G15. The calipers are still out of stock so I've ordered new pads and fitting kit. In the meantime, I'll gently try to coax the pistons from their home and see if they remember what they're supposed to do.
Cheers.

Steve