Braking bad

[Alexandru]

Please don't mind the thread topic...it's just my saturday cheerfulness.

 

Last week I noticed that my brake pedal it tending to go a bit lower than usual so I had it checked and tested.

Results? On June the 10th I was getting 282daN®, 241daN(f) on the front axle and 112daN®, 125daN(l) on the rear axle. All was pretty good for me, having in mind the total weight of the car of 1174kg, resulted an efficiency of 65%. 

Yesterday I had it tested again, the results were 211daN®, 212(l) on the front axle and 143daN®, 138daN(l) on the rear axle, leading to an efficiency of 59%. 

The only thing that comes to my mind as an explanation for the fact that after 5-6months the rear brakes were better, is that I was having the winter wheels (tires with rimms) in the back of my car, waiting to have them replaced. Otherwise...just magic.

All good so far, and I know the testing results depend on a lot of things, tire wear and so on..but all in all, I'm planning to replace my brake fluid, the brake pads, disks, check for any air bubbles in the circuit, and maybe upgrading the rear disk brakes. I've found this while google-ing, it's a 'how-to' unmnount the standard drum brakes and install a set of disk brakes on the rear axle.

 

Do you know what type and how much brake fluid will I need to a complete replacement? I am willing to replace it completely, including the one used by the clutch circuit.

Edited 25 October, 2014 by Alexandru

[Alexandru]

I'm sorry for the error, I forgot to mention the guide link; it's here.

[sepulchrave]

Please don't mind the thread topic...it's just my saturday cheerfulness.

 

Last week I noticed that my brake pedal it tending to go a bit lower than usual so I had it checked and tested.

Results? On June the 10th I was getting 282daN®, 241daN(f) on the front axle and 112daN®, 125daN(l) on the rear axle. All was pretty good for me, having in mind the total weight of the car of 1174kg, resulted an efficiency of 65%. 

Yesterday I had it tested again, the results were 211daN®, 212(l) on the front axle and 143daN®, 138daN(l) on the rear axle, leading to an efficiency of 59%. 

The only thing that comes to my mind as an explanation for the fact that after 5-6months the rear brakes were better, is that I was having the winter wheels (tires with rimms) in the back of my car, waiting to have them replaced. Otherwise...just magic.

All good so far, and I know the testing results depend on a lot of things, tire wear and so on..but all in all, I'm planning to replace my brake fluid, the brake pads, disks, check for any air bubbles in the circuit, and maybe upgrading the rear disk brakes. I've found this while google-ing, it's a 'how-to' unmnount the standard drum brakes and install a set of disk brakes on the rear axle.

 

Do you know what type and how much brake fluid will I need to a complete replacement? I am willing to replace it completely, including the one used by the clutch circuit.

 

Yes, use brand new DOT4, one litre will be plenty and a pressure bleeder, just blow all the old fluid out then fill the bleeder with fresh and blow the new stuff in.

[Alexandru]

Nice! Bleeding the brake circuit is a pretty common task, but what about the clutch hydraulics? Is there any available documentation about it? I am not going to do this by myself, but I`m curious about the procedure.

[sepulchrave]

Nice! Bleeding the brake circuit is a pretty common task, but what about the clutch hydraulics? Is there any available documentation about it? I am not going to do this by myself, but I`m curious about the procedure.

 

Clutch circuit shares the reservoir with the brakes so pressure bleeder can do the whole lot in one go.

[trundlenut]

Nice! Bleeding the brake circuit is a pretty common task, but what about the clutch hydraulics? Is there any available documentation about it? I am not going to do this by myself, but I`m curious about the procedure.

There's a bleed valve on top of the slave cylinder. Do the wheels then the clutch. Both use use the same fluid reservoir.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[Alexandru]

Will do. Thank you!