SCARY moment

[samuria]

a trip to the hospital for my check up
nearly turned out as me as a emergency patient

my brakes completely failed... (were ok yesterday)
handbrake to the rescue...
after check up made it home very gingerly
i cant see any loss of fluid anywhere.
and if i pump the brakes many times i get a bit of pedal..

your thoughts please on where to start looking.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

A scary moment indeed, happened me once coming off the end of a motorway onto a roundabout.......

Obvious first check is the master cylinder to check how much fluid id in there. i would also have a quick look at each wheel to see if any obvious wettness. If not next thing I would check is to see if inside the chassis leg is wet as the seals can go and the fluid goes inside the leg, there is a drain hole under the MC but its often covered over by underseal. If the inside of the leg is wet, i would suggest at least new seals in the MC and possibly a new one and while you working at the brakes give them a good check over at each wheel.

[Tiny]

Brake Pipes too, They can go rusty, or in our case one of them was joined together with a small piece of rubber (which was permitted back in days of old i guess)

[philthehill]

Tiny
Never known a Minor or any other car fitted with rubber/flexable joining hoses that were not properly manufactured brake hoses!
On a Minor the only rubber brake hoses should be the two front and the one rear flexible hoses.
Rubber sleeves were put over and around the metal brake pipes in the areas of known chaffing. Perhaps that is what you thought was a rubber joining hose and the metal pipe rusted under it.
When fitting new metal brake pipes it is best to use Cunifer metal piping for the metal brake pipes as it does not rust.

[Tiny]

Think this was more a bodge that the previous owner had performed, needless to say it has all now been renewed with proper brake lines...
However it is worth checking to see that the Original Poster hasn't been caught by the same cowboy antics, I would hope his MOT would catch this too

[gtt1951]

Samuria, try this - lift up drivers carpet, undo the filler cap to the master cylinder (place paper towel on the surrounding areas) and give the brake pedal a full press. You should get some fluid being squirted out (if there is any in there).
Screw the top back on and see if the pedal has returned.
I mention this only because that is how I got my pedal back, accidentally, on my Traveller when I first bought it.
When I picked it up, it had no pedal - just a working handbrake, so driving it off the transporter was a bit hairy.
It then began to work OK without any bleeding.
George.

[bmcecosse]

The brake pipe pressure is of the 200/300 psi order.......a 'rubber tube' wouldn't last 2 seconds......

[samuria]

it's looking like the m/c ...
found the drain hole under it and yes
brake fluid is dripping out..
so i will have to take out the m/c...
is it worth fitting new seals?????
or best to buy a new m/c

[bigjim]

depends on the state of the bores on the master , if theyre clean and smooth try resealing it , if they are scored replace it altogether

[samuria]

i was thinking new m/c...

so i would only have to fit it
once... where the seal kit may not last ...

[Trickydicky]

As it looks like the seals have failed on your M/C don't bother with replacement seals. The bottom of the bore of the M/C will have pitted allowing fluid to leak past.
You will have to remove the cylinder to replace the seals ( to then find out it is still leaking after you have put it back) so it's false economy to go down that route.
Look on the the bright side, it's probably time to replace the brake fluid anyway

[les]

i was thinking new m/c...

so i would only have to fit it
once... where the seal kit may not last ...

Good thinking!

[samuria]

anyone have any tips on doing this

[Trickydicky]

I followed these instructions when I did mine, http://www.mmoc.org.uk/index.php?page=320

[samuria]

m/c removed
it didn't look to bad....
i drain what was left in it..
and water was mixed with the remaining brake fluid
new one on order+ new flexy pipes etc...

[les]

Looks like you might need to waste a bit of fluid with a good flush through, if any water present. If you were replacing all the seals you could use silicon fluid, fill and forget! Not every one would agree as it is quite expensive.

[Dean]

Looks like you might need to waste a bit of fluid with a good flush through, if any water present. If you were replacing all the seals you could use silicon fluid, fill and forget! Not every one would agree as it is quite expensive.

DOT 4? If so I agree.

[Dean]

m/c removed
it didn't look to bad....
i drain what was left in it..
and water was mixed with the remaining brake fluid
new one on order+ new flexy pipes etc...

Good call ordering a new one.

Don't be tempted to put the securing bolts back in the wrong way around.

If it's any consolation I have a brake problem too... not something you can drive around with while finding the time to fix it ..

[bmcecosse]

Nothing wrong with putting the bolts in the sensible way...mine have been that way all my ownership - and the bolt ends and nut are WELL away from the Torsion bar. How could water get in the master ??

[taupe]

Isnt it the same water that causes the rust and pitting in the master cylinder unless silicone fluid is used...

Taupe