MOT fail on brakes

H

hatchm

0
I finally managed to sort the temp gauge and took her for an MOT today.

Annoyingly it failed with 74% brake imbalance on the nearside front because the cylinder is leaking. One thing they said is that the shoe is covered in fluid - will I need to replace the shoes because of this?

Also how do I know what size cylinder I need? and do the repair kits work? I did the clutch slave cylinder a few months ago and that seems fine, but just a it cautious with brakes.

Ta

Mike
 
Your not supposed to reuse the brake shoes once brake fluid has got on them but we used to in the garage i trained in after spraying with clutch and brake cleaner, if it has got in the drum burn it off with a small blow torch(smells of frying tomatoes). Martin maltas has got new cylinders at good prices so dont mess with the rebuid kits. hope that helps.:p

The early bird catches the worm... but the early worm gets eaten first!
 
Thanks, I have given everything a good clean with brake cleaner and the shoes seem ok. The tester took the drum off and saw they were covered (I heard the clatter of the hub cab from the reception), what are the chances he will take it off again to see if the work has been done and fail it because it has the same shoes?

I'm wondering if for the sake of £30ish it is probably best to replace.

Also I have measured the piston from the failed cylinder and it is 0.8" - excuse my young metric mind but would that be 5/8 or 11/16?
 
If the shoes are dry and the brake works, then he has no reason to grumble :)
Its 11/16 ;)

4650583641_dba2503b41_o.jpg

"You,re only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
 
The tester wont really care what you've done to fix them as long as the brake roller indicates the required MOT standard.

Cheers
Jules

RatSport www.ratsport.co.uk
 
Originally posted by commeracer

If the shoes are dry and the brake works, then he has no reason to grumble :)
Its 11/16 ;)

Or 5/8", there are 2 different sizes :I

http://www.commervanspares.co.uk/

http://www.yorkshireclassiccampers.co.uk/
 
If its 5/8 then it will measure .625, if 11/16 it will be .687 ;). .8" is 13/16

4650583641_dba2503b41_o.jpg

"You,re only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
 
Just in case anyone was wondering, I ended up taking the cheap route and only replaced the wheel cylinders - sadly though I took her back for the retest today and the brakes are still not right (luckily they arent charging me for the retest) so I asked them to have a look as it is difficult to test brake imbalance other that slaming on the anchors and seeing which way she veers. They have said that they think it is because the shoes have been contaminated (even with my best efforts and a can of brake cleaner) so its hands back in pocket time:-( Kicking myself a little, but at least she will soon be sorted and didnt fail on anything major.

Cheers

Mike
 
hope im not barking up the wrong tree mate:I but i saw this problem on a fair few vans when i worked for universal tyres, and in a lot of cases it turned out that a brake hose had partly collapsed restricting brake fluid slightly to one drum, causing an imbalance.

paulcloke
 
I know what you mean, it is a common problem in the Imp flexi hoses. I dont think it will be this as they were replaced for the last MOT from what I understand and look new still.

Fingers crossed its just the shoes - they seemed pretty confident it will fix it.
 
If they're still out of balance try adjusting just one side at the MOT station to even it out.

BazRockscropped.jpg

Peggy drinks too much!
If I told you I was a pathological liar, would you believe me?
 
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