Hi
Back in December driving back from Scotland in my 2007 Puma 110 my brake pedal went very spongy meaning I had to pump the pedal to stop. I googled the symptoms and concluded I needed a new master cylinder. I bought a TRW part and I asked my local mechanic to fit it. He fitted the cylinder but could not bleed the brakes as it appeared the cylinder was backwashing. I returned the master cylinder and got sent a replacement. My mechanic refitted it but still had huge problems bleeding the system (which he eventually managed after hiring some pressure bleeding kit). When I got it back the brakes weren't amazing i.e. they still operated much better on the 2nd press of the pedal but they were much, much better than when I took it in.
All was relatively well for approx 2000 miles when the pedal went very spongy again when I was away on holiday. Weirdly the pedal came back a bit about a week later. However, as it was clear something v odd was going on I decided this week to take it to a local well known independant Land Rover garage. Their initial finding was that one of the rear calipers was faulty (as little fluid was getting through) and there was air trapped in that 'corner'. They fitted a new caliper but I got a call today saying that post fitting, whilst they can now bleed the system and having found an air pocket in the abs (having used abs diagnostic kit) the pedal came back briefly, only for it to totally disappear again and they can't now get it back. They have now spent circa 6 hrs re-bleeding etc. but to no avail. They are saying there appears to be lots of air in the system (so much that the fluid looks white?) that they just can't eradicate. They have checked the servo which is good, there are no leaks in the system, they don't think it's the vacuum pump (as a it happens when the engine is off) and they are basically say they are completely flummoxed. They also said that they have done the brakes on hundreds of Defenders over the years and have never come across this. In terms of the system, the pipework was replaced approx 5yrs ago, front calipers and discs replaced approx 18 months ago, master cylinder replaced Feb this yr and one rear caliper this week. As it stands I have 'left it with them' but am not sure what they are going to try next.
Has anybody come across anything like this please - any help or insight anybody can provide would be much appreciated, many thanks in advance
Back in December driving back from Scotland in my 2007 Puma 110 my brake pedal went very spongy meaning I had to pump the pedal to stop. I googled the symptoms and concluded I needed a new master cylinder. I bought a TRW part and I asked my local mechanic to fit it. He fitted the cylinder but could not bleed the brakes as it appeared the cylinder was backwashing. I returned the master cylinder and got sent a replacement. My mechanic refitted it but still had huge problems bleeding the system (which he eventually managed after hiring some pressure bleeding kit). When I got it back the brakes weren't amazing i.e. they still operated much better on the 2nd press of the pedal but they were much, much better than when I took it in.
All was relatively well for approx 2000 miles when the pedal went very spongy again when I was away on holiday. Weirdly the pedal came back a bit about a week later. However, as it was clear something v odd was going on I decided this week to take it to a local well known independant Land Rover garage. Their initial finding was that one of the rear calipers was faulty (as little fluid was getting through) and there was air trapped in that 'corner'. They fitted a new caliper but I got a call today saying that post fitting, whilst they can now bleed the system and having found an air pocket in the abs (having used abs diagnostic kit) the pedal came back briefly, only for it to totally disappear again and they can't now get it back. They have now spent circa 6 hrs re-bleeding etc. but to no avail. They are saying there appears to be lots of air in the system (so much that the fluid looks white?) that they just can't eradicate. They have checked the servo which is good, there are no leaks in the system, they don't think it's the vacuum pump (as a it happens when the engine is off) and they are basically say they are completely flummoxed. They also said that they have done the brakes on hundreds of Defenders over the years and have never come across this. In terms of the system, the pipework was replaced approx 5yrs ago, front calipers and discs replaced approx 18 months ago, master cylinder replaced Feb this yr and one rear caliper this week. As it stands I have 'left it with them' but am not sure what they are going to try next.
Has anybody come across anything like this please - any help or insight anybody can provide would be much appreciated, many thanks in advance
Last edited:
