series 3 bad brakes

bristol series 3dougall59 · Jan 2, 2012

i have recently aquired a series 3 1978 88" AND HAVING REPLACED ALL WHEEL CYLINDERS and MASter CYLINDER, together with shoes the brakes are still very hard and inefective,is this a problem with the servo (although it dous appear to be working) and is there a better servo that could be fitted to improve the braking?

steve2286w · Jan 2, 2012

HI and welcome
i had same problem, with engine running there should be a good vacuum, pull off the pipe to the vacuum bottle you should feel it drawn into pipe from manifold quite strong and check the vacuum bottle has no leaks.(should hear a rush of air into it when pipe removed)

The butterfly valve in manifold needs to be closed when on idle, if its cracked open you wont get full vacuum, adjust cross levers if necessary

with engine off and foot on brake start engine the pedal should sink a bit further is servo working, with brakes set up properly theyre not bad, could be non return valve on servo
try blowing and sucking on it

lastly the shoes may take a few mile to bed in before working well

Land Raver · Jan 2, 2012

Hi bristol series - welcome!

I recently acquired a series 3 and my brakes feel the same. She stops absolutely fine but the pedal feels quite hard and requires a firm shove. I assumed this is how they are - unless I share the same potential issue - particularly braking late or at speed (well, say 45mph!) .

I test drove another series 3 a few weeks prior to purchasing mine. This had just had new master cylinder, pads etc. The brakes might have felt marginally better but not a huge amount in it. I'm so used to driving modern cars it's difficult to assertain if it's my expectations ot not!

johnny curt 1 · Jan 2, 2012

series 3 brakes are renound to be not as effective as modern brakes as theyre drums all round rather than discs

its mostly just the way they are

the early series landy brakes werent vacuum assisted so needed a good boot on the pedal anyway

drumlisden · Jan 4, 2012

bristol series 3dougall59 said:
i have recently aquired a series 3 1978 88" AND HAVING REPLACED ALL WHEEL CYLINDERS and MASter CYLINDER, together with shoes the brakes are still very hard and ineffective,is this a problem with the servo (although it dous appear to be working) and is there a better servo that could be fitted to improve the braking?

My '78 88" doesn't have a servo, I thought they were only on later rovers. Could be a modification of course.

What do you mean by very hard? Hard to press the pedal or the opposite of spongy?

If the brakes are set up properly they work well.

buckshot · Jan 4, 2012

drumlisden said:
My '78 88" doesn't have a servo, I thought they were only on later rovers. Could be a modification of course.

What do you mean by very hard? Hard to press the pedal or the opposite of spongy?

If the brakes are set up properly they work well.

well for a few weeks anyway

NiteMare · Jan 4, 2012

prior to changing over to servo assisted brakes on my 88" my brakes worked well but needed a firm shove on the pedal, after fitting the servo it reduced the effort massively

i've still to find and fit one to my 109

series 3 bad brakes

bristol series 3dougall59

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steve2286w

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