C

Chrisandtaba

Member
Help, I am having an absolute nightmare with the drum brakes on my series 3. I noticed the front left hand wheel cylinder was leaking badly so decided to replace both fronts and the flexis while I was at it. All done and then I couldn't get it to bleed. Got a reasonable firm pedal but the minute I got it off the axle stands and drove it straight to the floor. So I then replaced the master cylinder and the down pipe to the splitter. Have bled and bled it using a vacuum bleeder and an assistant and pedal still travels all the way to the floor. Have tried clamping the cylinders in with a ratchet strap and still no luck. At my wits end with the bloody thing
 
The manual is here and tells you how to bleed properly, what set up do you have , have you. Got the twin leading 11” drums on front

Land Rover Manuals

smithies.co.nz smithies.co.nz

Clamping all three flexis is the place to start to find where the problem is , and go from there as in the manual
Did the shoes get brake fluid in them, have you got the springs on properly
 
So clamped front hoses and got a solid pedal, so must be an issue with the front brakes. Clamped each side in turn and it appears to be front left. Tightened up connections and pedal now seems better??? Haven't tried driving yet though.
 
That’s good progress did you get some air out, have you got 2 wheel cylinders at each front wheel , there is a few other things to try if brakes still not adequate
 
So update, pedal felt okay until I got it off the axle stands and then brakes were locked on. Fiddled about with the master cylinder and now have brakes locked on and pedal still able to go to floor with effort or no brakes at all. Giving up and putting it into garage tomorrow, F*cking thing!
 
That’s a shame, sometimes you just need to have a cup of tea and cool down , that’s all part of the learning process, did you get the required clearance in the master cylinder pushrod and brake adjusters not binding can’t think what else would lock the brakes
 
I don't really know how to gauge the clearance. It says 1.6mm but what do you measure? Also surely the pedal should never hit the floor no matter how hard you press it? Not touched the adjusters on the drum yet, too busy trying to get the air out, if that is what it is? So fed up, I love driving it but it is causing me so much stress at the moment contemplating selling it
 
I just back off the locknuts push the rod towards MC then move nuts so it’s nipped without free play then back off the nut nearest MC 1.6mm by eye move rod back away from MC then nip far nut up , hopefully make sense looking at diagram.
You should bleed the brakes with adjusters backed off
I’ve never tried a vacuum bleeder but I have a pressure bleeder which works well also used a Halfords easibleed has a one way valve on that works well too, but if you have help , I think it’s good to see the bubbles coming out then you know , after it’s bled then do the adjusters , if you’ve changed MC of course you will need to bleed all wheels and get enough fluid pushed through to get the air out meanwhile keeping MC topped up,so level don’t drop and you get more in
If adjusters not done then you may need 2 pumps also if springs on wrong may need two pumps to get a firm pedal that’s my experience of 11” front twin leading shoes

image.jpg
 
steve2286w said:
I just back off the locknuts push the rod towards MC then move nuts so it’s nipped without free play then back off the nut nearest MC 1.6mm by eye move rod back away from MC then nip far nut up , hopefully make sense looking at diagram.
You should bleed the brakes with adjusters backed off
I’ve never tried a vacuum bleeder but I have a pressure bleeder which works well also used a Halfords easibleed has a one way valve on that works well too, but if you have help , I think it’s good to see the bubbles coming out then you know , after it’s bled then do the adjusters , if you’ve changed MC of course you will need to bleed all wheels and get enough fluid pushed through to get the air out meanwhile keeping MC topped up,so level don’t drop and you get more in
If adjusters not done then you may need 2 pumps also if springs on wrong may need two pumps to get a firm pedal that’s my experience of 11” front twin leading shoes

View attachment 343269
Click to expand...
Thanks 😊
 
So update, took landrover into garage today who bled brakes and tested them. Reasonable braking force but long pedal travel. He said adjuster on rear not working and needed adjusting on front as well. Discovered rear did not have pin in shoe for snail cam to work against so made one, (it must have been like that for years). Adjusted master cylinder and now I have brakes! They are still binding a bit but going to leave as it until new shoes have had a chance to bed in. Thanks for all the advice everyone nice to know I am not alone
 
Good. Not be selling now 😀, At least you’re on the road again, but I bet the garage did not do anything you could not have done yourself! getting brakes working properly is a very common problem on here , lots have issues, but patience needed to look at everything methodically,
In the recent past I’ve chalked lines on shoes to see where they rub, used set square to see if they’re parallel to drum adjusting the pin on the backplate , chamfered edges of shoes to stop them grabbing, leaky wheel cylinders, replaced the adjusters (new ones not as good as original), even had the drums locking up when wheel nuts tightened
And in the end can pull up straight and quick.
 
The garage did bleed the brakes and get some air out, annoyingly managed to do it the old fashioned way so don't know why I couldn't do it. Never seem to have much luck with brakes, it was the same on my classic mini
 
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