Brakes sticking..

[74teeii]

The front brakes on my tii are sticking on, I can feel it when im driving and especially when rolling to a stop. The brakes are also very very weak and the pedal goes from being hard to soft. I was thinking about overhauling the calipers and the master cylinders?

Does anyone have any advice on this?

[cowlum]

Overhauling the brakes is probably a good idea when your car is this old. I opted for the big brake conversion which made things a tab more complicated but im happy with the results.

You my find you just need new brake hoses. Sometimes the hoses swell and trap the fluid in the caliper affectively leaving the brake on. And the pressure problem may just require a bleed. I usualy (budget allowing) use failures (poor brakes, bad dizzy etc) as an oportunity to upgrade.

but i think you will find hoses and bleeding will cure your problems, you would need to replace hoses and fluid no matter which option you take.

[c.d.iesel]

...brake fluid hoses and flushing first.

you need a pressure bleeder anyway for yearly maintainence,

buy one now. Bleed all the corrners and the clutch master.

If fluid does not flow freely in good volume from the bleeders, and the hoses are 'Original' - start with hose replacement.

While bleeding, see if you can retract the front brake pads

into the calipers (pressure bleeder off) and have a helper press the

brake pedal while you watch the pads come back out to the rotor.

If you cannot retract the caliper pistons - replace the calipers now.

Forget any romantic comedy about caliper 'rebuilding' yerself.

Your pads, rotors, and wheel bearing are also just waiting for a caring

person to bury them in the local metal re-cycle pile also.

now , to the rear brakes . . . . . . . . . .. .

[strorg]

Forget any romantic comedy about caliper 'rebuilding' yerself.

why is that? done properly, with good core and new seals, this should be a viable option.

[quinnfiske]

Don't forget to look at the pedal cluster. The bushings on the shaft can get sticky and the springs won't push the pedal back. A real easy trick is to spray some WD40 in through the slots in the carpet. Fixed my squeeky clutch pedal.