[Healeys] BJ8 Brakes not releasing

[Michael Salter]

Yes Geoff your suspicions are correct...the symptoms all point to the brake
servo.

Michael S


On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 10:35 AM, <gturl at sympatico.ca> wrote:

> Our BJ8's (Phase II) brakes are not releasing properly.
>
> We acquired the car last summer and the brake issue developed over about a
> 6
> week period. It got so severe we had to take the car off the road. The rear
> wheels (drums) remained cool but the front wheels (discs) got too hot to
> touch
> after just a short city drive.
>
> Since then I have...
>
> - Replaced the brake fluid (by bleeding the brakes until the fluid "ran
> clean")..
> - Replaced the rubber bits in the calipers..
> - Replaced the pistons in the left side caliper assemblies.. (the right
> side
> pistons seemed to be fine)..
> - Replaced the flexible hoses to the front brakes..
>
> Although the car had been very well looked after by the previous owner, my
> understanding is it had not been driven very much at all over the last 5
> years
> or so.
>
> The interesting thing is that with the engine not running, the brakes
> release
> properly. With the engine not running and the car on a slight slope,
> regardless of how hard I apply the brakes, it will start to roll as soon
> as I
> take my foot off the pedal. With the engine running however, after I apply
> the
> brakes and remove my foot from the pedal, the car will not move. If I let
> sit,
> after 3 or 4 minutes the brakes will release and the car will start to
> roll. I
> observed the same behaviour late last summer once, although I only had to
> wait
> about 30 seconds.
>
> Other symptoms are..
>
> - Thebrake lights go out when I take my foot off the brake as one would
> expect, even when the brakes have not released.
> - I had replaced the brake fluid before I replaced the rubber bits in the
> calipers, but I still found a lot of "junk" in the fluid in the calipers.
> - We do not appear to be losing brake fluid.
>
> My "prime suspect" at this point is the vacuum booster itself. To be more
> specific, I suspect there may be dirt or other contaminants  in the fluid
> in
> the booster, or possibly lack of lubrication somewhere.
>
> Before I go any further, any thoughts/comments/suggestions on further
> tests or
> flushing the fluid without disassembly or other possible causes would be
> appreciated.
>
> Geoff and Carol
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-- 
Michael Salter