I have drum brakes on my clubby and although i recently had them adjusted (about 3 weeks ago) they are already soggy and not particually sharp,Greg out at mini classic had a look at them not long ago and didnt mention any problems,is this normal......

Might need bleeding.

Your master cylinder could be leaking.

You brake hoses could be leaking.

A cylinder in your drums could be leaking.

I had the same issues andI had both a cylinder leaking and my master cylinder leaking.

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No more Minis!......For now.

thanks mate ill look into it

when i had drums all round i used to adjust them every few weeks , and there was no leaks at all

Something sounds wrong there.. I have all drums, last time I adjusted them and bled them properly they lasted about 6months before going soggy..

depends on the condition of your adjusters really. If they are new ones they
will stay adjusted for longer. if they are worn, the adjustment can go out the
window within a week!

Depends on your driving and if you stand on your brakes all the time, the more you use them the sooner you'll have to adjust them. Do you do a lot of stop start driving? are you an inexperienced driver? Do you use your gears in trafic to slow you down or sit on peoples behinds and rush up to lights?

If Greg at mini classic didn't notice anything wrong look at your driving.

steve

My brakes were adjusted about 2 or 3 weeks ago and the pedal already goes most of the way to the floor - this isn't right 'cos Ribenas brakes have always been good. Went to Bellarine Mini Centre, we put on new front drums and adjusted them again but the pedal still goes down too far.

Geelong Cluth and Brake will be having a check on Friday but I might be up for a master cylinder - thats $350 plus labour.

Oh well, gotta have good brakes.

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Rod
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Rodney/

$350 for a master cylinder seems a little expensive! Are you sure thats before labour. New master cylinders are around $120 and thats only if the seals in your current one can't be replaced.

My drum bakes failed on me TWICE after having them serviced,
even after new master & slave cylinders!
The mech said they were the hardest/difficultest ones he's ever done,
and ended up sending it to a brake specialist - (didn't charge me!! )
Last time I was out there, he was having a similar problem with a Moke!

They're still soft and go nearly to the floor, but they've worked now for 12 months ...
time for another service though.

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"Why mini? 'cause it's got the edge."

as i said to if your brakes go out of adjustment really quickly. look at your
adjusters. as they wear, they go out of adjustment quicker. thats
why you jump in one persons drum brake car, and they have more of a pedal
for a longer period of time to you. Just make sure if you are really having
issues then replace your wheel cylinders, mastercylinder and check
for leaks. work it in the end

If your wheels are sighlty out of adjustment you will never get a good brake peddle.

steve

All the rubber components (master cylinder rubbers, wheel cylinder rubbers and brake hoses) should be replaced at least every ten years. If you don't know how old yours are you should replace them.

Old brake hoses can cause problems.
The clevis pin on the bottom of the master-cylinder can also be a problem. If the pin is worn (or missing!) you can have a low pedal.

Brake parts are cheap. Very cheap compared to panel beating, spray painting and hospitals.

Yer.......I've been quoted $350 for a changeover master cylinder from two different places in Geelong - they both must send them to the same place for reconditioning.

I'm thinking of doing it myself ( I did my Datsun before I got the Mini) but then I dont know anything about the dual circuit thing, so I'd better leave it to the professionals.

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Rod
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Rodney/

In the end, the Mini guys replaced my master cylinder with a
Toyota Corrolla one (I think) from the wreckers.
Cheaper & better apparently - "so I was told". They tried to "recondition" the
old one first, with new rubbers etc, but obviously from my prev. post, it didn't work,
hence the mod. Still spongy though.
I think the only "real" cure is to convert to disks.

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"Why mini? 'cause it's got the edge."