I live in Chelmer near indropilly shopping centre

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I'm in Chapel Hill - if you need a hand or foot or a second opionion call me 0414757220

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

ok thanks mate i will get back to you im going to go and have a quick squiz at it now

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almost certain its the master cylinder nothing is leaking the bleed screws seem to be tight, clevis pin good just no pedal

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It is probably air in the system. Try bleeding the brakes to see if they get better and then you have to find where it is puling in the air.
Sometimes a little air can get past a rubber seal when you take your foot off the brake (I had a brand new wheel cylinder that did this)

You may find that if you bleed the brakes they will be fine for another couple of months and then they will muck up again.

Rebuilding the master cylinder would be a good idea but if you have never done one before you should leave it to the experts.

mnmn frustrating
ok i will try and bleed them and see how that goes not to keen on the idea of it happening again in a few months though
if there is no improvement after bleeding should i then assume it must be the brake master cylinder

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I have a similar problem that is on the back burner at the moment. I did all the brakes - cylinders and all but the front left wheel keeps sucking in air somewhere along the line. As the car in not yet on the road I've left it out of frustration until I'm forced to look at it again.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

i quess the main frustration is that we waited a long time for the car from the mechanic and panel beaters painters etc finally get it on the road rego paid insurance all that and then a month later no brakes
just when you think its almost sorted
funnny thing is the mini which i bought all though it has rust issues has done about 50000km so far with out majour troubles got it for 1200 bucks lol
ahh well i might give the bleeding a go cant make it worse i quess and if nothing i try taking the master cylinder our and getting it rebuilt by a pro and then putting it back on
im on holis now so as good a time as any

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easy reasons for slack pedal, from my experience:

1. air in system. bleed, you will need two people for a good job
2. adjust the front shoes (assuming you have drums)

when i replaced shoes once,
there are two nuts that push the shoes out (adjust on inner side of whole wheel, you can see stuff happen on the outer edge, a little T hole in the shoe with a cricular bar that pushes it out)

there are two square nut heads on each front wheel, tighten them
mine were really really slack
just take off drum, turn each square head (with a spanner) and obeserve how it pushed the drum out
put drum on, turn out nut and should be tighter
yes very frustratin, you will get it

sorry if confusin just take drum off, you will see

otherwise, like others have said, maybe a leak in the piston in the master cylinder.

good luck

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By slack pedal i mean no pedal at all no stopping
they are adjusted ok or they were fine only just been adjusted
IS there any reason why most people seem to think it may not be a brake master cylinder causing the problem as new wheel and brake cylinders where very very recently put on by a professional mechanic
im just wondering what the main symptoms of a bung master cylinder

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we're just probly too lazy to say its a master cylinder coz we wouldnt wanna play around with that ourselves

nah i think its got to do alot with the piston
if it leaks, the fluid will actually come out of the system and onto your floor

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yeah but i wont be taking the master cylinder apart just off the car and then after its been recond putting it back on
what piston do you mean

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oh by the way guys thanks for all the very helpfull info ive learnt a lot will let you know how it turns out
anyone know a good place to take the MC to get rebuilt

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Though you did say that you've never bled the brakes before, bleeding the brakes is fairly elementary, and if you're not confident with it, take it to someone... and buy a workshop manual if you don't have one

If you can pump the pedal and get pressure and it stays for as long as you keep your foot on the pedal, I don't think it's the master cylinder, as the pedal would fade as you keep the pressure on it

make sure the brakes are adjusted properly, someone else gave instructions.. The adjusters are often siezed, but if yours were 'professionally' rebuilt recently then they ought to be free. The correct method is to do them up tight so the wheels don't turn, then back if off one 'notch' so they just scrape. By notch, I mean that as you do up the adjusters, you'll feel them go tight, then loose, then tight, then loose as you screw it in - this is the way it's meant to be. I'd suggest to you that jack up the front and rear, adjust all the wheels up so that you can't push them around by hand. Make sure the master cylinder is almost (but not completely) full of fluid, pump the pedal a few times and you should find that the pedal is very solid. If it's not solid, then you've got air in the system and it needs to be bled. Make sure you undo the adjusters a little after doing this

if the brakes are adjusted properly, it's likely that one of the flexible hoses going to the wheel cylinders decided to split the webbing and go all spongey inside - that can happen in one day - how you describe it sounds like it is blowing up inside until it reaches it's limit, then holding the pressure until you take your foot off, get someone to pump the pedal while you grip each line with your fingers and see if you can feel it expanding a lot, alternative is to get some vice grips and seal up the lines one at a time, check the pedal - this'll show you if one wheel has the problem

easiest way to test the master cylinder is to get a bleeder, (or even an old bit of brake line with the end crimped). take the brake line out of the top of the master cylinder, screw the bleeder in, and do it up tight, then go put your foot on the pedal - it should have a rock solid pedal, if not, then your assumption about the seals being stuffed is correct. If the seals are stuffed, you're likely to find a trickle of brake fluid under the steering column, not under the car- put your hand up the top of the pedal and search for a wet patch

you can put a seal kit through it yourself, just make sure everything is clean and goes back together the way it was. If the main bore of the cylinder is pitted or rusty, bin it and order a new one

mini brakes do need to be adjusted and bled fairly regularly, you'd better learn how to do it

Thanks heaps for all that thats all great info
When it first started happening i had pedal but if i was say stopped on top of a hill going down it i would have break predal and the car would hold but then go down all the way to the floor and the car would roll foward so i had to pump the pedal a few times but if i had to hold it for a while it would go all the way to the floor and the car would roll
Hope that paints a picture kinda
It got worse quickly and now no pedal at all
when i say i can pump the pedal and get pressure i mean slightly slightly more pressure at the top of the pedal BUT still no stopping power and hardly enough pedal to notice

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