Escort brakes gone. Master cyclinder?

Whilst driving home tonight the brakes on my 98 escort suddenly went, the pedal travelled all the way to the floor and the braking deteriorated rapidly. If the brakes were rested for a few minutes then they still stopepd the car but then the pedal would sink to the floor again and the braking force would just vanish.

I wasn't far from home and dind't have to go on any main roads or down any steep hills so managed to coax it home at about 10mph but obviously i can't use it again until it's sorted. Is this likely to be the master cylinder thats gone or could it be something else?

Thanks

Kris

Reply to
kris
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If ther are no visible leaks, failing m/cyl seals could very well be the cause. When was the last time the brake fluid was changed? Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

In addition to that, you can get the same symptoms with seized brakes or leaving the handbrake on. The fluid boils and you get no braking so you stop, it cools down and they work again for a short time.

Reply to
Conor

Could be anything, but a master cylinder failure is unlikely to have recovered a few minutes later. Simplest cause might just be that the fluid is old and damp - then it boiled on you. It could be the pads fading out, especially if things are worn around the front end, but that usually needs noticeable heavy braking to cause it.

It _is_ pushing 10 years old and I bet that the only maintenance it has ever had was new pads. As a bare minimum, I'd want all the rubbers (seals and hoses) and fluids replaced before I thought about driving it again. It's a pain to do anything at all to a braking system, but once you've split the things apart once it's little extra work to do the whole lot in one go. I'd check the disks too.

Unless the stripped master looks obviously damaged (polished or scored inside) then I'd be happy enough to begin by replacing its seals, rather than an exchange cylinder. Obviously this requires sufficient competence and clean working space to rebuild it, but it's not rocket science.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Many masters do not have seal kits available now. however the price of new masters is quite reasonable at about 60 quid upwards. Most people won't have the experience/knowledge to rebuild a master anyway.

Reply to
MrCheerful

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