Brakes on a Fiat Ducato

Daniel O'Brien ( snipped-for-privacy@opeus.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Has he replaced the servo? Sounds like that's the fault.

Without doubt the Servo is involved - none of the other things mentioned would be affected by a running engine.

The message from Adrian contains these words:

Unlikely - the servo has a solid (under compression) link right through the middle so that it'll still work if it isn't working - if you see what I mean.

A duff servo wouldn't make the pedal go down too far. More likely to be the master cylinder - though it is natural for the pedal to sink as the vacuum develops. It may be that it's been doing it for years and he's only just noticed. The servo should hold vacuum for a considerable time - the non-return valve on the inlet may be dodgy.

What do you mean that the pedal slowly travels? Do you mean it travels down by it's self, or when you're pressing it?

If it's when you're pressing it, then this is how it should work. It's the vacuum supply to the brake servo building up, and helping pull the pedal down.

If you're not pressing it, and the pedal is travelling down by itself, then it's a faulty brake servo.

moray

Moray Cuthill (moray_dot snipped-for-privacy@v21.me.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Eh? I don't often drive cars with servo brakes, but I'm damn sure that I've never had a pedal sink under continuous pressure. That, to my mind, is plain WRONG.

If you pump the pedal on any servo assisted vehicle and use up all the vacuum, hold the brake pedal down and start the vehicle, as the vacuum builds up the servo assiatnce starts to work and helps pull the pedal down. This check is even part of an MOT, to check that the brake servo (if fitted) is working.

moray

Moray Cuthill (moray_dot snipped-for-privacy@v21.me.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Ah. I don't think I've ever held the brake pedal down when starting.