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Further brake travel! HELP!

I'm really confused with this problem that has troubled my friends car for nearly two weeks. What's worst is I'm starting to notice the same problem on my car!

Mate has a Peugeot 2001 GTI and after cornering the travel of the brake pedal has increased. Its more noticeable after a corner for some reason. The brake pedal will be its normal position but requires further travel than before. He thought it was the wheel bearings but has now replaced them with some improvement but not much. Calipers changed over, same pads which were in good condition and a flushing of the brake fluid. Problem is still there and the garage thinks it could be the rear wheel bearings. I am not expert but for wheel bearings to cause the brake pads to be pushed out requires quite a wobble! My friend has spent tons but still has the same problem.

Now after chatting with my mate about his problem my car seems to have the same thing. It wasn't as noticeable to start off with as I drive with different shoes. However, I've noticed that the brake pedal requires further travel than before and this worries me. The car still stops fine but why the additional travel for no reason???

Does anyone have any idea what it could be? I've pumped the brake servo with the engine off and the pedal goes stiff hard so no problems with servo or vacuum lines.

Could it be the front rear compensator playing up? My front pads are like new with plenty of material left. Rear pads have around 4mm which is still fine by my standards.

Anyone have any ideas as to what is causing such a problem with further brake travel?

Thanks

Jim

Reply to
Jim
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Mate has a Peugeot 2001 GTI and after cornering the travel of the brake

That's an odd one. The worst(and best) I can think of is that the car body is deforming and the pedal box is shifting in relation to the brake calipers.Take heart, can't be as bad as that- can it? DaveK.

Reply to
davek

I'd start by looking for a brake hose which has gone soft and is bulging when the brakes are pressed. And change the fluid when changing the defective hose. I'd have thought this was much more likely than some of the other things like wheel bearings.

Reply to
TTT

Reply to
Gary Millar

Well, jack it up and tug at the wheels. Any undue movement will be obvious. Non adjustable bearings should have effectively zero movement.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

If all wheel bearings are ok, that would narrow it down slightly. It could be air in the ABS unit, which will require diagnostic equipment to bleed proprely, as the ABS unit has to be actuated to bleed air out off the ABS unit itself. Air in the ABS unit can cause some interesting braking faults. It could possibly also be the seals in the master cylinder starting to leak. This would normally be checked by starting the engine, firmly pressing the brake pedal and holding it down. If it creeps down, then this is usually an indicator off a faulty master cylinder (provided there are no external leaks apparent). However, I've also seen air in the ABS system cause this.

Reply to
Moray Cuthill

Yes :-) But not very likely. I did once stare at the first Cavalier I'd ever met with power steering trying to work out how the hell it worked (so I could work out why the steering wheel was so off centre) & eventually realised that the entire bulkhead mounting plate was sliding left to right across the bulkhead having sheared off * the only reason the rack did anything at all was because the end of it had jammed against the offside wing (the stiffener for the nearside was still holding that end to the bulkhead.

Reply to
DuncanWood

Hi

Thanks for all the replies regarding my problem.

Both our cars are fitted with braided brake lines so its unlikely that. Air in the ABS unit is interesting and I will check if any shop can remove the excess air. I will quickly test the master cylinder to see if thats the cause but the air in ABS could be it.

Try to update once I get the cause. Thanks again for your help.

Jim

Reply to
Jim

Update!

Friend just had the air pumped out of his ABS unit and problem still exists! Whats worst is the new wheel bearing which was only installed less than a WEEK ago is worn!!! I dont know if its bad installation causing his second bearing to go within weeks or another hidden problem.

As for my deep travel I've notice it more driving at high speeds then braking. Brake pedal will travel further down than usual and this is confusing me why its doing so. My wheel bearings also need changing as they are starting to wear but would such cause a deep pedal like mine? I've checked both front bearings and the wheel does not shake at all. I've checked the wheel bearing by spinning it in the hub its not as smooth as a new one.

Any ideas guys?

Jim

Reply to
Jim

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