Hi guys, have a major problem with my mk1 escort. I have the Volvo brakes on the front and pug on the rear. An adjustable pedal box as well. However after years of tinkering with the system, I have had no luck. This car does not stop. It has no booster although I have tried one and it made no difference. These brakes are really bad. Can someone please advise what masters i should be running. My pedal box is a modified escort one with under dash mc's.
I am desperate

Have you tried 0.625 front and rear?

Hi guys, Craig has been quite helpful. At present I have a hard peddle and nothing much happens. I need to check sizes of the mc's. Have not driven car in quite some time and I think the mc's need to be replaced to to lack of use. Would the .625 be required even if I don't have a booster. Also, in regards to bleeding the Volvo calipers, is there any real sequence as a guy told me that I might have to remove the calipers and turn them upside down to bleed them in case air is getting trapped in the top chamber. Mine have been drilled to eliminate the second hose .
Rear brakes are off a Peugeot 405 and are disc brakes.
One additional thing. I have under bonnet resoivers. Has anyone ever had there gravity fed lines sweat brake fluid. Changed to three different types of hose but no luck in stopping the sweating . I run an sr20 turbo. Could it be a heat issue.

These brakes are killing me guys.

Have you checked to see that the caliper pistons are not seized on the front? Is there fluid actually getting to the calipers?
If you are running a peddle box the front & rear braking systems are operating independantly to each other. Is the peddle feel firm or soft when applied? Possible air in lines or calipers?

Also check that the push rod on the M/C is not binding up.

I use these on my rally car and have not had any issues.

Good luck
Craig

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Originally posted by Wldmk1

Also, in regards to bleeding the Volvo calipers, is there any real sequence as a guy told me that I might have to remove the calipers and turn them upside down to bleed them in case air is getting trapped in the top chamber. Mine have been drilled to eliminate the second hose .

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If the bleed nipple on your calipers is at the bottom, I'm amazed you're getting a pedal at all. The bleed nipple should be at the top.

Peddle is firm. I checked yesterday. I have a 3/4 mc on the front and .625 rear. I have fluid at the bleed nipple when I bleed them so I guess I do have fluid at the front calipers. I going to change them both to .625. Is this the correct size when not running a booster

I think you need to swap the M/C around. Smaller on the front. That is what Gartrac recommends.

Cheers,

Peter

I agree, swap the master cylinders and see how it goes...wont cost any more than some time and brake fluid

have you tryed stopping suddenly on dirt to ensure bias is set more to the frot and not all to the rear. braking on dirt at low speed is the quickest way to check.if rears lock turn more to front until fronts lock first.

quote:

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Originally posted by Wldmk1

Peddle is firm. I checked yesterday. I have a 3/4 mc on the front and .625 rear. I have fluid at the bleed nipple when I bleed them so I guess I do have fluid at the front calipers. I going to change them both to .625. Is this the correct size when not running a booster

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It's a common misconception that the larger M/C goes on the fronts but you're actually decreasing the hydraulic advantage resulting in a short, hard pedal.

Swap them over and try it as you already have the parts.

Regarding the correct set-up depends on your choice of brakes (rear discs or drums etc) and the relative sizes of the calliper's total piston volume compared to your master cylinders. Get it wrong and you will either have a hard short pedal or soft pedal but with an excessively long travel. Pedal ratio (compare each length of the brake pedal either side of the pivot point) also influences pedal effort, travel and feel. A pedal ratio should ideally be around 6:1 - the stock Mk2 pedal ratio when converted to a bias arrangement is approximately 5.66:1.

But, 0.625 and 0.750 is a good starting point for what you have.