brakes

[paul1956]

i have 1990 short wheel based transit the person i bought it from said when he got it there was no fluid in brake cylinder now unless i pump the pedals the brakes dont work am i right in assuming they need bleeding

[knobby1]

i have 1990 short wheel based transit the person i bought it from said when he got it there was no fluid in brake cylinder now unless i pump the pedals the brakes dont work am i right in assuming they need bleeding

Yes..!

But I'd be giving the whole system a good looking at by someone who knows what they're looking at first, just to make sure there's nothing amiss.

Lord Knobrot

[Jim Archer]

Check for leaks at the mastercylinder/servo and the rear drums. The other thing to watch for is if the pedal has gone to the floor, the mastercylinder seal gets damaged and won't hold pressure - this can get very exciting let me tell you .....

Jim

[MinorMatt]

My mk5 master cylinder started failing when I had a trailer on the back - with another transit on it...

I drove it home, then to Transitmania and back, and then to sussex and back (probably 1200 miles with it failing). Its properly scary now

[V184]

My mk5 master cylinder started failing when I had a trailer on the back - with another transit on it...

I drove it home, then to Transitmania and back, and then to sussex and back (probably 1200 miles with it failing). Its properly scary now

I would have thought it was quite dangerous as well

[MinorMatt]

It wasn't too bad until about 60 miles from home, pulled up ok, stopped ok but pedal was spongey. After that... least said the better...

[Jim Archer]

Mine was only when you braked gently, like when rolling up behind a queue of traffic .....

Jim

[Altransit]

Happened to me on my old Sierra, stupidly hot day, long traffic queue needing frequent stops with no chance to cool the brakes, so eventually the pedal went to the floor
I think the (old, original) fluid must have boiled because several hours later, in the cool of the night, I drove it home with no issues