Dodgy brake performance

[Mac1984]

Good evening guys,

I will try to discribe as good as possible the brake issue
That I have with a current smiley, 1998 TD, swb.

If I am braking, the pedal feels quite hard and does not have a lot of travel, also the brakes seem not to be too powerful in general, and the rear of the
Transit seems to shift to the right, as if there is brake imbalance on the rear axle.

On wet road recently, I did brake and the abs kicked in no problem, also the van was not sliding sideways then.

I was just wondering if somebody does know the symptoms and can point into
The right direction??

Thanks for any information.

[gotgcoalman]

Stiff brake pedal = oil pump on the back of the alternator or servo is fubar.

[andz327]

Stiff brake pedal = oil pump on the back of the alternator or servo is fubar.

Vacum pump for servo mate not oil pump......its oil fed

[gotgcoalman]

ok the vacuum pump on the alternator.The bit with the plastic pipe going to the servo and oil feed/drain..
splines strip internally and it ceases to work.

[Mac1984]

Thanks guys for your inputs.

I did have a busted pump years ago and thought it felt different but maybe that's just bad memory..

I can pump the pedal and it seems to charge the servo all right.

Maybe not enough though ?

Anyway I thought just ring the local ford dealer for a price quotation, just to see what kind of price what to expect..

They said the pump would be 450 euro including vat

Say what? I told them I don't want the whole alternator..

They said it's not..

Wow.. crazy price for that little thing huh??

[gotgcoalman]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VACUUM-BRAKE ... Sw9KhaN29w

[Mac1984]

Cheers for that,

I've ordered a pump from a similar site already.

Let's see what difference that makes. The pipes seemed ok.

I drove yesterday and the brakes seem to perform a bit better then before, when braking light the
Transit seems to be very unsteady at the rear still, braking harder it seemed fairly steady and straight.

Just started to look into it, crap weather and darkness after work does not help with progress ei
ther

[Mac1984]

Right,

So the vacuum pump was a non fitter due to the shape and diameter of the driving shaft
Being different. The new pump clearly requires a much thinner drive shaft, and also the shape assembles more
Something like a torx/star shape then what I have on my alternator.

Instead i opened the old pump, remanufactured the 3 plastic pieces and it's running fine.

The brakes are feeling different now, the initial brick feeling is gone, and now it feels like a car without
Servo brakes.. I did not have much time to check the servo itself yet, but in case it has a leak, is there a replacement seal/ o ring available or do I need to buy a new one? Anybody with experience on this field?

Thanks in advance