I had reason recently to stamp on the brakes. Since then, the brake pedal has a much firmer feel.
I've noticed the same thing after an MOT where presumably they give the pedal a decent push to test effectiveness.
So what causes the pedal feel to be firmer, at least for a few days?
In my recent case I was barely moving so I can't imagine its caused by rubbing a glaze off the pads or discs.
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Usually its caused by the self adjusting rear brakes adjusting if they are shoe and drum.
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I occasionally press the brake pedal hard while stopped at traffic lights, as you say, it improves the feel of the brakes. It also works with all round disks, it takes up any slight free movement of the pads or in the handbrake adjusters in the rear calipers.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 2 Oct 17 at 14:36
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Shoes/rear calipers adjusting, or a sticking pad.
Sticky pad usually shows up as one wheel being hotter than the rest after a run, of course.
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"it takes up any slight free movement of the pads or in the handbrake adjusters in the rear calipers."
How many cars now use a separate drum for handbrake when it has all round discs? It used to be common. Discbrake handbrakes had a bad press for failing to secure a cooling down vehicle.
The BX was a little oddball as the handbrake was on the discs and on the front wheels. Surprise surprise, a Cit a little oddball!
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>> The BX was a little oddball as the handbrake was on the discs and on
>> the front wheels. Surprise surprise, a Cit a little oddball!
Not as odd as the 2CV which originally had front inboard drums, later replaced with discs all operated by the handbrake as well.
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I ran a mk2 Cavalier for some years, and the rear drum brake adjuster never worked properly. It was a real Heath Robinson contraption where a lever attached to one of the shoes was supposed to move a pawl that turned a ratchet that wound out an adjuster that took up the slack between the shoe and drum. The problem is the pawl never engaged properly with the ratchet, would slip off the teeth of the ratchet the first time it was used, and claw uselessly at fresh air.
Anyhow, I'd periodically pop the drums off and turn the little ratchet a couple of teeth manually with a screwdriver before refitting the drum. The difference it made to pedal feel and sharpness was incredible.
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Maybe its a break service issue. New cars dont even get their wheels taken off for the first 3 years. Everything gets gummed up and the free movement of components gets restricted. Maybe a good press during the MOT temporarily aligned everything back up.
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A classic cause of soft brakes despite bleeding, and with no fluid leaks, is when the seal inside the MC gets tired and there is a certain amount of by-pass leakage. The brakes work OK, but with a soft feel.
A good hard press sometimes restores matters. Like putting your finger over a feeble bicycle pump and pumping hard a few times.
Last edited by: Cliff Pope on Tue 3 Oct 17 at 07:50
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Better brakes? - Zero
