spongy brakes

[samurai gary]

Hi, I recently had to change the rear brake cylinders on my samurai, since then the brakes have felt very spongy, although they stop the vehicle the pedal just dont seem right, I have bled the brakes many times and no air is in the system, I also replaced the master cylinder with a second hand one, the rear brakes have beeen adjusted, I got a mechanic to check everything and re-bleed the brakes but the pedal is still the same, he cannot work out why they are like it, maybe we are both missing something as they were fine before I had to change wheel cylinders due to leaking fluid. Any info would be great ....Thanks

[twiss]

Are the adjusters in the brake drums working correctly? If the little spring loaded arm doesn't stop the adjuster going back in, the brakes will become un-adjusted and you will get a spongy pedal

[samurai gary]

thanks for your reply..do you mean the ratchet adjusters, because they are siezed and worn.

[Anton]

Those are what he's talking about. Unsieze them/replace them. If your rear brakes aren't adjusting, your brakes will slowly become less and less effective as the drums/shoes wear. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

I'd be going to a different mechanic from now on, too. If he can't work out that a critical component in your brake setup being worn and seized = BAD, then perhaps you should be using a different mechanic.

[samurai gary]

I have tried to replace the adjusters before but they seem impossible to get hold of,

[twiss]

If you need your rear brakes right now... adjust them out by hand until the brake drum only just fits back on, then stick a couple of cable ties around the threaded bit of the adjuster.
This will stop them from retracting too far and will give you some brakes at least!

Remember its a temporary measure and your brakes will still get worse with use, just not as fast

[twiss]

Oh also, use the bit where your handbrake cable splits into 2... if its level it means the rear brakes are even. very handy for setting it up as i posted above.

Also, those adjusters are a main stealer only part, are quite expensive and last time I had to wait 3 weeks for one

[dan_2k_uk]

My mate at euro car parts got me some from a BMW. Dont know what model but had to use them on the opposite sides.

Perfect length, cheap, and available.

Dan

[ROBBIE]

When you replaced the wheel cylinders was the nipple at the top or was the pipe??

I had 1 with the pipe at the top this the brakes were always spongy.

[samurai gary]

ok thanks for all your replies....