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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Too much pedal free movement

After bleeding the brakes I have to push the pedal half an inch deeper before braking begins: Too much pedal free movement. There is no air in the system: the pedal feels rock solid. The car brakes well. My conclusion: the return of the brake piston is less. Rubbers are 1.5 years old. DOT 4 brake fluid. I have a double master cylinder so a single system. Is it dangerous?

Flip
Flip Brühl 948 frog 59

Adjust shoes till they slightly drag in the drums? Do you have drums on all corners?

If you press twice, does it come up higher?
Alex G Matla

I concur with Alex. You can only get a high, firm pedal if the brakes are adjusted properly. Following on to Alex's advice, I adjust mine until they JUST bind, and then back them off a flat. That minimizes the distance the shoes travel before they bear on the drums, which equates to shorter pedal travel.

Note that regular brake adjustment is normal maintenance with these cars. I understand that modern brake linings, without asbestos, wear faster than the originals.

Best of luck,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Pressing twice has no effect. Well I adjusted the rear brakes, front brakes are discs. Pulling the hand brake has no effect as well. It did not help so far so I adjusted the push rod on the main cylinder. And I will take apart the main cylinder as soon as I have new rubbers. (I have some 7 year old ones with are unused: Limora I dont know how good they are.)

Flip

Flip Brühl 948 frog 59

Maybe one of the wheel cilinders is stuck. BTDT.
Dunno how that feels in the pedal though. Was a bit of a surprise in my case.
Alex G Matla

Yesterday, 10 minutes after my last post, 3 miles after adjusting the push rod "I could not get power". The car started to smell. The free pray was gone. Brakes where red hot. The brake light was on all the time. Everything is normal after I returned to the original push rod length...

Flip

Alex, I saw you photo who's brakes failed?
Flip Brühl 948 frog 59

The ones from the guy behind him.
I can reveal it already looks a lot better now!
Onno K

This thread was discussed between 24/04/2012 and 25/04/2012

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