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MG TD TF 1500 - Front brakes pull to one side.

Gentlemen,
My TF has just started pulling to the left regardless of camber when I apply the brakes with more than gentle foot pressure. Straight ahead can be held easily but I want to fix the problem quickly. The brakes have been working perfectly up to now and the car has been used daily. I removed the drums and cleaned out the brakes with a propriety spray on cleaner. The shoes, which are hardly worn, were readjusted carefully with no success. Both wheels spin freely and the tyre pressures (28psi) are equal. The WSM trouble shooting guide suggests distorted drums as a cause of unbalanced braking, but as the problem appeared suddenly, I'm thinking stuck wheel cylinder. Any ideas please.
Thanks
John
John James

Family's got a JH which can pull to either side too if a REAR brake is stuck or inoperative.

Check all 4 wheels, not just the fronts.
Will

Thanks Will
If I let go of the steering wheel when I brake, it rotates left smartly, but I will check the rears this morning.
John
John James

Check your right rear cylinder carefully... i have a slight leak in that one and have a pull to the left if i brake hard.....
gordon.b.lawson '53TD

Gordon
Did you take it off to check it? All seemed OK leakwise when I cleaned it yesterday.
John James

Probably frozen stuck cylinder- could be front or rear, but if wheel jerks, probably front. Try skidding to a stop from a slow speed and see if you have 4 even skid marks- this could give you a clue as to which wheel is not working.
Also check for loose/broken suspension part (shock arms, a-arms, etc.)
George Butz

George, the front left wheel locks up first, the suspension was renewed last winter and looks like new, so I was thinking of removing the front right shoes and applying the brakes firmly. It should show up a sticking (off) cylinder, but will the end fly off a good one?
John
John James

I had exactly the same problem on my TD a couple of years ago. Brakes were working fine, then started suddenly pulling to the left. It turned out to be a partiality seized front wheel cylinder. I didn't need to remove the drums, all I did was loosen the adjusters to their minimum (one at a time) then got a helper to press the brake pedal while I watched the pistons moving through the adjusting hole in the drum. I noticed that one was slow in returning. The problem was solved by pressing the pedal lots of times I assumed this was enough to free the piston. I knew that the wheel cylinders were ok because I had changed them all three years before.



John Scragg
John Scragg

John
Thanks, that is most helpful. Having wire wheels makes removing the drum easier, but still a bit of a pain. Was it a right cylinder slow to open or a left one slow to close?
John
John James

John Scragg's idea is good to diagnose. If you pull the drum/shoes off and brake, yes, a free, unstuck piston will pop out making a mess, etc, while a stuck one won't move. I think you can watch each cylinder/shoe for movement with all assembled as above ,with a helper. If you remove shoes/springs, you should also be able to move and rotate the piston easily if not stuck.
George Butz

Have just learned from B & G that new front wheel cylinders are different from the originals fitted to my TF in that they have rubber boots. i am now confused about how to refurbish a faulty (original) front cylinder, if that is what is needed. Can anyone please enlighten me about the differences old and new, front and rear? I assume the diagrams in the WSM must be correct for my OE cylinders.
John
John James

John,

The faulty wheel cylinder on my TD was the left front, it remained o
(open). About your question on the modern type cylinders from B&G they
are made in Holland have a brass piston and external rubber dust seal, I
remember that they used metric threads on the two studs (this was five
years ago and may not be true now) If you want to refurbish your
original cylinders you can still find the correct kits.

John Scragg

John
Having tried your method of pressing the pedal (hard) many times to free a suspect clinder, I took the car out, performed a series of emergency stops and the problem cleared itself after number four skid!. In future I'll use the brakes more aggressively to keep the cylinders free. Thanks for the info, I have also ordered a repair kit for the front OE Cylinders.
John James

This thread was discussed between 22/09/2004 and 23/09/2004

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