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MG TD TF 1500 - Thank goodness for the hand brake

The 52 TD I just purchased had a refurbished mastercylinder and slaves in April of this year.

While driving yesterday I hit my brakes and the pedal went to the floor.........no brakes what so ever. I pulled up on the hand brake, slowed and made a turn into a driveway.

Opened up the master cylinder........dry. Filled it up to the base of the neck with DOT 4 brake fluid, gently pumped the brake pedal with my hand and simultaneously looked under the car. Brake fluid was pouring out of both rear wheel drums, exiting from the rubber boot that covers the parking brake lever.

No fluid was coming from any external fittings attached to the drums. I didn't pull the drum but I suspect the slaves are the culprit.

Any thoughts with this paltry information?
R C Flowers

In cars we call brake "slaves" "wheel cylinders".

You may have severe contamination with some noxious stuff not brake fluid, in which case kiss the whole system goodbye,
Or, you may have a massive maladjustment issue caused by extreme drum wear and/or erroneous assembly.
If the pistons in the wheel cylinders travel far enough, the seals ride over the slots for the handbrake levers. I'd say this was impossible, but I am constantly surprised by odd stuff that happens,

FRM
FR Millmore

Nothing to do but pull the drums and see where it's coming from, but as unlikely as it is, the most probable cause is over-extension of the cylinders. The only other scenario I can think of is total failure of all the rear cylinder cups and that is even more unlikely. Since it has happened on both rear wheels simultaneously, I would suspect something was not assembled correctly, or some components are out of spec. Good luck!
Steve Simmons

Check to make sure the fluid you used was compatible with what was in there.... bleed some out of the fronts and smell it....
If it was set up with silicon and you added brake fluid you would have a problem....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

And just to make matters worse, check your brake linings. It's highly likely that the linings have been wet with brake fluid. If so, they can't be cleaned or dried out. The brake shoes will need to be relined or replaced. If you choose to reline or replace, do both left and right.

The archives have much information about this. I used:

C.H. Topping & Co.
520 Esther Street
Long Beach, CA 90813
http://www.chtopping.com

In 2006 the cost to reline four shoes was $30 and shipping across the country was $12.80.

Good luck.

Larry
Larry Shoer

If the master and wheel cylinders have very few miles on them, one has to wonder if the cups may have been installed backwards in the wheel cylinders. If only on the rear, it could be as FRM & Steve mentioned, overextension due to some screwup on brake assembly.

If the rebuilds were by some amatuer, the bores may have pitted beyond the point where new cups can handle the rough bore.

JIM
JIM NORTHRUP SR

Reversed seals would have dumped all the fluid the first time the brakes were applied.

FRM
FR Millmore

Thank you for the input. I'll have it up on the lift and all the drums pulled next week. Moss has a good price on a full set of wheel cylinders. And if needed, new brakes as well.



R C Flowers

This sort of thing is why modern cars have split front/rear brake circuits. Handbrake saved me from driving the TD through the garage wall once back in the day. George
George Butz

Hi. I would check the master cyl first since you lost the brakes on all four wheels, and the pedal hit the floor without any resistens.
Thoralf, Norway TD 4490.
Thoralf Sorensen (TD4490)

Since leaking from both rear's I would say they were not put together correctly.

I do agree, that having a mechanical parking brake is a great back up. I have had to use it to stop after a brake failure also.
Bruce Cunha

You are lucky, my experience was midway through a LONG downhill street which ended in fast crossing traffic. By the time I reached the bottom, I had snapped one of the cables, luckily it swung me to the side of the road. Trouble was an untightened bleeder.

Paul
Paul Gaynor

This thread was discussed between 03/08/2012 and 05/08/2012

MG TD TF 1500 index

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