Greetings,
About a month ago, I bought a 1996 Land Rover Discovery as a project car for myself and my son to work on. He is 16 and just got his driving license and wants a capable off-roader. I was able to acquire the Disco for cheap, knowing it had a few issues. What 25-year-old car doesn't? It runs and starts great, but the brakes are crap.
The problem: When you press on the brake pedal, it goes almost to the floor and the brakes barely slow you down.

I have been ghosting on the forum for a while, and have tried about everything I found here. The brakes don't seem to be engaging and are not safe to drive. I have replaced the Master cylinder, the brake booster, the front brake pads, removed the fuse for the ABS pump from under the dash and the big one under the hood as well as disconnecting the connector on the valve body with all the brake lines running to it under the hood. I have bled the brakes 3 times, using well over 4 quarts of fluid (thinking there might be boogers in the lines from old age or whatever. The rotors are clean and look almost new.
I am out of ideas, so I thought I would consult the Hive Mind and see if any of you had any ideas.
Thanks
Merlin

 

Do the brakes firm up if you pump the brake pedal?

My 94 did the same when I bought it. I was lucky because all I needed to do was change pads front and rear, then bleed the system. I replaced the front pipes too (the last bits after the hoses). I did not need to change the calipers or rebuild them, even though I was tempted to. I later replaced the brake discs all around. All were thin, with the rears machined down way thinner than specification, 13mm minimum. You could measure them to be sure. If the discs are too thin, the brake pistons have to extend too far when the pads wear out.

 

No, they don't get any better if you pump them. I have changed the front pads with no change at all to braking performance. I don't really want to throw a set of rotors at the truck as the ones on it don't even have a groove on them and look relatively new.

 

What brand / type of master cylinder did you install? There have been some reports over the years that replacements can be finicky

 

I got it from Rock Auto. It seems to work fine. It seems to be a better part than the original. The factory part seemed to be a little petite, while the bosses and components the aftermarket one are larger and it is much heavier.
Marlin

 

So, no big puddle on the floor.... I think the master cylinder is the problem if no pressure builds, or still air in the system. Did you use the brake pedal to do the bleeding, or some compressed air vacuum set up? Does the fluid flow strong when you open the right rear tap and press the brakes? (You'll need a helper for that part, or really long legs). Maybe check flow at each corner, starting at farthest away, just to be sure there's no air.

 

Back when I was young and dumb I did both sides of my jeeps brakes at the same time with all new lines and calipers. I couldnt get it to stop after days of bleeding. Took it to a shop. They messed with it for a few hours before telling me I put the calipers on the wrong side leaving the bleed ports lower than the brake line

Off the top of my head Im not sure it’s possible to do on a D1, but worth a look

 

Also, Ive had much better luck with the “petite” factory MC than the cast ones. See if you can find a rebuild kit and go the factory route

and make sure the front and rear ports are correct. RAVE has a good sketch of how its supposed to be routed

 

I didn't remove the brake calipers, so they should still be mounted correctly. I pressure-bled the brakes with a pressure bleeder that pressurized the entire system. The rubber brake lines should be in today and tomorrow. I will try the rubber lines in the next couple of days. The flow is good from the right rear bleed screw.
Marlin

 

Did you ever figure this out?
I’m having similar issues after bleeding my brakes. I’ve read around the web that the ABS pump requires extra steps to make bleeding successful (needs a scanner to open the valves). But most Disco owners simply bleed their breaks like any other vehicle.