Hi Group,

I picked up a Disco I a few weeks ago. It has 172K on it and seems to drive perfectly. The brakes always seemed a bit mushy though and today when I got in the truck the pedal went all though way to the floor and I heard a lot of air expel. Something seemed compromised but I drove to work anyway. The braking was very poor.

After work almost all my breaking power was gone - although my emergency break seemed to work very well. So, I pressed forward and made it home in a gentle fashion with use of my emergency break.

I found my break fluid was way under the min mark. So I replaced it but it didn't make a difference. I followed a shop manual that is online I did the master cyclinder bleed - disconnect the neg terminal, pump slow and smooth and bubbles should rise from the master cylinder. It basically worked and my breaks seem at least a good as the day I bought the car. I will do the full bleed tomorrow and I hope for even more improvement.

I've been reading posts and it sounds like stainless steel hoses is a good upgrade. Can I purchase these easily or do I need Land Rover specific lines? I think I read something about an adapter that can be found at Autozone.

Also, people are disabling their ABS system? Have you guys done this? How do you do it? Why?

Suddenly my truck has become a little scary and certainly my poor judgment plays a big part in it, i.e. driving the damn thing today. Can you guys tell me what I need to do with my Disco I to get it operating safely as far a brakes go?

All the best,
Ray

 

Did you check for any leaks in the system?

 

I did look for leaks. I could not find any - I will keep looking though tonight.

 

It turns out it was my master cylinder. I had the local shop replace it with an after market part. It was 500 bucks out the door. Man, that's a lot of cash but at least I have the piece of mind someone experienced installed it. The difference in braking is amazing!

I'm ready for the summer.

 

glad you got it fixed. brakes can be important at times.

 

So, don't think your cash flow is over, you have an old truck with a lot of miles on it. Di a complete 2 quart DOT 4 brake flush as well as the entire major service listed in the sticky above before something else rears it's ugly head and bites you.

 

How do you disable the ABS?
Open the hood, on the right fender is a fuse box, open it, remove the ABS PUMP fuse.
Close fuse box, close hood.

Why disable it?
Because it sucks, it will disable your brakes at random and you will not be able to stop.
My wife almost rearended a school bus, the ABS was disabled that night and has been that way for almost 5 years now.

And the emergency brake you speak of is a parking brake, it is NOT meant to stop you in a emergency.
Many people have blown up their transfer case using it as such.

 

Well, I mean, it can be used as an emergency brake, but ONLY in an emergency. I think if your brakes went out, the least of your worries is going to be an assploded transfer box if you were, say, headed for a cliff.

And I'm not sure why he should do a flush when the master cylinder was just replaced...

 

Ok, ok, you got me on that one.
If I were heading for a 1 million billion foot cliff and my brakes went out I would not only throw it in park I would pull up on the parking brake and maybe even jump out.

 

Just another disaster waiting to happen. I hope you do not use the same roads I do!