YOO (Yet Another Observation). I ran to the store and when I got out, I was down wind of the Disco and go a whiff of "Hot Brake" small.

 

With respect to spongy feel after brake fluid flush, might want to look for a leaky caliper as well. But one usually exhibits pull to one side. Leaky or defective pressure reducing valve (proportioning valve)? Smell around each wheel? Use IR thermometer to "shoot" disks, each one on same axle should be about same heat after a drive? Trying to hold back on the MC if not needed.

 

Now that you mention it, here are a few other clues.....

When stopped at a light, if I put some pressure on the pedal, it will "stick" there and hold the car still when in gear. So I am thinking a bad caliper somewhere as well. Are they easy to rebuild? Or should I just send them in a cores?

Also, there is some surface rust in the sheet metal below the master cylinder. So it has me also thinking that something might be leaky in there. It could also have been the pile of wet leaves that must have been accumulating there for years...

 

My rear calipers were pretty corroded when I bought my DI four years ago. I bought the ProLine calipers from Rovers North about 100 bucks each with no core charge.

Also bought new mounting bolts. They are great calipers for the price. You can trust RN to have the right part every time as they only deal in Rover items.

 

Blanco, I have a set of 4 calipers with pads in fair shape, I will sell them to you for $100 shipping included.

 

Usually when you discover the leaky caliper on an older truck (especially one you just bought) the corrosion makes rebuild (seal replacement) not the best option.

 

Also check the Master Cylinder cap gasket. My brakes were just dandy until yesterday and then I almost had no brakes at all. Almost found out by plowing into the car ahead of me. When I was doing a check I noticed that the gasket around the cap was cracked and had completely ripped in half. I replaced it with an 80's Chrysler labaron brake booster gasket that I cut to make work...orielys didn't have a rover one. And it works again. Still a little off so I might have to bleed them and do an overhaul on them soon.

 

Good call on that gasket. I do not think there is one on there. In fact, if I turn the cap enough, it will skip threads and pop loose. I also remember thinking that it seem like the rim of the cap would bottom out on the master cylinder....

I will check in the morning.

 

I'd put some money that it is your problem. It will pop loose because there isn't a gasket there to hold it where it is supposed to be. That causes the master cylinder not to pressurize and there for no brakes. It ended up costing me 5 bucks to fix it.

 

I took a look and there was a gasket there and it appeared to be in OK condition. Perhaps I will change it out for good measure, but I am not convinced that this is the problem.

The brakes are working better after a couple of days of driving it around. Perhaps the driving had agitated some aire out of it. Another bleeding may be in order.

However, there is still some spongyness to the brakes and it seems like considerable of pressure is required to stop the vehicle in a hurry. I could not lock up the wheels (ABS disabled) if I wanted to.

Perhaps this is just the way rovers are? IDK. My gut tells me there is something else wrong. It is stable, so I think it will get me by until I need to do a brake job and then I can replace all the calipers and rotors.