New to me 99 D2. Brake pedal travel seems excessive and pedal feel is soft compared to my 03 D2 which has a very hard brake pedal with little travel. I haven't tried bleeding it yet,.....its almost feeling like the MC is failing. Can these MCs fail in a way that allows the brake pedal travel further before any braking effect is noticed??

Brian

 

if you pump it ones and then push it again does it feel more firm and grab earlier?

 

I have a 2002 D2 and just put new rotors and pads on. MC does not leak. Definitely does not have a hard pedal, never really did. If I jam the breaks, it will stop with some gusto, but normal braking to a stop does feel like I have to apply a fair amount of pressure to brake. Granted, I just took the rotors out of the box and put them on, hope I was not suppose to clean them first. :-)

Another thing may be stretched brake hoses at each caliper. I hear switching to steel braided cables gives a hard pedal. Haven't tried yet. For me, just feels like I am trying to stop a 6500 pound truck. If I want to stop quicker, I have to push harder.

 

MC replace but also some insight on what to do before you replace it.

 

Yes, it does

 

If you can't stop on a dime, you have issues.

When operating correctly the brakes on these vehicles are up to par and can save you in serious situations.

If your results vary at all, you have serious issues to address.

As mentioned, bleeding is tedious at best. but overall things are pretty basic.

 

Well iv not tried to bleed mine yet, but iv been told that's probably the problem. The previous owner did the MC on mine recently and so I guess who ever he had working on it didn't know how to bleed the brakes on these. So I'm guessing I have air in the abs pump or something. Idk yet. Brakes is my next thing to work on. Iv had a car with a failed MC before, and the peddle would really sink with not much brake power and it was random and not consistant. Also when I pumped the peddle it only kinda helped stop the car and the peddle still fell to the floor. So I'm sure we just need to get the brakes bleed properly. Brakes r what I'm going to work on now.

 

Sounds just like someone did not take the time to properly bleed... Which does take enabling the ABS system. There are a few ways, all well documented on this site.

 

When you bleed the brakes get two quarts of fuild and bleed it until you get clean fluid out of each calipers. You will be surprised how bad brake fuild can get. Also I found a big difference when I replaced the 10 plus year old brake hoses

 

Goodridge braided SS hoses are a HUGE improvement over stock. Not a fan of the Britpart lines.


Get them where you like, but they look like this...Stock size, or +2" >> Discovery II Stainless Steel Brake Lines - Rovers North - Classic Land Rover Parts