Just bought a ´89 Range Rover in Central America. Drove it home last night and all was fine until the final push. Headed down a pretty good sized mountain (read curvy and steep) and just at the bottom (thank god!) the brakes failed.

Absolutely no pressure in the pedal. Pumped and pumped and got nothing. Luckily, was able to veer into a side road with a bit of up hill and downshift through the auto tranny and come to a stop. Pumped the brakes a bunch and got good pressure back, but as I pulled into my neighborhood experienced another complete failure.

Let her rest for an hour or so and got pressure back. Drove around a little and all was fine, and I drove her today to let some mechanics take a look and still had pressure.

The first mechanic ran his finger under the rear left and felt some oil, which I think might be brake fluid with lots of brake dust in it. The reservoir is holding fluid, and the second mechanic took the wheels off and noticed the same build-up of sludge. Both of these guys don´t seem real familiar with this type vehicle, and I´m very scared we´re starting a bit of a witch hunt because they want to fix every last thing that might be wrong with the brakes in order to find the problem.

So my questions are: Could this possible leak in the rear system effect the entire braking system to the point of complete failure?

If the leak is creating a complete failure would it dump enough fluid that the reservoir would be empty?

Both the mechanics felt like the system was really hot, is the heat causing the fluid to expand and put more pressure on the closed hydraulic system making the leak only evident after lots of driving?

Any help or troubleshooting on Range Rover brakes would be greatly appreciated as I´m dealing with language barrier as well as a complicated two part system. And I´m scared that if we don´t get this fixed right it´ll be extremely dangerous down the road (my girlfriend´s real freaked out after last night´s episode and refuses to ride in the truck until we´re absolutely convinced the problem is solved).

Thanks again.

 

Sounds like possibly 2 things going on, the leak at the rear wheels, is it brake fluid, if so that will become a big problem.
Not being able to pump up the brakes while the fluid level is full could be a failing master cylinder. How often do you change your brake fluid?
Mike

 

As I said, I just bought this rig so I´m not sure as to the prior owner´s maintenance routine.

At thirty years old I´ve just learned about cars as stuff as gone wrong with them. Having had a ´74 FJ-40 that wasn´t too hard. Unfortunately I´m not to picky with brakes and would almost rather drive with air in the system, etc. than bleed them. I know that´s pretty lazy, but oh well this one is going to have to be fixed.

Thanks for the help it´s good to know that leak could be causing the problem and as I´ve had a master cyl. leak in the past I don´t think that´s what it is (it was more of a slow ooze followed by a lack of power then a full on failure) not that I´m counting anything out. For now I´m going to focus on the rear problem and get that shored up before concentrating on the rest of the system.

Thanks a ton for the reply as always a discussion forum seems to help answer my most stupid questions!

Happy driving!

 

If your 1989 Range Rover is equipped with ABS, one suspect component is the ABS Accumulator, which can cause the symtoms you describe (temporary loss of pedal). The part is about $230 USD. If you do have ABS, a clue that the Accumulator is failing is that you will hear the Brake pump whining almost continously (it is supposed to whine when first starting the vehicle-- and briefly kicks in sometimes at a stop). The North American vehicles had this system. But you may have a grey market vehicle down there not so equipped.

Read my sections at www.eurotekapg.com

The "sludge" you speak of may actually be from axle seals that have been seeping over a long period of time. This tends to deposit crud on the inside of the wheel

If the build up of dust and fluid you describe is actually on the body of the brake caliper(s), then you need to change this component. And don't drive it until they clean off all four calipers and inspect for signs of seepage !!!!

Regards,

Geoman
www.eurotekapg.com

 

Mine is definately a U.S. import model as the previous owner included the manual that still had the receipt from the dealer in New York from March of 1989. Although I have heard of some German models floating around Costa Rica as ¨grey market¨ cars.

Thanks for the warning about the ABS switch although I thought the ABS wasn´t included on Range Rovers until later in production. Are you sure this one has it? The manual talks about the brakes at length and never mentions ABS.

I got to the mechanics shop today and he had taken apart the calipers, cleaned and re-painted them. I was a little concerned about the paint because on FJ´s they warn of increasing the heat retention of the metal with black paint, but alas it was too late to change it.

The mechanic had also ordered the piston part of the caliper for three of the four wheels because they were leaking fluid. I must say it looks like he´s doing an excellent job and although the parts will be normal pricing, the labor will be extremely inexpensive down here.

I´ll keep you all abridged on how it goes.

 

There was a Girling system fitted to that model year for vehicles without ABS. North American vehicles had ABS. The easiest way to tell is if you have a brake booster (Large diameter cylindrical black "canister" between the brake master and the firewall) and a master cylinder with a plastic brake fluid resevoir on top of it. If you have these components-- you have a non-ABS vehicle and therefore no ABS accumulator.

Keep us posted as to your progress.

Regards,

Geoman
www.eurotekapg.com

 

There is a plastic brake fluid reservoir on top of the master cylinder.

The mechanic finished the brake job yesterday. He changed the seals in 3 of the 4 pistons and put new pads on for about $80 U.S. He also pointed out a leak in the master cylinder where the black paint is bubbling from seepage of brake fluid. We are discussing possibilities for finding an overhauled unit or as a last resort buying a new one from the dealership. The taxes are huge on imports to Costa Rica so parts are more expensive than in the U.S. I might just order the seal kit (probably get 3 or 4 of them) and go at it myself although every time I´ve done a rebuild like this before it takes 2 or 3 times to get it right and then you never do it again.

I drove about 30 miles yesterday, 20 off-road in very wet and muddy conditions. The brakes seem a little soft but there was no failure. I´ve got a big overland trip planned for the weekend so I´ve got my fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help.