AHH NO BRAKES

[GillyGilb]

Hi all

Took my car in for an MOT yesterday and passed with no advisories. However the joy is very short lived as I’ve no got only about 10% of the braking capacity that I had when I drove it in... I watched the whole MOT and all they really did was jack it up and look underneath and do the brake efficiency test etc. They didn’t actually touch anything. I trust the garage, giving them the benefit of the doubt and putting it down to coincidence for the time being.

Anyway, when I’m braking I can barely push the pedal at all and it’s pretty much solid. As I push harder it does brake slightly more but I feel like I’m about to snap the pedal rather than it actually pushing down any further.

I’ve been told this can be the vacuum hose getting a hole in it that I’ve pictured.

You can see it’s already been repaired once (before my ownership) with this clear plastic tube. Because of this I’m going to replace it anyway as I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t be flexible! I’ll get one from a breaker and stick it on. Do you think this will be affecting braking feel anyway?

Now... you can see the clear plastic bit is actually flat so there must be a vacuum in there so surely the pipe can’t actually be broken and be causing this?

If anyone has any suggestions of what I should be checking/ looking for I’d be much appreciated. I’m definitely no expert in brakes so please bear with any stupid questions.

Cheers

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[GillyGilb]

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[JamesBryan]

I'd be confident in saying that line is your issue somewhere.

Does the pedal feel like it does when the car isn't running?

 

[GillyGilb]

Yes so if it’s not running and you pump the brake until it’s hard, it fees just like that.

If there was a leak would that clear bit not be more open rather than completely flat? It feels like there’s a vacuum inside when touching it because the clear bit won’t open up at all.


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[Louis]

@leeds2592 is our resident brake expert.

 

[leeds2592]

@leeds2592 is our resident brake expert.

 

[JamesBryan]

Yes so if it’s not running and you pump the brake until it’s hard, it fees just like that.

If there was a leak would that clear bit not be more open rather than completely flat? It feels like there’s a vacuum inside when touching it because the clear bit won’t open up at all.


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I'd say that silicone line that was used to fix it is causing the issue. The standard line is a hard plastic for a reason.

Swap it for a used OEM line and that should fix your issue.

 

[GillyGilb]

I'd say that silicone line that was used to fix it is causing the issue. The standard line is a hard plastic for a reason.

Swap it for a used OEM line and that should fix your issue.

Ok thanks I’ll give that a bash and see how i get on [emoji106]thanks for the help


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[McGherkin]

When I saw the title I was imagining someone doing 100mph down the M1 furiously refreshing CS in the hope of an answer before they crashed.

I reckon that pipe is sucking flat and therefore the servo isn’t getting enough/any vacuum.

 

[GillyGilb]

When I saw the title I was imagining someone doing 100mph down the M1 furiously refreshing CS in the hope of an answer before they crashed.

I reckon that pipe is sucking flat and therefore the servo isn’t getting enough/any vacuum.

I did have a squeaky bum moment when a bus pulled out on me in the way back from the MOT centre.

I’ll get it done next week. Thanks!


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[jameswrx]

That pipe should most definitely not be repaired like that!

I wonder if the issue appeared on the MOT due to getting it through emissions and the pipe becoming very soft from the heat of the manifold below & stationary car. It was then able to completely suck itself shut/collapse and the one way valve has kind of kept it stuck shut. The brake test depleted it and when you drove it was in a weird stuck closed pipe and no vacuum assist.

 

[GillyGilb]

That pipe should most definitely not be repaired like that!

I wonder if the issue appeared on the MOT due to getting it through emissions and the pipe becoming very soft from the heat of the manifold below & stationary car. It was then able to completely suck itself shut/collapse and the one way valve has kind of kept it stuck shut. The brake test depleted it and when you drove it was in a weird stuck closed pipe and no vacuum assist.

Yeah good thinking. Could well be sealed shut like that. Hopefully it will be a nice cheap fix. I’ll get it off this afternoon and have a look.


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[dann2707]

This thread title made me laugh as it was as if you were writing it as you pressed your brakes haha

As others has said, that should be a hard plastic pipe that goes to a hole in your brake servo as pictured below. it pushes in on a christmas tree type spigot

 

[Usr117063]

Take out the valve that connects to the above if you need to drive the car and bung the hole/tube from the inlet.

 

[GillyGilb]

Got round to sorting this today. I replaced the vacuum pipe with one I got from a breaker for the sum of £15. Took about an hour of faffing and losing skin on my knuckles but happy to report my brakes feel better than ever. You guys got it spot on so thanks very much. The bit of clear tube that had been used for the previous repair had melted itself shut in the exact same place it must have failed previously.

I always thought my brakes didn’t feel quite right and was about to go down the route of new pads/discs etc. Really glad I’ve found this without throwing a load of money at it!

When I was back there pulling the pipe off the clips my hand knocked into something that felt a little loose that was wedged back low behind the engine. I pulled it out and this came out. Not attached to anything, completely loose. I couldn’t really see exactly where it came from, but does anyone have any idea what it is? [emoji23] the code on it is s3k836745d which doesn’t come up with anything when you google it...

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[White16valver]

Got round to sorting this today. I replaced the vacuum pipe with one I got from a breaker for the sum of £15. Took about an hour of faffing and losing skin on my knuckles but happy to report my brakes feel better than ever. You guys got it spot on so thanks very much. The bit of clear tube that had been used for the previous repair had melted itself shut in the exact same place it must have failed previously.

I always thought my brakes didn’t feel quite right and was about to go down the route of new pads/discs etc. Really glad I’ve found this without throwing a load of money at it!

When I was back there pulling the pipe off the clips my hand knocked into something that felt a little loose that was wedged back low behind the engine. I pulled it out and this came out. Not attached to anything, completely loose. I couldn’t really see exactly where it came from, but does anyone have any idea what it is? [emoji23] the code on it is s3k836745d which doesn’t come up with anything when you google it...

View attachment 1502783


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In-built weight-loss programme

 

[JamesBryan]

Doesn't look like anything I've seen before 🤔

Not behind the engine anyway.

 

[GillyGilb]

So turns out it’s this bracket on the front of the servo which some pipes fix to apparently. I think I’ll be seeing how I get on without it since it hasn’t been on for the whole time I’ve owned the car... and it looks less a right pain to get in

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[Usr117063]

Previous person that did the work couldnt be bothered to put it back on so just left it there lol

 

[GillyGilb]

Yeah slightly worrying...


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[MRBILLYUK]

Got round to sorting this today. I replaced the vacuum pipe with one I got from a breaker for the sum of £15. Took about an hour of faffing and losing skin on my knuckles but happy to report my brakes feel better than ever. You guys got it spot on so thanks very much. The bit of clear tube that had been used for the previous repair had melted itself shut in the exact same place it must have failed previously.

I always thought my brakes didn’t feel quite right and was about to go down the route of new pads/discs etc. Really glad I’ve found this without throwing a load of money at it!

When I was back there pulling the pipe off the clips my hand knocked into something that felt a little loose that was wedged back low behind the engine. I pulled it out and this came out. Not attached to anything, completely loose. I couldn’t really see exactly where it came from, but does anyone have any idea what it is? [emoji23] the code on it is s3k836745d which doesn’t come up with anything when you google it...

View attachment 1502783


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It fits on the front of the servo. Looks like you're missing 2 plastic clips that hold the vac pipe.