Lancia Motor Club

Chaps,

Past Parts in Bury St Edmunds rang today to say that they have completed the rebuild of my brake master cylinder, all done in less than a week !

I have had them do master cylinders and calipers for my old motorbikes before, and they do a fine job, including pressure testing them once rebuilt, and finishing them to the right look, so I am confident that the results will be good.

I will let you all know the outcome and final cost on Friday, and if I can fathom it out will post some photos of the cylinder.

If all is okay as I suspect it will,  it means we will have a place where we can get our rare hydraulic brake items rebuilt in this part of the world, all at what I think is a reasonable cost. For those living further away, they do offer a shipping service if needed which I have used before.

Bob

Chaps,

Well, I picked up the master cylinder today from Pats Parts, re-sleeved in stainless steel, all new seals etc (From Omicron), pressure tested and looking like new.

Total cost was £207.54 including VAT, and all done in 5 days !

I think you will agree, that is a great service.

Now all I have to do is refit it (Easy), then purge the system of the old fluid, renew it, and bleed the system, (Which I suspect won`t be so easy) !

Wish me luck.

Bob

Good luck...

David,

David,

You`re not joking !

I spent today attempting to bleed the system, even using a Mityvac to draw the old fluid out. I managed to get both fronts done okay, but couldn`t get any fluid from the rears, so whilst the pedal is much better then before, and when pumped it goes rock hard, I obviously still have some air in the system.

Any ideas/tips ?

Bob

Is there a limiting valve front to rear? Just a thought .... and if there is I regret I don't know how to ensure that it is open!!

                                    Andy

Jack up rear end and let axle hang free? assuming it has a limit valve.

Brian
8227 8)

Dont let the axle hang. That limits the flow!! There is also a bleed from memory on the way to the back circuit from the remote servo (or at least there was on my car) and you had to get the air out ther before fluid would arrive at the rears. Its a slow process.

I would second lancialulu's advice. Surely conventional wisdom is that with a rear brake limiting valve the system has to think the car is heavily loaded to allow full brake pressure at the rear so rather than letting the rear axle hang down the boot needs loading with weight to force the axle up relative to the body.

For Fulvias you should raise the rear axle, not raise the body and the wheels hang, I assume Flavia would be much the same.  From another well known Lancia site regarding Fulvias: 'S2 and S3 cars have a brake force limiter which is operated by the rear axle. When bleeding the car, its rear wheels should be on the ground or if axle stands are used, they should be place under the rear axle, not anywhere under the car bottom.'

Chaps,

Aah that might explain it as I have the car on axle stands under the body, so the axle is hanging. I will re-locate the stands tomorrow night and have another go, then report back.

Just proves what a good forum this is, many thanks.

Bob

Chaps,

Speaking with Martin Cliffe reveals that 815`s don`t have the rear brake limiter valve on the rear axle like Fulvias/2000`s, and If they do have one it is underneath the pedals. So letting the weight of the car rest on the axle will make no difference.

Martin has suggested, as Tim has said, that I need to bleed the servo cylinder beforehand, which I will do at the weekend and report back.
Why do Lancias of this era have to be such a pain when it comes to brake bleeding ? Don`t you sometimes wish you had an MG ? No forget I said that, can you imagine having to drive an Austin Cambridge Convertible, even if it was easy to fix ?

Bob

I think every Lancia owner must go through the 'MG Syndrome' once in a while - with their never ending supply of cheap spares. But then you get your Lancia sorted, drive it, and you know why you go through the pain.

I swopped my MGC for a Beta MonteCarlo at Chequered Flag c 1978 and have never looked back, Fulvia, Beta HPE, Fulvia, Fulvia, Fulvia, Fulvia, Gamma Coupe, Flavia Vignale, Strato's Transformer, Flavia Vignale, Lancia Delta GTi.e., Prisma, and Fulvia followed. Some have stuck!!!

Bet.you wish you kept the MGC now though  :o here's mine

That's a chunky looking beastie. I do like them on Minilites.

Nice but no longer my cup of tea.....