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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Midget Spongy Brakes

I have just fitted a new brake caliper to the off-side of my 78' midget and a new rubber hose and after bleeding I find the brake pedal is still a bit spongy. It did pass the MOT ok- but Im not comfortable with the pedal.
Any thoughts???????????
Bill.
W Wood

First my moto is never change just one side of the car when brakes are concerned!
And there are just 3 pieces of hose in the midgets braking system so change one change all preferably with braided hoses.

They are your brakes, the only way of stoping your car aside from hitting something!

If it feels spongy
Bleed til you drop it can take a realy long time to properly bleed.
Use an easy bleed to help.

and adjust your rear brakes

if it stil feels spongy keep bleeding or your MC is shot

Onno Könemann

I agree with Onno check the adjustment of the back brakes. I have just done the same as I had a spongy brake pedal that also faded, so I adjusted the rears and then bleed them and all is fine again,

Shaun
Shaun

One less common cause of excess pedal travel I once found after fitting recond calipers was due to the pistons not sliding freely enough through the rubber seals. Result: seal gripped piston and acted as a spring,withdrawing it about 0.5mm from the disc. 0.5mm over 4 pistons added up to a disconcerting amount of pedal travel (nearly at the floor) to push the pistons back to the disc before any braking could take place.

I spent a great deal of time trying to bleed the problem away. With no sign of air coming out anywhere for three times round each wheel I started looking elsewhere, found that, did the maths and realised what was causing it. Stripped the calipers, lubricated the pistons and it was all sorted.
Paul Walbran

Hi,
Thanks for the responses!
Can I just say that the reason the caliper was changed in the first place was that the brake on the front off-side was binding - the outer piston was not returning.I appreciate what you are saying- but ' if it ain't broken, don't fix it!
I remember when I did the rear brakes last year I had the same prob's with ' spongy pedal' and like you say - just kept bleeding till I dropped. Maybe I have not spent enough time doing this - I will try again and let you know how I get on.
Many thanks again.
Bill.
W Wood

2 things you could try , Firstly wedge down the brake pedal all night sometimes this helps to get the last bit of air out of the system .
Also i had a problem with a caliper the same as this , i ended up taking the caliper off but leaving it conected to the hydraulics then removing the pads and wedging the pistons all the way into the caliper and holding them fully in with a piece of wood whilst i bled it. Then refitted it all back to the car , job done . Roy
R Mcknight

Paul, What did you use to assemble your pistons in the calipers with?
D Tetley

Rubber grease. Both times - usually do, can't work out why it was unusual the first time, maybe I was too skimpy.
Paul Walbran

I find that I have to adjust the rear on a fairly regular basis to restore a high, firm pedal. I think it's something about the composition used in modern brake linings, but whatever the case, they seem to wear pretty quickly and need constant adjustment. And yes, I'm careful to set them so they don't drag. ;-)

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Gryf
How new are your drums? worn or skimmed drums wear the shoes very quickly, it also makes the pedal soft as your effort is trying to bend the shoe to fit the radius of the oversize drum.

Carl
C Bintcliffe

You may be on to something, Carl. The drums are probably the originals. I've owned the Midget for 14 years, and who knows how long they'd been on before that. Sounds like new drums wouldn't be a bad idea!

Cheers, and thanks,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Hi,
Just to let you guys know I got my brakes back! Just made sure the rear shoes were adjusted up- with a slight 'rubbing'when spinning the wheel- kept the handbrake in the off position and basically bled for about 20 mins - and bingo!
Have taken note of all your posts - just for future reference.
Cheers
Bill.
W Wood

This thread was discussed between 04/08/2009 and 07/08/2009

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