Braking Problem

**CDTi Wayne** · 12th July 2006, 19:13

Hey guys. Been reading these forums a few weeks now. not signed up tho cos i know i`ll buy the next Tuning box that comes up for sale lol

anyways got a small problem with the brakes on my poorly vectra. as in they dont work lol. basically you can put brake pedal all the way to the carpet... if you pump it its ok and goes hard, but with 15 seconds you can put it to carpet again which isn`t good.

first thing i did was check brake fluid level and for any obvious "leaks" in the system. and all seemed ok. took it to vauxhall dealership and mechanic looked at it and says its the "braking Servo" thats failed. they`ll need car 3-4 days and that its a very big job

they apparently need to "drop" the ENGINE to get to it

can anyone confirm this and anyone else had this small problem? thankfully its still under warrenty so no outlay from myself. Even got a Astra 1.9 CDTi SRi with full B/kit and 18 inch alloys as a hire car till its fixed

Thanks in advance

Wayne

**2ltrT** · 12th July 2006, 19:19

very interesting.... if i hold my brake pedal long enough it will hit the deck... i've had it in to the dealers but got old its normal.. i've never been convinced, the brakes never felt right from the day i got it... very soft.... got in a lil fiesta the other day neerly chukked me thru the window!

**marichrd** · 12th July 2006, 20:15

If the servo had failed then you would still have brakes (and not be able to push the pedal to the floor. Most likely cause formt he symptoms you descibe is the master cylinder, which is usually attaced to the servo...

**GARY3306** · 12th July 2006, 21:58

Sounds like master cylinder to me. Very simple check for master cylinder. Get yourself 4 brake hose clamps and clamp each flexi at each corner of the vehicle as close as possible to the calipers. Once clamped, put your foot on the pedal and it should be rock solid, with no travel. If there is travel whilst pushing the pedal (even very slow travel), then the piston seals in the master cylinder are leaking fluid past them. As stated above, if the servo had gone, the pedal would be very hard with very little travel and the braking performance would be absolutely 5h1t 9and quite scary

). Hope that helps a bit.

**Gsi3.2** · 12th July 2006, 22:30

Drop the engine?????

who they trying to kid???

if it's a sinking pedal, then like above it'll be a seal somewhere leaking by..

you do NOT have to take the engine out to change it.. thats utter bollards..