Likely scenario: brake which was overheating was doing all the work
(because it won't release or something else) and is boiling the brake fluid.
This is why the pedal goes to the floor. Repeated pumping finally gets the
pressure up. And/Or the master cylinder is leaking internally. Change the
brake fluid (we all do every two years right? - with Castrol LMA) and check
the wheel that was hot for proper movement.
Peter S
----- Original Message -----
From: Rod Randle <rsrandle@ix.netcom.com>
To: spitfire list <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 1999 12:39 PM
Subject: '78 spit brakes
>
> Yesterday I was having a nice drive on the freeway when I tried to slow
> down only to find the brake went solidly to the floor. The fifth time I
> pumped the peddle I finally got about an inch of peddle, the next time I
> hit the peddle it was fine. This made for a kind of shaky situation due
> to the brake lights in front of me. For the rest of my trip it took 4
> or 5 pumps to get the peddle off the floor. When I arrived at my
> destination I had one wheel that was excessively hot. Later in the
> evening when I made my return trip home the peddle had returned to
> normal. For most of the return trip the brakes seemed ok but maybe
> dragging a little from the one wheel that had gotten hot. When I was
> almost home I felt the dragging go away! Today the brakes seem fine and
> the drag I felt earlier has completely gone away.
>
> What are the odds that overheating the caliper broke free any buildup
> and now that it is cool it is operating normally? I am going to change
> out the brake fluid in case I may have moisture or air in it which may
> have caused my failure yesterday. The important thing is no brakes in
> traffic and not getting in an accident.
>
> One more item, my '78 has very poor brakes normally. Could this be due
> to the quality of disk pads?
>
>
> --
> Rod Randle
>
> '77 XJ-S
> '78 Spitfire
> '93 Saturn
> '72 GMC P/U
> '73 Chev P/U
> '74 Lincoln Mk IV
>
>
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