Breaking brakes

[DaveB]

Hi all,I own an "05" registration Rover 75 Saloon. Within the last two weeks I had the brakes overhauled by a "Rover MG" specialist garage. All the disks and pads were replaced. Yesterday (and fortunately while driving slowly in a residential area) the brakes "failed". Pushing the brake peddle to the floor produce some minimal braking. I parked the car and found that the brake peddle is easily pressed to the floor with the engine switched off.I have reported this to the garage involved. The guy there said (after sucking between pursed lips) this often happens with these cars.....Any comments?

[Zeb]

No, it does not! I would be inclined to get it looked at by someone more competent and then claim the costs back from your original fitter....

Welcome to the club...

[T-Cut]

Originally Posted by DaveB

brake peddle is easily pressed to the floor with the engine switched off.I have reported this to the garage involved. The guy there said (after sucking between pursed lips) this often happens with these cars.....Any comments?

What you describe is a dangerous loss of brake function. This is NOT common in these cars! Assuming the brakes were operating normally before the service, the garage has messed up somewhere. Maybe they bled the hydraulics and forgot to top up the master reservoir? Maybe they left a bleed screw slack? Mabe all sorts of things, but this is NOT common in these cars. Whatever the fault, the garage has a responsibility to put it right. Don't be fobbed off by strories of 'they all do it' etc. These cars normally have superb brakes.

TC

[Toby Waters]

Regarding the brake pedal being depressed to the floor - this happens in my car, if pressure is applied it will slowly lower to the floor. I thought that this was normal? I'm sure there are some threads relating to this. I also experienced similar brake failure during the cold spell which i attributed to servo problems. In the end, i changed the fluid and bled the system and have had no problems since. Hope the garage resolve the problem quickly.

[T-Cut]

Originally Posted by Toby Waters

Regarding the brake pedal being depressed to the floor - this happens in my car, if pressure is applied it will slowly lower to the floor. I thought that this was normal?

You're talking about the Sinking Pedal Phenomenon (SPP) which concerns the behaviour of the brake pedal when the car is stationary with the engine running. That's not what the OP described.

You can read lengthy disussions on the sinking pedal phenomenon by doing an Advanced Search for "SPP" (include the quotes) and using T-Cut as the poster name.

TC