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Bleeding brakes ... and she's fired up!!


MattWoking

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happy new year all 

quick question ... I'm just about to do all the liquids pre start up and I've wondered if I've made a hash of the brakes. Reason being is thst all the handbrake is in and sorted but when I pull it up, it correctly pulls the part on the brake caliper round but the brakes don't grab the disc.

Does this sound right and all will be fine once the fluid is in?

 

or do I need to trouble shoot ...

 

t

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When you fit the rear brakes... or replace them in later years .... you need to press hard on the brake pedal (with all pads and discs fitted and air bled out if the system) to activate the rear self adjusters ... before you touch the handbrake lever. Then adjust the cable to get the right number of clicks on the ratchet. Always check the handbrake levers on the calipers return to the stops when the operating lever is released.
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Had this problem on my car a few years ago.

So this is what I did to the offending caliper: Completely loosen off the hand brake adjuster , remove cable from actuating lever. With end of a hammer shaft (at least 1.5 lbs ball pein!) exercise the lever full stroke.

Refit cable to lever, adjust handbrake & see if this fixes it. Which in my case it did.

Otherwise it could be a case of removing caliper, dismantling & winding back the piston then when refitted pump the pedal.

 

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Matt,  Are you getting quite firm resistance on the handbrake lever after 2 clicks? Might just be cable adjustment. The S3 and  SV have different cable routings behind the handbrake lever which may be worth a recheck on your installation. Have you securely cable tied the handbrake  cables to the appropriate fixings on the diff and chassis yet, as this has a bearing on residual slack in the mechanism? Have you tried rotating one of the rear hubs and manually actuating the park brake lever on the calliper to see if things bite. Once the system is filled and bled the pistons will settle the pads closer to the brake rotors.

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And we're done ... bleeding brakes is quite straight forward, but is more time consuming than I was expecting.  The clutch was a bit of an arse, as the manual is compltely different to reality.  It feels quite soft at the moment and only on startup will I really know if I've cocked it up good and proper.

 

Just oil, coolant, connect the batter, put it on it's paws and I'm ready to give it a start ...

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A real milestone, camera at the ready!  Re next step of putting the oil in, you've probably planned this, but just to mention to check you are getting oil pressure when cranking the engine and with the inertia switch triggered to negate start up. Best of luck.

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Boom, she fired up!  Went through all the motions as suggested in teh guidebook (both old and new) and then once all go, the engine turned over for about 6-7 seconds then caught and off she went!  

Exhilirating, thrilling, exciting and incredibly joyous occasion!

Short lived though, as a plethora of issues developed over the next 5 mins.  Clearly something is up with the wiring as none of the guages moved.  The oil pressure never increased above about 0.5 bar, the tempoerature (Which was showing 80 degrees before I even turned it over) never moved from 80, the fuel tank never even got about an inch below empty ....  Oh, and yeah the car doesn't idle either, needed to keep foot on the gas to keep her running ... all points sent off to Derek, as I'm sure I must have missed something very simple.

But hey, who cares - the yellow Cat is alive!!

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Isn't it fun?

Clearly something is up with the wiring as none of the guages moved.  The oil pressure never increased above about 0.5 bar, the tempoerature (Which was showing 80 degrees before I even turned it over) never moved from 80, the fuel tank never even got about an inch below empty ....  Oh, and yeah the car doesn't idle either, needed to keep foot on the gas to keep her running ... all points sent off to Derek, as I'm sure I must have missed something very simple.

Do you want suggestions now, or to wait till you hear back?

Do you have a multimeter? :-)

Jonathan

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Definitely want suggestions ... !

I don't have a multimeter, but logic tells me the only one not getting any current is likely to be the petrol guage.  As the others do actually move.

I'll look at adjusting the throttle for the idle issue - thanks for the tip.

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The fuel guage takes an age to move off the stop and with low fuel it may be working OK.  With the water temp guage, does it go to 80 straight after the immobiliser flicks off, or do you get the 80 reading when the engine fires? Does the oil pressure guage show any movement at all if you blip the throttle gently?

 

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The rev counter is ok.  IT's quite jumpy, not as smooth as a production car, but does work.

The water temp goes to 80 as soon as soon as it has power - i.e before the engine starts.

The pressure guage moved from the red to 0.8b or so when I was cranking with the inertia switch off.  However, once I started it, it didn't move.  Blips on the throttle does nothing.

 

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How about the instrument lights (and all of the other electrical functions: lights, horn, engine fan, heater fan etc)?

The rev counter is ok.  IT's quite jumpy, not as smooth as a production car, but does work.

Jumpy when the engine speed is constant, or only when it changes?

With more than one instrument not working properly I'd check:

  1. That the system voltage is constant and appropriate, but that will have to wait for the multimeter.
  2. That there isn't a bad contact in the feed: check the fuse and its fit in the fuseholder.
  3. That the instrument earth is good: find it, see if it's loose, disconnect, inspect and reconnect.

After that it's on to tracing each suspicious circuit.

And the engine oil level again.

Jonathan

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If Derek from CC hasn't yet come up with a puff of smoke, here are a few stupid thoughts from me............ probably of no help whatsoever.

On my Sigma kit, when you switch the ignition on, the oil pressure gauge needle comes to life and positions off the needle stop.  The temp gauge remains on the stop.  Your car seems to be doing the opposite.  Are the factory installed gauges in their correct holes and not cross wired behind the dash?  Unlikely but if nobody asks etc. etc.

What happens at your gauges  if you disconnect the Temp Sender at the submarine?  Ditto the Oil Pressure Sender at the push pull that connects the sender lead to the engine loom?

 

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Thanks for the tips - will check them out.  

Latest update .. I think the current seems consistent and strong.  I've hooked up the rear lights and they work as expected. The dash lights work fine as well.  So overall, I think the electrics on the whole are ok, but is something a bit dodgy on these guages.  The heater works as expected.

So tomorrow, will go through all the fuses to makes sure they are ok, tighten and check earthing points, look at submarine, and the oil pressure sender.

I suspect the temperature maybe related to an air bubble.  When I filled up the coolant and it took much less than expected and then this morning the coolant tank was the same. However when I Came back in the afternoon, it had dropped drmatically - so I suspect a large air pocked may have come out.

Thanks as always for the help!

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  • 3 weeks later...

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