18 replies to this topic

[Dude61]

My Mini arrived yesterday and due to the weather I was unable to drive it until today. As you can imagine I was excited to get out in it but within a short distance it became apparent there is an issue with the brakes. The pedal feels very hard and it takes a great deal of effort to stop the car, there is no spongy feeling so I’m presuming they don’t need bleeding. I tried a couple of emergency stops and I was shocked at how long it took to come to a complete standstill.

 

The car has 10” wheels but I don’t know what size discs, it has been fitted with MiniSport 4 pot calipers on the front so I was expecting much better from the brakes, the rear has drums.

 

I’m no mechanic but does this sound like an easy issue to fix?

[Shooter63]

You could have a lot of variables,
What pads the calipers have in them
What size master cylinder
Have you got a servo
All the above will affect the braking performance, if the pedal is nice and hard check which pads you have to start with. Try a few emergency stops on the bounce, if the brakes improve and start to bite well then the pads are probably too hard for road use, if that doesn't work find out which master cylinder you have or post a under bonnet picture on here, people will soon be able to tell you what type you have. One thing to remember though, classic mini brakes aren't in the same league as a modern car.

Shooter

[Quinlan minor]

Before trying "emergency  stops", examine the pads.

If they are new they may need bedding in. If not new, it may be fitted with 'hard' pads.

Which model is it?

If non-servo and servo equipped brakes are all you've previously known, then the pressure required will seem high. As will the steering if you're used to 'power steering', previously. Drive it to a "country road" and put twenty plus miles on it. See how you feel about it then?

[Dude61]

You could have a lot of variables,
What pads the calipers have in them
What size master cylinder
Have you got a servo
All the above will affect the braking performance, if the pedal is nice and hard check which pads you have to start with. Try a few emergency stops on the bounce, if the brakes improve and start to bite well then the pads are probably too hard for road use, if that doesn't work find out which master cylinder you have or post a under bonnet picture on here, people will soon be able to tell you what type you have. One thing to remember though, classic mini brakes aren't in the same league as a modern car.

Shooter

Thanks Shooter, I’ll have to check pads, master cylinder etc but it probably won’t be for a couple of days now. I’ll also take a pic of the engine bay. I’ll also check the big box of receipts I have, there might be some more info in there.
 

I realise they won’t be in the same league but they were practically non-existent, I really stood on them a couple of times and they weren’t anywhere near locking up. They were that bad I turned round and drove home very carefully!

[Quinlan minor]

The pads may be glazed.

[Dude61]

Before trying "emergency  stops", examine the pads.

If they are new they may need bedding in. If not new, it may be fitted with 'hard' pads.

Which model is it?

If non-servo and servo equipped brakes are all you've previously known, then the pressure required will seem high. As will the steering if you're used to 'power steering', previously. Drive it to a "country road" and put twenty plus miles on it. See how you feel about it then?

Thanks, I don’t believe they are new pads and the car is a 1984.

 

Unfortunately I’m old enough to have owned and driven earlier cars including some much older than this one, and without sounding like a drama queen I would say they are easily the worst brakes I have ever experienced.

[gazza82]

Could be the calipers have seized as well

[Quinlan minor]

In that case. check each caliper to establish that all pistons are free. Check the adjustment, and shoes/drums in the rears, too.

Edited by Quinlan minor, 24 December 2022 - 04:59 PM.

[1984mini25]

Could be the calipers have seized as well

 

Of the seal/s in the master cylinder are or have failed. 

[Lplus]

I have an 84 with 7.5" discs and minisport 4 pot calipers and no servo.  The brakes will lock the wheels in the dry if you stamp on them, though I changed to road pads to improve them.  I'm not sure what is meant by the pedal being really hard.  Did the front brakes even get warm when you worked them hard?

[1984mini25]

 I'm not sure what is meant by the pedal being really hard. 

 

No servo, no vacuum assistance = harder pedal, more effort needed to work the brakes (unless you use Halfords brakes pads, then you have a soft pedal and no brakes) 

[Aly-g]

When I first got my mini about 18 months ago I kept saying to my wife that I couldn't remember the brakes being that bad on my mini back in the late sixties , and my car had a 10 month MOT when purchased ( meaningless I know ), so I re-lined all the brake shoes, fitted new wheel cylinders on the front and new braided hoses on the front then adjusted the brakes all round then bled the brakes, this improved the brakes a bit but not as much as I would have liked.
After driving about 20 miles and getting home I could smell either brakes or the clutch, on checking the car I discovered the rear nearside rear brake drum was red hot ! So I thought I had adjusted it wrong, after checking it again it seemed ok, so out for another test drive the same thing happened again only this time I had toasted the rear linings. Another set of rear lining and adjustment the brakes were binding again on the rear ?
It turns out that the rear flexy hoses had collapsed inside and not allowing the fluid to release the brakes.
So my advice is to check all the brake hoses in case that could be your problem by not allowing the fluid through, it's just a thought because my car braked perfectly when I changed the brake hoses for braided hoses,

Allan

[Dude61]

Thanks for all the helps guys, I’ve got a few things to check and hopefully I’ll have a positive result.

 

Merry Christmas!

[mbolt998]

The pedal will feel hard compared to a modern car with a servo, and the brakes were always terrible (although I've never driven a Mini with disks). But you should always be able to do an emergency stop at least on cold brakes. So it sounds like you do have a real problem. First place I would look is whether there is a lack of friction between the braking surfaces-- did somebody get grease on the pads or disks?

[sonscar]

Check the pedal and any related linkages are not seized.Steve..