Hissing Brake Pedal

[Mr Poisson]

hi guys,

the brake pedal on the galaxy started to hiss about 2 weeks ago. i looked through the forum and similar posts reveal the booster to be at fault. a few days ago the seal in the booster split completely, this gives you a lovely feeling of no brakes! you still have brakes just doesn't feel like it! also the booster provides the turbo with air to move the vanes, so no turbo and dodgy brakes...yipee.

time to change the booster, what a job! you have to remove the airbox, engine covers, egr valve and pipes, brake reservoir, master cylinder, and then loosen the engine mount to enable the engine to be pulled forward to jiggle the booster out, not easy!!

inside the car removing the booster input rod from the brake pedal requires infinite paitence and the hands of a small child!

however two very hot days later and

[seatkid]

Well done that man!

 

It would seem that hissing/leaking brake servos are quite a common symptom on the Shalaxy, I know mine certainly is less than perfect.

 

I have never heard of the same problem on other cars :blink: , why does the Shalaxy have to have such poor quality parts in areas that are so difficult/expensive? ;)

 

Any chance of a pic of the offending bit (seal) and your opinion as to why it split? This is a safety critical item and really ought not to fail.....

[Mr Poisson]

thanks seat kid,

no luck with pictures i'm afraid, i binned it out of disgust and the bin men have been...sorry.

as to reason for failing...the bellows type dust/dirt seal(grey) looks to have migrated along the cylinder, toward the brake pedal. this reveals the black seal that seals the booster, enabling a vacuum to be built up, the integral o-ring seal within this had split and become detached. as to why i don't know, but dissapointingly it seems common given the number of "hissing brake pedal" posts.

my advice to anyone with a hissing pedal is get it changed soonest, it's a scary experience when it finally fails.