Guest rambo Posted August 21, 2006 Report Posted August 21, 2006 hi all, brought my galaxy 5 days ago now and all is well, apart from the brakes the pedal is spongey and with quite a lot of pressure on the pedal i can make it touch the floor surely this aint right, as my mondeo previous to this car would hurl you through the windscreen with a 10mm stab on the pedal, i have checked all the discs and pads and there is plenty of meat still on all 4, so i am going to bleed the brakes i just want the correct procedure for this, as my bro helped me bleed them yesterday and they still feel the same but we only done the front brakes with the engine on and 3 pumps of the pedal with the bleed valve open hold to the floor and do up the blled valve. :wacko: Q: so is it engine on or off ??? Q: and would i be right in bleeding them starting with the offside rear then opposite front then the other rear and finally the last front ??? GALAXY 2.0 GLX PETROL (P REG) =if that makes a difference cheers in advance :angry: Quote
Bigjeeze Posted August 21, 2006 Report Posted August 21, 2006 hi all, brought my galaxy 5 days ago now and all is well, apart from the brakes the pedal is spongey and with quite a lot of pressure on the pedal i can make it touch the floor surely this aint right, as my mondeo previous to this car would hurl you through the windscreen with a 10mm stab on the pedal, i have checked all the discs and pads and there is plenty of meat still on all 4, so i am going to bleed the brakes i just want the correct procedure for this, as my bro helped me bleed them yesterday and they still feel the same but we only done the front brakes with the engine on and 3 pumps of the pedal with the bleed valve open hold to the floor and do up the blled valve. :wacko: Q: so is it engine on or off ??? Q: and would i be right in bleeding them starting with the offside rear then opposite front then the other rear and finally the last front ??? GALAXY 2.0 GLX PETROL (P REG) =if that makes a difference cheers in advance :angry: Engine off or on it doesn't matter. You bleed to furthest one first - so Nearside rear - then offside rear then nearside front then lastly offside front. The number of pumps isn't really relevant - you just pump until you get no bubbles and the fluid is clean. If you are not sure how to do it then I would suggest you don't!! You don't want to mess around with your brakes!!! Quote
raymac Posted August 21, 2006 Report Posted August 21, 2006 hi all, brought my galaxy 5 days ago now and all is well, apart from the brakes the pedal is spongey and with quite a lot of pressure on the pedal i can make it touch the floor surely this aint right, as my mondeo previous to this car would hurl you through the windscreen with a 10mm stab on the pedal, i have checked all the discs and pads and there is plenty of meat still on all 4, so i am going to bleed the brakes i just want the correct procedure for this, as my bro helped me bleed them yesterday and they still feel the same but we only done the front brakes with the engine on and 3 pumps of the pedal with the bleed valve open hold to the floor and do up the blled valve. :blink: Q: so is it engine on or off ??? Q: and would i be right in bleeding them starting with the offside rear then opposite front then the other rear and finally the last front ??? GALAXY 2.0 GLX PETROL (P REG) =if that makes a difference cheers in advance :angry: Try this, hold your foot lightly on the brake and if the pedal feels as if it is creeping to the floor then i would suspect that the master cylinder seals are failing, i would suspect this if there are no visual signs of fluid leaks :wacko: hope this helps Quote
Guest neil_wiles Posted August 21, 2006 Report Posted August 21, 2006 If the pedal sinks while pressing on the pedal then its likely that the seals have been damaged by someone forcing fluid back into the reservior during a pad change and not bleeding this fluid out of the nipple. Very common I am afraid and it normally leads to a new MC or at the very least an overhaul of it in terms of seals. Quote
bigdaddy Posted August 22, 2006 Report Posted August 22, 2006 The correct sequences for bleeding the brakes on the gal is;;;;;;;; 1. NSF2. OSF3. OSR4. NSR Quote
JDF Posted August 22, 2006 Report Posted August 22, 2006 Gunson's Eezi-bleed, work very well for single handed use. Plus the brake reservoir is hard to get too, so it makes topping it up a lot easier. I have found it best to use a bicycle inner tube as a source of air, as you don't need very high pressure. Also means you don't need to mess around with your spare wheel.Good luck..... Quote
gregers Posted August 22, 2006 Report Posted August 22, 2006 rambo just a thought before you do anything,check with fords to see if its missed any recalls,i did with my old gal and it ended up having a new master cylinder fitted free of charge might be worth a go? Quote
anadin Posted August 23, 2006 Report Posted August 23, 2006 Gunson's Eezi-bleed, work very well for single handed use. Plus the brake reservoir is hard to get too, so it makes topping it up a lot easier. I have found it best to use a bicycle inner tube as a source of air, as you don't need very high pressure. Also means you don't need to mess around with your spare wheel.Good luck..... must try one of these i still use a bit of pipe with the ballbearing in the end, works great but can never find the bu*ger :) Quote
Triple Trouble Posted August 23, 2006 Report Posted August 23, 2006 If the pedal sinks while pressing on the pedal then its likely that the seals have been damaged by someone forcing fluid back into the reservior during a pad change and not bleeding this fluid out of the nipple. Very common I am afraid and it normally leads to a new MC or at the very least an overhaul of it in terms of seals. Just tried this on our Gal and lo and behold it slowly goes to the floor, although strangely afterwards the pedal was firmer, just like pumping it a few times :D . Now if the seals have gone /are going should there be any loss of fluid, as I would have thought if air was getting in (presumably?) then fluid i would have thought been squeezed out under the pressure? :D Quote
scrote Posted August 23, 2006 Report Posted August 23, 2006 Hi - if the pedal firms up with pumping to the point that you have no travel when firm pressure is applied then it would suggest that the master cylinder washers are ok and that you have air in the system and or a leak elsewhere. Are you losing fluid ? I use the easy bleed and they are brilliant - just dont attach it to a tyre with 30 psi in it or youll have fluid all over the place - a standard car tyre at about 10 ish psi is normally sufficient I have also found that sometimes a single slow steady push and release of the pedal WITH the easy bleed attached and one bleed nipple open will help push out any really stubborn air locks. Good luck Quote
Guest mjp753 Posted August 24, 2006 Report Posted August 24, 2006 Hi Newbie,I bought a '96 2.0 ghia 2 plus years ago and also felt the brakes were spongy and not good enough. My local garage bled the brakes twice, no improvement.I found out there was a recall on the master cylinder however, Ford said there were no outstanding recalls on my vehicle and so couldn't help. I had the front discs skimmed (also had steering shimmy on braking) and new pads front and rear - no improvement in pedal. I then had the master cylinder replaced. Still no real improvement. Initially I threw several hundreds on the problem -to no real avail - the garage didn't think it was the servo/vacuum and couldn't really suggest anything else. Over time I got used to having a longer travel; when the pedal is near the floor I would say I have 'lock up' potential but it doesn't really give confidence. If you drive the car all the time you get used to the longer initial travel but if you change cars regularly the lag can catch you out a bit. That said it has passed 2 MOT's so it must be legal - if you find a solution I'd be interested. Regards,MJP Quote
sepulchrave Posted August 24, 2006 Report Posted August 24, 2006 Maybe the pressure limiter valve is faulty, that can sometimes cause long pedal travel. Quote
Guest mjp753 Posted August 24, 2006 Report Posted August 24, 2006 Hi Sepulchrave,Is the pressure limiter valve the same as in Haynes Manual referred to as 'the vacuum servo unit check valve i.e part of the vacuum hose ( page 9.12 / 9.13) or is it something else? Cant see an exact match? Thanks MJP. Quote
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