Humbug
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| posted on 10/9/08 at 04:49 PM |
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Brake pedal return spring
Some of you may remember I had an issue with the brake pedal (here) not fully
returning, despite working, and leaving the brakes slightly on.
After some helpful advice and pics from Ginger Ninja I have now fitted a return spring and it seems to do the trick.
Ingredients:
- Bit of nylon plate made from some bracket or other (furniture-related, I think)
- Stainless steel shaft from the piston of a hatchback gas strut. It includes a screw-on end piece which has a hole - handy for fixing to the pedal
shaft 
- Assorted washers
- M8 bolt and nyloc
- Springs from local motor factors (2 because they didn't have one long enough)
I managed to do it without dismantling everything (or even taking the steering wheel off) but after drilling a couple of smaller pilot holes I had to
angle grind 1.5" of my 8mm drill bit to do the big one through the pedal shank, even with the drill angle piece.
 
Rescued attachment 2008-09-10 Brake pedal return assembly.JPG
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indykid
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| posted on 10/9/08 at 06:47 PM |
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i mean no offence, but it appears you've found an immediate remedy without actually tackling the root cause of the problem.
have you had the pedal pivot pin out and cleaned it? if it continues to rust, what's to say it won't rust to a degree where it holds back
against those springs or jams the pedal?
i've never seen extra return springs on a brake pedal before and hints to me something is significantly amiss
tom
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Hellfire
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| posted on 10/9/08 at 07:15 PM |
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Having recently had a similar problem with our brake pedal on the Indy, I'd have to agree with Tom. Take the brake pedal apart and find out what
is causing it to bind.
The brake master cylinder return spring should be plenty strong enough to return your pedal providing it's moving freely.
Phil
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Humbug
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| posted on 10/9/08 at 09:18 PM |
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It's what I would have thought myself, but the pulling pressure needed to pull it back to fully "off" was not very great, so I
figured fixing the symptom would, in this case, not be too bad an option. I do agree that it wouldn't be nice if the pedal seized up
completely!
I did look at dismantling the whole assembly, but to take out the pedal box would be a major mission, and the brake pivot (all put together before I
bought the car as a rolling chassis...) must have been inserted before the side panel was put on. To remove it I would have to cut a hole in the side
I might try removing the split pin on the pivot, sliding it out as far as I can and putting some grease onto the visible part of the pivot and working
it round a bit. If that doesn't help, I may have to resort to cutting a hole in the side.
Thanks for the comments... no offence taken.
Cheers,
Simon
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MikeR
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| posted on 10/9/08 at 09:50 PM |
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it may be an optical illusion, but it looks like the brake master cylinders aren't straight, it looks like one of hte push rods leans towards
the pedal. i thought they where both supposed to be straight.
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Humbug
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| posted on 10/9/08 at 09:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
it may be an optical illusion, but it looks like the brake master cylinders aren't straight, it looks like one of hte push rods leans towards
the pedal. i thought they where both supposed to be straight.
Yes, it is an optical illusion... in fact, the brake pedal shaft is at an angle even though the bush is straight on the pivot. You can see it better
in the original thread I posted.
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