Morris Minor Owners Club

Basically I have been running the car of 3 brakes for awile and I have now got some money i bought new cylinders for the front drivers side wheel and have fitted them, the pedals been spongy for awile now so ive just been taking it easy, so As i have brand new pipes an fixture bolts to both cylinders all put togetha and i have bleed the brakes from that wheel I thought yes that must be it, got in the car and no its still very spongy an has got worse in the way if its left for a few mins you press the brake and it goes flat to the floor you lift it up manully then pump it and it you can get pressure again, spoke to a few people and they said you should consider bleeding it from all the wheels ( and tbh its prolly a good idea the brake fluid looks pretty nasty) and mybe try make it back on 3 brakes again to see if you can regain the pedal not going down(basically check the new piping but have looked an held the brakes on an there does not apear to be any leaks done them all upas tight as possible to) so ive jus been out to get some more brake fluid an i noticed that when you bleed the brakes it flys brake fluid through the top when the filler caps of, led me to think backpressure and even more nackered master cylinder seal? i havent treid pushing it when theres pressure but basically i jus need some adavice or mybe even a second oponion to say the master cylinders possibly gone before i go out there an wrestle with some rusty bleed nipples, If it helps my cars a 1966 4 door saloon.
Cheers dan

the spurt of fluid in the master cylinder is normal, bleed the brakes with the master cylnider cap on
would be a good idea to bleed all the brakes and get some new fluid through the sydtem

check the master cylinder and see if any air bubbles are present when the brakes are depressed

The pedal should have a return spring (inside the chassis leg ) is it catching on the floor? If not the pivot point needs some lubrication.
Definitely bleed all the brakes and look out for milky looking fluid, it looks like that due to tiny air bubbles.
Really you should replace the cylinders on both sides at once, but I understand how financial issues can affect these decisions.

Give some thought to how you will feel if you injure yourself, or someone else due to skimping on a critical safety system.

It may help to tighten all the brakes up on the adjusters - and then bleed each one through - start at the back nearside - then back offside - then front nearside - then front offside.

With something as vital as brakes I would seriously suggest getting an expert to service the system and if possible at the same time show you what to do rather than people giving you bits of advise on the messageboard. No offence to those contributors. You cannot afford to take risks

Sorry to sound a bit "offish", but you must NOT drive the car until you have got the brakes working properly. If you don't care about the other people (or yourself) that you could injure, then think about MOT failure, no insurance, fine, points on licence, car written off. Remember that the Minor is not dual circuit, so a single failure could leave you without any brakes at all.

On the practical side, as other have said, check that you have a pedal return spring - it is visible when you remove the cover plate over the master cylinder (it looks like part of the gearbox cover but comes off separately after you remove 8 brass crosshead screws - crosshead if original, some nasty pattern parts now come as single slot). It's not unknown for the bit of metal that holds the far end of the spring to rust away. A suitable remedy is to drill a hole in the right place and then hook the spring through that. A bit fiddly to fit the spring, but it can be done.

Bleed all brakes in order prescribed above. Bleed sufficiently that you replace all fluid in the system - you don't know how long it's been there! You may need to repeat the bleeding, but eventually the pedal should be firm. Check for leaks as well.

When working under the car, make sure that it is on level ground, chocked, and safely supported on stands, NOT just on the jack. Good luck.

it sounds as though you have never worked on brakes before as other have said get someone to supervise you through the proceedure,its not difficult,but easy to mess up if you don';t know what you are doing,and very dangerous,even three brakes are not good enough for todays traffic .There must be someone near to you on this forum who would help out just ask and I'm sure you will get help.

Don't panic Dan - while what the others have said is 'correct' - you are tackling the problem and have fitted new cylinders - so you are getting there! Everyone has to start somewhere - I'm sure you are well aware that good working brakes are safety critical. Just get them adjusted up and properly bled - if they are still not right - holler for help - I'm sure someone nearby will be willing!