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Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:54 pm
by SvMinor
My car passed mot the other day but while coming home I noticed she was pulling to the left under hard braking,I never noticed this on the way to mot,

I got the Dvd from mmoc, and I was going to try adjusting all the brakes first as per instructions,anyone got any other ideas????

Cheers Mark

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:12 am
by bmcecosse
Pulling to the left means there is a problem with the right hand brakes - probably the front one, but if only a slight pull - could be the rear. Take the front drum off and inspect - could be sticking or leaking cylinder. Must have been ok at the MOT - or it would have failed! It won't be anything to do with adjustment........ :o

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:15 am
by Jefftav
Could be a wheel cylinder partially seized or maybe the handbrake cable not releasing properly. As an aside the garage I use for MOT didn't put my car on the rollers to test the brakes he just satisfies himself that they work properly. Seemingly they have some discretion depending on the age of the car. He reckons the rollers are too harsh and do more harm to the braking system especially the handbrake cables. He passed my car so I didn't question it too much.

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:22 am
by bmcecosse
Sounds like a scam to me......... There is an 'excuse' I believe that they don't have the weight of a Minor showing in their official lists - so in theory they don't know how to set the rollers to do the test. They should use a Tapley meter I think .

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:37 am
by Jefftav
Don't really know but this is the 2nd time he has said this and I was so delighted to have a fresh MOT that I wasn't really questioning him too deeply. My brakes are all new anyway and working very well so I was happy enough.

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:47 am
by kennatt
as bm says they don't thave the old charts to see what efficiency the brakes should record and should have taken it out with a tapley meter,don't disclose the garage on here the men from vosa may be watching and they'll be round to the garage with a test car to try to catch them out. :o

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:17 am
by Jefftav
My lips are sealed :x

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:00 am
by rayofleamington
As an aside the garage I use for MOT didn't put my car on the rollers to test the brakes he just satisfies himself that they work properly.
I'll 2nd what BM says - without the official weight they can use a road test and Tapley meter.

As for pulling to the left - if the car has not been driven much, then it may just be temporary. I've had this a few times on Minor on the initial drives after long standing. If it continues for more than a couple of days 50 miles of town driving then you really need to get it sorted with some spanner work. The drums and linings need to get back to a working normal working surface.

If you've got a sticking cylinder it should have been picked up on the MOT. A leaking cylinder (on front right) would cause these symptoms and may have been developing at the MOT but not evident until aferwards.

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:10 am
by chickenjohn
kennatt wrote:as bm says they don't thave the old charts to see what efficiency the brakes should record and should have taken it out with a tapley meter,don't disclose the garage on here the men from vosa may be watching and they'll be round to the garage with a test car to try to catch them out. :o
You are right, these forums are monitored by the DVLA/VOSA Nazi's keen to stamp down on any infringement, no matter how minor. That is the problem with this country- too many parasitic jobsworths!

Be careful what you say, loose lips sink ships!

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:01 pm
by katy
Talk slowly but think quickly.

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:18 pm
by Alec
Hello CJ,

"You are right, these forums are monitored by the DVLA/VOSA Nazi's"

You mean we are paying people to sit at computers monitoring car forums? If this is true then it seems that a saving could be made by getting rid of these posts. After all the government is looking for ways to trim the public sector budget?

Alec

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 2:57 pm
by 295xun
Hi Alec,

Have you never heard of GCHQ?

Big Brother is watching you and charging you for the privilege!

Re: Brakes pulling to the left

Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 4:47 pm
by xpress
hmm tapley meter at mot, i am printing this thread out.

:)