Morris Minor Owners Club

I'm stripping down Vanessa, and discovered that she is fitted with a new Powertune brake servo, which appeared to be working ok, but to be honest we didn't drive her much before taking her off the road to restore.

Question is, if I'm going to stick with a servo ( I'm well aware of the school of thought that they are not necessary, and that is a consideration I'm also taking into account), should I stick with the Powertune or replace with a Lockheed item - what are the experiences of others? I've read mixed reviews of the Powertune units, are newer ones better than the older ones?

She has standard brake drums etc.

Wouldn't it be best to try what you've already got, and see what you think.? Better that ditching it prematurely for another servo. Or am I missing your point?

Les, yes I probably will do, I was just wondering if people are still fitting the Powertune units, and if so are they ok, as there appear to be a lot of people had problems with them at one time.

If it is not necessary, by all means remove it, but simply replacing a perfectly operational driving aid seems pointless.

Yes, if you can lock the brakes with a non-servo brake pedal, a servo is not strictly necessary. But the servo will allow the same force, required to lock the brakes, with a reduced pedal pressure - so less driver effort.

I have used the same model of tractors, with and without power steering. I know which is the easier to drive (particularly if a front end loader is fitted!). If you look up the mechanical ‘gain’ of the two units you refer to, you may find one provides more ‘gain’ than the other. I would suggest that even a moderate ‘gain’ is sufficient for the drum brake system, whereas a disc braked system might benefit from a larger servo and with much harder pad material.

If you decide to throw your servo away, please send it to me. I’ll pay the shipping.

Servos are great if you have arthritic knees!

Love these threads when no one actually answers the question,lol.

I have also heard bad comments about Powertune units , my suggestion is to " suck it and see " , if it gives problems change it out for a Lockheed unit. N.B. There are many variations of Lockheed units giving a wide variety of a " boost " ratios.

John ;-)

Tinasminor wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 1:16 am Love these threads when no one actually answers the question,lol.

I wonder if you're maybe being a bit hasty - the question was only asked just over four years ago; potential respondents are probably still mulling over their replies

So what happened in the last four years. Was it removed ? Was it replaced. Was it left in and is perfectly ok? Be interesting to know.

Anyway since were here now, I am thinking of buying a powertune servo what problems do they have?
Cheers Steve.

Had a powertune servo fitted for 5 years and not had a problem yet.