I'm working on an '89 Mini - the brakes are dual circuit front/rear.
The master cylinder, pipes and calipers have been replaced all round.

Having bled the front and rear circuits, the rear brakes are working
fine. However the front brakes do not work. Bleeding them again and
again makes no improvement although they do come on slightly when
pumping the pedal. Everything has been checked again and again and I am
pulling my hair out!! Has anyone got any ideas.

<simon.pg.quick (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

you tried bleeding the master cylinder ? get an assistant sat in the car,
undo all the pipes to the master cyl and get the assistant to push the foot
brake down once, fluid should come out, do all the pipes up, then let the
foot brake up, repeat this a few times and see if that makes any difference.

reg wrote:
Usually the top pipe has the air.

One question was the MC overhauled? or a new one? If it was OH
then the springs could be in the wrong way.

Rob wrote:
Only other thing I can add is if the front calipers are 4 pots, check
the bleed nipples on the wheel side of the caliper. The other trick to
try is when bleeding tap the pedal a few times quickly and then stamp it
to the floor, this can help removing the air that can get trapped in the
master cylinder.

-anthony

Have you checked the Brake Valve thingy mounted on the bulkhead (all
the brake lines run off it), just below the brake servo, as that can
cause problems if it needs changing?

I know many people have fitted brake bias valves instead.

Taffy

Clamp off the two front brake flex hoses with mole grips,
try the pedal, if its improved, then the master cylinder and all the brake
pipes are ok, so the fault must be with one or both callipers, release the
clamps, one at a time and monitor the pedal travel,
the calliper that causes excessive travel is the culprit,
this is just a quick way to reduce the search area,

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR WITH CLAMPS ON FRONT
BRAKE FLEX HOSES, ;-)
Fitzy

"Taffy" <taffy_turner (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Fitzy wrote:

My apologies to all for your help.

I fitted the lh caliper to the rh and the rh to left hand ------result
bleed nipples below and nice cavity above that cannot be bled my aonly
excuse was the box said l/h when was right hand

Ed



Fitzy wrote:

Nice one rock steady eddie ;-)
Glad you sorted it out mate,
Fitzy

"eddie" <ed_quick (AT) msn (DOT) com> wrote

eddie (ed_quick (AT) msn (DOT) com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying :

Pardon?

<rolls eyes>

Still, it explains the top-posting.