Latest issue from me today!!

So! occasionally my brakes bind, to the point that when you let off the car stops quite quickly. In the past when this has happened i have stompped on the brakes hard a couple of times and they have then released. This wasnt happening this morning though.

brakes are usually warm, but not hot. Fine when they are cold.

To me, it points towards a sticky caliper as usually only 1 seems to bind, but both were today! They were new calipers (reconditioned units) and are 2.8 v6 Capri units, which i believe are Mk2 escort with a spacer. Seems strange that it only happens when they get some heat into them though! Once it was left for a while they freed off and were fine.

Only other issue would be the master cylinder is binding. Bias bar was all free and the pedal was rock hard, so somewhere in the system it is retaining the pressure!

Anyone had similar issues in the past?

Are the calipers easy to rebuild? They were sat for about 10 years, with no fluid in them though. May have rusty pistons?

Pushrods on the master cylinder too long perhaps? Or, as I had a couple of weeks ago, one of the master cylinder pistons sticking in the bore holding the brakes on, in my case the rears. Changed both master cylinders which has cured the problem , not worth just changing one

Dont think the rods are too long, i cut them down a bit when i fitted them and are always ok...when cold/first use.

Sounds like a sticking piston in the master cylinder, so will look at that first i think

Only other thing i have noticed is that it pulls to the left a bit under heavy braking, but fine under light braking, but it does tram line at times too, so never sure which it is doing! Also getting a judder through the pedal under heavy braking, but fine under light braking. Would put this down to a warped disc, but usually thats more under light braking from my experience.

If it's temperature related it could be the brake pads.

SOME friction materials swell when they get hot - leading to brake drag/binding even when you have no pressure in the brake lines.

hmmm intresting one!! They are Mintex standard pads, so not cheapo ones etc.

Once it had been sat for a while and the recovery truck arrived they had freed up. In the past it has been 1 wheel which has done it, was both today, but has never been just the 1 side either! Just to add to the mix!!

Easy way to check for residual pressure is to crack off the bleed nipple, if that releases the brake it’s either the master cylinder or a flexi hose restrict or flow

was the master cylinder in the end! The deal would not come fully back on its own and the piston was binding within the cylinder. Was new 13 years ago with little use now, but there was crud in the bottom of the bore when i stripped it down!! Anyway, new one will go in and hopefully thats all sorted then!

Just out of interest, did you find the pedal was solid before applying the brakes the last few times you drove the car? Also thought changing the M/Cs the worst job on the car due to access, taking the steering wheel off helps immensely.

the pedal starts off fine and the brakes were too.

What we found is you can depress the pedal and you get a little bit of drag, then press it again and it gets worst and so on. Leave it for 5 mins and it releases. Pull back the top of the pedal and releases instantly. The pedal gets harder each time you press it.

the initial binding would not be enough to notice when the car is moving, but repetitive use of the brakes in a short period of time binds them up. On friday i was in traffic using the brakes a lot in a short space of time, hence the end result i had of them locking on!

Have you got a return spring on the pedal?

Return spring on the pedal won’t stop a piston seizing in a master cylinder

nope no spring, doesnt need one if working correctly in my opinion!

It won't help. It means the internal spring in the mcyl is having to also having to do extra work moving the pedal. Which is harder to do than returning the mcyl piston