Brakes Wheels 1st Gen Tires Most liked posts in thread: Mushy brake pedal

BTW, for possible warranty coverage should I put the OEM pads and wheels back on? Oh, and I have aftermarket stainless brake lines, should I put the OEM ones back on? I guess every dealership is different, but can they be that anal about coverage?

You know, I also have ATE Super Blue fluid in there now, and I bet they will not like that either.

 

Yes, I did see your posts elsewhere on the SB complaints by the dealership.

To further implicate the Master Cylinder. Just sitting at a standstill, with the engine running, meaning poper vacuum:
1. First pump mushy pedal.
2. After about 5 pumps I get a pretty good pedal
3. Hold the pedal down and after about 1 sec it starts to bleed down again.

I can't think of anything else but the master.

Replacing the Brake Master Cylinder does not seem too difficult, but I expect will cost around $250 for the part. And as mentioned above I do not have the means to get air properly bled through the ABS.

Oh, and yes when I switched to SB it was a 100% switch, all SB in all of the lines.

Just called the dealership and it seemed likely that they would cover for me. So, it looks like I will be returning everything to stock and hope for the best.

I really could use one of those Motive pressure bleeders about now. Might as well order today.

 

That is my understanding, if the pedal bleeds down while you are stopped then the seals inside the master are leaking.

So, I am ready to go to the dealership and see if I can sweet-talk my way into warranty coverage on my stock brake system. Or maybe stock again, might be more accurate.

Wish me luck.

 

Wow Nathan, that was very helpful. Maybe I should share those special recipes with the dealership, it might soften them up a little. :lol:

 

Some may have seen basically this update elsewhere, but here goes just to be complete.

Ok, I had a visit to the dealership today and had some extended discussions with the tech on my mushy pedal and extended pedal travel with the bleed down after pumping a good pedal.
He informed that it is is normal and we checked a few other MINIs on the lot for my satisfaction. The story is that some bleed down is normal and an artifact of the ABS. Specifically on the the pedal feel, it does stop some distance from the floor, if however, the pedal keeps going all the way to the floor....then it is the classic internally leaking master, but it has to go all the way to the floor.

So, I did not get a new master cylinder today, and I am stuck with a pedal that in my view, is mushy. Grrrr! I want that good high and hard pedal too, damnit!

So, I guess it is time to put the SST lines and the Hawk pads back on.

 

Hi Scott, thanks for chiming in here. Ok, I will have to look for Castrol SRF.
Edit: I just did a little shopping and oh man ~$75 per liter. I might have to live with my pedal as is. :frown5:

I had freshly flushed ATE Blue in there with my JCW brakes and SST lines.

While I do not think I have ever really cooked/boiled the fluid, or even discolored it significantly, my nice and pretty red JCW calipers just keep getting darker and darker.

 

Yeah I know, the local auto parts stores only carry 'normal' (i.e. relatively cheap) fluid. Clear does make it very difficult to check the level even with shining a light in the side of the reservoir. The blue ATE was great in this regard.