Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Can anyone help. Occasionally when pulling up to a stop, my brakes bind - ie the pads don't release from the disk. I can drive through it and it clears after about 50 yards, but I'm worried it might develop into something worse- and I've got a continental trip this summer. It's annoying rather than serious at the moment. It doesn't happen all the time, as I've been out today in the little car and no sign of the brakes binding at all
Thanks for any suggestions

It' probably the spring missing from the servo

elan-plus-f13/brakes-jamming-t20476.html

or this..with pictures...
elan-plus-f13/servo-t12929.html

John

Could be rusty pistons inside the caliper? Rebuilt calipers are not too expensive and are less hassle than replacing pistons and seals on a seised unit.

Carl

Or.....as Sean Murray described in this posting...(elan-archive-f16/sticking-brake-servo-t6820.html) the master cylinder & pedal box may be contributing.

Do you still have a servo? Girling? Lockheed? Is it a recent problem? Any work done recently? Change of fluid, maybe?

Good luck - rd

elan-f14/spongy-brakes-advice-needed-please-t20836.html

Just noticed your previous posting. Did you get it sorted or are they now both spongey & binding?

Cheers - rd

Sponginess sorted, now I've got the binding problem. Pistons cleaned and lubricated. Perhaps a complete rebuild is needed?

depending on which servo....id check that first (if its a lockheed)
it has been know to be either at the wrong angle or that the spring is incorrect (john clegg has a fix for this)........
if its the calipers then it might be a rebuild........do you still have the dust shields??...if not it could be one of the causes....

With mine it was the servo. Eventually seized solid as soon as I started the engine. I removed it and took the opportunity to replace the brake m/c with a tandem AP unit and Green Stuff front pads. Quite happy with the result though I had to adjust to the non-assisted brake feel at first.

"Sponginess sorted, now I've got the binding problem"

Hi Guys,

Could there be a link here? In sorting the sponginess, could something has been done to cause a bind. Seen references on here about flexi-brake hose & brake fluid compatibilty. Could the hoses be internally collapsing preventing fluid return?

Cheers - rd (Remote diagnosis? NHS Direct eat your heart out!)

If my memory serves me correctly the master cylinder is a "center" valve type which if the center valve is not doing its job it will hold pressure for a while so if binding persists just slacken off the brake pipe from the master cylinder when the brakes are binding and see if there is still pressure (there should not be), if there is overhaul or replace your brake master cylinder.

Tonyw

I had a really annoying sticking brake problem on my S4 (which had been restored by a previous owner). The bracket that holds the right hand end of the pedal shaft had not been fitted at right angles to the shaft! As a result, when the clutch was depressed, like you do when coming to a halt, and hold the brake at the same time, the brake pedal failed to come back up. The shaft was binding in its holding brackets.

I took one of the spacing washers out of the bracket fitment, thereby making it vertical as it should have been, and the problem was solved straight away.

The annoying bit was the the time and expense I incurred messing about with the servo, master cylinder etc-correct diagnosis is the difficult bit for us amateurs I guess!

I have put this up in case some other unsuspecting owner might be suffering the same problem.

All the best

Jim