poor 306 brakes

This is the Forum for all your Peugeot Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
rich_spens
Posts: 13
Joined: 26 Jun 2003, 19:34
Location:
My Cars:

poor 306 brakes

Post by rich_spens »

<font face="Tahoma">I've got a '93 306 TD, and ever since I've owned it (2+ years), the brakes have just been pretty poor. There's no real bite, and you have to really try to get the wheels to lock up. From my experience of other Peugeots, this isn't usual.
So far I've changed:
Servo vacuum pump
Front discs/pads
Rear drums, shoes, cylinders
Fluid
The pedal has got ok feel, though with no real feel in the first inches of travel.
Has anyone else had a similar problem with peugeot brakes who can share any wisdom?
Thanks, Rich
</font id="Tahoma">
Stuart McB
Posts: 1635
Joined: 03 Oct 2003, 00:50
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 1

Post by Stuart McB »

If memory serves me well on the servo unit or in the pipe work to it there's a non return valve thingy. This prevents any loss of servo pressure on a diesel engine. My old ZX had all the usual brake work done but for a couple of quid this valve paid for it self. Brakes much better. Should be as you look at the servo unit (with intercooler off) below master cylinder, about the size of a 10pence piece (cheap looking) only one way valve. Hope this helps.
Peter D
Posts: 97
Joined: 22 Jan 2004, 00:38
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by Peter D »

You need to test the servo itself. If you have a standard one way valve as per the petrol version, you can test it by finding a quite hill somewhere, stopping the car, turn the engine off and let the car roll little and apply the brakes. after a couple of applications braking should get a lot more difficult as you have run out of vacuum, if after several applications its no different then you may have a failed diaphram in the servo. Regards Peter
rich_spens
Posts: 13
Joined: 26 Jun 2003, 19:34
Location:
My Cars:

Post by rich_spens »

Stuart,
Is there any way of testing the valve, or did you just replace it as matter of course?? Is it just called a servo valve?
Rich
Stuart McB
Posts: 1635
Joined: 03 Oct 2003, 00:50
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:
x 1

Post by Stuart McB »

I just replaced the valve at first. Name is a 'vacume servo unit check valve'. It just pulls out from the servo it self. Basically it's a one way valve and you should be able to blow through it only one way. With a bit of pulling it comes out, be careful of the rubber seal don't damge this. Worked for me. If this still don't work then its the srvo it self. Removal of the unit is fidley but can be done but you have to get down in to the drivers side foot well with your spanners so as to undo the 4 retaining nuts. The rest is straight forward. Remove intercooler, remove master cylinder tape over pipe work, remove clivis pin from foot brake etc etc.
rossd
Posts: 420
Joined: 16 Mar 2001, 20:18
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by rossd »

My brakes were like this, so I simply upgraded them. I put 266mm discs and calipers on the front and I have recently replaced the rear beam which came with huge drums at the back (and some sort of load sensitive compensator mounted on the axle). I changed the master cylinder too, from 20.6 mm to 22mm. I know cant fault the breaks, they are fantastic with good feel. This is probably not much use to you as you have recently replaced all of your standard stuff, but its always an option.
batwad
Posts: 203
Joined: 26 Aug 2003, 16:37
Location: Beds, UK
My Cars:
Contact:

Post by batwad »

Ross, what's the work and cost like to upgrade the discs? I've got to replace my discs and pads at the next service anyway, so if it's not an horrendous exercise or prohibitively expensive, I might give it some thought.
rossd
Posts: 420
Joined: 16 Mar 2001, 20:18
Location: United Kingdom
My Cars:

Post by rossd »

Well I got the calipers and carriers from a scrappy (Bridges Nr Crawley) for £20 each. Add to that the cost of new discs and pads and the overall cost if you fit it all yourself is about £100. I cleaned up the calipers and painted them, the seals were ok so I just bolted them on.
I used GSF for the discs and pads, Bendix discs (same as OEM) and I used the more expensive Textar pads. I did this over a year ago and still about 60% left on the pads, pretty good seeing as the brakes get quite a caning sometimes.
The ideal calipers are the Lucas or Bosch ones from 1997 onwards 306's, Xsaras and Berlingos. Earlier calipers were a different design and not so good.
Post Reply