Hi All,
First post onTurbo Renault - hope this is in the right place! The car in question is a 1994 Renault 5 Campus Prima, so a late model 5. I would class myself as mechanically competent, but it's a hobby, not a profession, so there are large gaps in my knowledge and experience, but I'll have a go at most things; in the past I've done jobs such as head gasket replacement, so not a novice, but also not an expert. This vehicle was bought as a neo-classic hobby car - the bodywork is in near excellent condition, but it has spent a number of years stored in a garage. I drove it down from Coventry to Kent earlier in the year, but for the last few weeks it's been sitting on my drive whilst I do some re-commissioning work (major internal clean, servicing etc). Daughter #2 has already commandeered it to learn to drive in when she's 17 next year.
My problem relates to brake bleeding. I've replaced a lot of the braking components - the two of the rear pads actually fell off the shoes as I took the drums off. At the rear I have replaced drums, shoes, springs, cylinders and hoses. I've also replaced the front calipers with shiney reconditioned ones, and new hoses there as well. Final job is bleed/flush through with new brake fluid - I have an Eezi bleed for this.
The front offside bleeds fine (you don't do this one first, but I tested it when I started having problems). Neither of the rears bleed; the pedal goes to the floor, and the fluid level doesn't drop in the reservoir. If I disconnect the rear hoses and pump the pedal, fluid comes out; if I disconnect the pipe from the rear cylinder on the back of the drum, fluid comes out. Connect it all up, tighten everything - pedal goes to floor, no fluid comes out of bleed nipple. I've given up with the Eezi-bleed for now as that just sits and does nothing.
I don't understand (a) why the pedal isn't going hard - surely it should do this even if you have air in the system. I've read in the Haynes manual that the later models have pressure relief valves built in to the rear cylinders - which I assume my new replacement cylinders have - could that be something to do with it?
At the moment I'm working with the rear offside, because it's more convenient; however, I have tried working in the correct order (rear nearside, front offside, rear offside, front nearside), but I can't get off the starting blocks with the rears.
This should be simple! I'm also assuming this can't be a specific Renault 5 model issue - as far as I can see, the braking system works on the same principle as other cars.
Thanks in advance,
Phillip
First post onTurbo Renault - hope this is in the right place! The car in question is a 1994 Renault 5 Campus Prima, so a late model 5. I would class myself as mechanically competent, but it's a hobby, not a profession, so there are large gaps in my knowledge and experience, but I'll have a go at most things; in the past I've done jobs such as head gasket replacement, so not a novice, but also not an expert. This vehicle was bought as a neo-classic hobby car - the bodywork is in near excellent condition, but it has spent a number of years stored in a garage. I drove it down from Coventry to Kent earlier in the year, but for the last few weeks it's been sitting on my drive whilst I do some re-commissioning work (major internal clean, servicing etc). Daughter #2 has already commandeered it to learn to drive in when she's 17 next year.
My problem relates to brake bleeding. I've replaced a lot of the braking components - the two of the rear pads actually fell off the shoes as I took the drums off. At the rear I have replaced drums, shoes, springs, cylinders and hoses. I've also replaced the front calipers with shiney reconditioned ones, and new hoses there as well. Final job is bleed/flush through with new brake fluid - I have an Eezi bleed for this.
The front offside bleeds fine (you don't do this one first, but I tested it when I started having problems). Neither of the rears bleed; the pedal goes to the floor, and the fluid level doesn't drop in the reservoir. If I disconnect the rear hoses and pump the pedal, fluid comes out; if I disconnect the pipe from the rear cylinder on the back of the drum, fluid comes out. Connect it all up, tighten everything - pedal goes to floor, no fluid comes out of bleed nipple. I've given up with the Eezi-bleed for now as that just sits and does nothing.
I don't understand (a) why the pedal isn't going hard - surely it should do this even if you have air in the system. I've read in the Haynes manual that the later models have pressure relief valves built in to the rear cylinders - which I assume my new replacement cylinders have - could that be something to do with it?
At the moment I'm working with the rear offside, because it's more convenient; however, I have tried working in the correct order (rear nearside, front offside, rear offside, front nearside), but I can't get off the starting blocks with the rears.
This should be simple! I'm also assuming this can't be a specific Renault 5 model issue - as far as I can see, the braking system works on the same principle as other cars.
Thanks in advance,
Phillip
