bren96 Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Hi I recently had a nasty experience in my 2001 Ducato (Burstner motorhome 115,000 km) 2 weeks ago. My brakes failed to engage properly. Wife, 3 Kids and I were approaching a junction and when I pressed the pedal and it went down a lot of the way but there was none of the usual spongy pressure there. I had enough time to say to my wife "Theres something wrong with the brakes" (twice) and I started pumping the pedal and although the pressure did not come back to the pedal the ABS did eventuall kick in on the 4th or 5th pump. We skidded out onto a junction. I grabbed for the handbrake on the but it was too late as a passing jeep took a lot of the front end off. Very scary for all involved!! Had we got to the junction 1 or 2 seconds earlier the jeep would have come through the side of the motorhome where my 3 kids were. I had to drive it off the junction later and the brakes were working again and when the mechanic took it into the shop he said they seemed to be fine. It had new brake pads 1400km ago. My wife told me afterwards that the brakes didn't engage properly once before for her when she was rolling it down the drive at our house but as it was one of her first times driving it she didn't really pay attention to it and used the handbrake. The next time she pressed the pedal it worked fine so she didn't think any more of it. Anyone got any ideas as to what it might be that I can ask the mechanic to look for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Sounds very much like happened on an old cavalier, the seals on shuttle? piston in master cylinder failed, there was no sign of any fluid leak but pedal seamed to hit the floor. I have also had similier thing happen on phaeton, but this was caused by leak on wheel cylinder and there was fluid everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Any possibility you have a loose carpet on the cab floor, that could have jammed under the brake pedal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 I had this happen on my Ducato a couple of weeks ater buying it. It was fine until one day I went to drive it off the drive and the pedal went to the floor. So I completely changed and bled the brake fluid and it's been fine ever since. It must have had air in the system. I used a Gunsons Ezee Bleed thingy to do it, as it makes it a 1 man job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Hi Bren96, it sounds like you had a close and lucky escape but there are a couple of things that confuse me slightly (it doesn't take much, honest ;-) ). you say eventually the ABS kicked in and you then skidded out onto a junction but as the ABS is designed to prevent locking up of the brakes why did you skid? (?) . Sorry to say I have no idea what could have caused your problem and without seeing the vehicle for a detailed examination of the brakes I doubt if anyone could. Veering ever so slightly off topic but related I recently had a customer who was staying on the nearby campsite in his new Boxer based motorhome. He phoned me to say it wouldn't start and could I take a quick look. Well when I got over to him it turned out that he'd left the van in gear as it was on a steep slope but when he got back in he forgot it was in gear and tried to start it. The 'van jolted but from then on the starter would not turn. I thought perhaps the starter was jammed in the ring gear so rolled the 'van bakc to try and bump start it. No joy but this is where I found a really rather disturbing fact, the brake pedal with no servo assistance was so hard to press that with all of my near 15 stone weight I couldn't stop the 'van from moving backwards 8-) 8-) . I rolled it backwards round a curve and then forwards down the hill to bump start it succesfully but without the engine running I could only just stop the 'van going forwards on the brake pedal. All I can say is I hope nobody ever suffers a vacuum pump failure on the new Ducato/Boxer/Relay vans as they're going to be in deep do do if that happens. I do know that the brakes will require a heavy shove without servo assistance but I've never encountered a vehicle where the brakes were so ineffective without assistance. Even my old Freight Rover which always required a heavy foot on the brake pedal, even with the engine running could still be safely brought to a standstill without servo assistance. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Dave: I strongly suspect that something similar will be true when it comes to steering a modern light-commercial vehicle. My Transit Mk 5 had a whopping great steering-wheel and quite a few turns of it were needed to go from full-lock/left to full-lock/right. My Transit Mk 6 has a relatively small steering-wheel and a noticeably 'quicker' steering-rack. I understand that the Transit Mk 7 has a steering-rack some 15% 'faster' than the Mk 6's and the Mk 7's dinky little steering-wheel looks like it's been pinched directly from the Mondeo car. As the steering-wheel gets smaller and the number of its turns lock-to-lock decreases, the power-assistance being provided to the driver must inevitably increase, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's virtually impossible to steer a modern LCV if the power-steering is inoperative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Actually Derek you're spot on. I'd forgotten that the steering on this particular 'van was inordinately heavy without the engine running as I was more concerned about the lack of braking. I reckon I have pretty good upper body strength but I really struggled to turn the wheel without the aid of power steering. I would say any other user may need God's own intervention but being an atheist I can't. Mind you, if I were caught out in one of these vehicles with a suddenly dead engine I might find religion pretty quickly ;-) D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Hi B, Glad to see you on board, Did you have a diagnostic check on your motorhome? I suggest you do. It should show any faults that may be stored. There are a few electronic gremlins that can cause brake problems and the diagnostic check should point you in the right direction. Regards, Brendan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2 Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 bren96 - 2008-04-12 6:48 PM I started pumping the pedal and although the pressure did not come back to the pedal the ABS did eventuall kick in on the 4th or 5th pump. i didn't think they fitted abs on the 2001 ducato Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 How intriguing, I hadn't spotted that point but I think you are correct, ABS wasn't fitted to the 2001 Ducatos. Also a bit surprised by the mileage, 115,000KM in 7 years seems an awful lot. I do understand that some people use their motorhomes a lot but doesn't it seem a little strange that Bren96, who hasn't told us his real name, posts this once with a rather worrying story then vanishes into thin air? Come on Bren96, give us some more details ;-) D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Perhaps the spec for the Irish vans differs from the UK as Bren's email address ends in 'ie' and not 'uk' I presume he is in Eire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Hi, Tracker some of the spec differs but not on the brake dept' This type of post has done the rounds. I met a guy last year in Geneva with the same story. Now Bren96 please come back with some info as a lot of people out there have Duactos. As Dave points out when you post please reply with info and dont just vanish in to thin air. Regards, Brendan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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