Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter222
Hi all,
My 1979 245 has a brake problem and I'm not sure how to troubleshoot it. On the brake tester, the two front brakes are fine but at the rear, one brake is lightly locked on, the other brake does nothing at all.
My mechanic would like to replace the master cylinder and the two rear calipers with new units, which would be a bit pricey. Is it an easy job to remove the old ones and clean them up with new seals and o-rings?
Since the master cylinder does work well on the front brakes, is it likely to be faulty? Perhaps I could just do the rear calipers.
How would I know what would be the correct part, should I decide on new replacements? There seem to be many different models for my car. e.g. ABS, Ridex, Stark, Bosch and more.
Many thanks to you experts for any pointers
Peter
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Hi Peter,
If you are moderately competent with some tools then rebuilding your rear callipers would not be difficult, if they are too badly worn it may be quicker (and therefore cheaper if you pay someone else to do it) to buy some new ones.
This link will take you to Juular's 240 thread, about half way down the photos he tackles the front callipers - if you would be comfortable doing that level of work then read on:
https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showp...7&postcount=49
The rear callipers on your motor car are somewhat simpler than the front in that they will have only two (opposing) pistons - so half as many bits. It sounds like the pistons are seized so you will need some means of forcing them out - if only one is stuck you can do it on the car by clamping one of them then pumping the brakes to use the car's hydraulics to get the other moving. Otherwise you can use a compressor like Juular did (I think he covers renovation later on in the story).
I think what you need to do it take the callipers off (just two bolts) and see what is going on - probably the seized side first. After your reconnaissance you can decide whether to rebuild (cheap but time consuming) or replace (expensive but much easier).
I wonder why your mechanic wants to change the master cylinder? If they operate the front brakes properly then the fault can't be there. It would be a good idea to question him on that issue. It sounds like a made up job to me.
244/245 Volvos are pretty simple beasts - fixing this issue isn't hard and the parts are readily available if you are confident enough to have a go. If you had to pay a mechanic to do it then repairing the callipers would not be worth it - replacing them would be cheaper.
Good fortune,
Alan