306 lx 1.9d terrible brakes! Looking for advice

[lewis306]

Hi all

First post here, long time Peugeot fan, had many, 205 GRD, 205 GTI, 309 diesel, 405 diesel, 205 lacoste and now my dear old nans handed down her R reg 306 lx 1.9d to me after she passed away.

She's only done 88k and could probably do another 3x that, I want to do right by the car but to be honest its a bit of a dog to drive

I can live with most of it, bar the brakes, which are terrible, the brake pedal doesn't feel spongy, its fairly solid when i press it down, i don't hear any rubbing, its not pulling to one side or anything, it just takes an age to slow down and come to a halt.

Is this a common issue on these? is there anything i should be checking? Is there any obvious opportunity to upgrade on this model? or is this just a case of they are what they are and you either like it or lump it?

would appreciate any advice anyone has to offer.

Cheers 

[oldpug]

If you have a hard brake pedal it looks as if the servo is not working. The cause is more than likely the vacuum pump, its driven by the camshaft and is located at the gearbox end of the cylinder head. Its a very simple job to replace it.
There are a number of ways to check if you have vacuum. With the car stationary and the engine off, pump the pedal a few times and keep your foot on the pedal, then start the engine. If the servo is working the brake pedal should sink a bit. The other check is to remove the pump vacuum pipe and put your finger on the pump outlet pipe while the engine is running, you should feel a very noticeable "suck".

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[lewis306]

Thanks for the quick reply, ill test that later before i go into work, to be clear if the pedal sinks a bit i know servo is ok, so then i can test the pump by removing the pipe and checking for suction when the engine is running, if i don't get suction then i know its the pump - correct?

What sort of price am i looking at for Server and Pump? Strikes me as may be as quick just to get both replaced.

[oldpug]

You may have misunderstood or my explanation confused you. BOTH those tests is to find out if you have vacuum or not. The servo is the large unit on the bulk head behind the brake master cylinder and requires vacuum to work and give you power brakes. The pump supplies vacuum to the servo via a pipe. Servo`s very rarely fail, I can not remember ever changing one on a 306, but I've lost count how many vacuum pumps I`ve removed.
Expect to pay anything from £50 to £100 for a pump depending where you buy it from. Remember its an old model. Car parts places like GSF and Euro may be able to get one, or try my old mate Dean Hunter at www.peugeotparts.co.uk

Remember though this is a suggestion (the most likely one) as to why you have poor brakes, there could be other reasons? Has the car been parked idle for a long time. If so components could be corroded and seized.

[lewis306]

Ok, so I pumped the brakes a few times and then started the engine and after a second or so the pedal definitely dipped down a bit further, so I presume from this servo/vacuum are fine.

The car has been stood on and off for long periods but has just gone through an MOT with no advisories on the brakes, I've heard stories of brake pipes perishing resulting in loss of pressure to the brakes, is this possible/true?

Any other thoughts on items to check? Appreciate the advice.

[oldpug]

If it has just passed an MOT that changes everything, the brake efficiency is tested on rollers, the brake pipes are inspected, everything is up to standard. So delete everything we have been talking about and get used to an old trusty 306, one of the last real Peugeot’s.
All you could do is clean up the brakes, removing the pads and freeing up the callipers, removing the rear drums (if it has them?) and cleaning out. Bleeding the system to get fresh brake fluid through is a good idea.

[lewis306]

I did wonder how much they check at MOT's, that's fine, I guess they are just not great, spent too much time driving "modern" cars. Ill change the fluid and I guess that will be that, thanks for the help anyway.