Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Sticking brakes

Driving my 92 Plus 4 last week I noticed that at low speed the brakes appeared to be sticking on slightly. Lifting off the brake approaching a junction at low speed it is easy to feel. I had previously noticed the brake warning light coming on under heavy braking and had topped up the brake fluid in response. Have I overfilled?

more chance of it being a master cylinder problem .or servo if fitted.

I has something similar but this occurred when I fitted a new MC and adjusted the brake pedal so the MC could not vent and kept the brakes on as things warmed up.

You may have overfilled. There are marks on the MC (check when cold) and mine are not easy to see (pointing inwards).

Does the car pull to one side?
If yes then could be sticky caliper piston.
If not then likely to be MC/ servo if you have servo....not a standard fitting in 4/4 CVH of that era, my 93 CVH was servo less .
I had an intermittent brake issue of slight pull to offside only noticeable in the wet..
I cleaned the calipers and that seemed to cure it.

Thanks for the feedback. Very hard to see if I have over filled given the position of the brake reservoir. Car doesn't pull either way.

Overfilling won't cause brakes to stick, just makes a mess and takes paint off. More likely it's sticking callipers or even pads not moving freely in them. Rear cyls usually seize through lack of use, best bet is to jack it up and first see if all wheels spin freely... Then get someone to apply the brake gently and slowly while tou spin the wheel to see if any grab or stick when released.

Front discs Remove pads from callipers clean callipers where pads rest and are supposed to move freely within caliper.

Drums clean internals thoroughly probably a simple accumulation of brake dust.

Ask yourself when the above was last done? to your actual knowledge and not what you hope a service would cover.

Hi, if you front Calipers are Lockhead then as they get older then they can develop sticky pistons. I have been told that this can occur due to the casings deforming and replacing seals and/Pistons will not nessisarily resolve it. If you are getting a hunting feeling when the car is free wheeling then it may be a slightly warp disc, this can be felt as a brake judder when braking lightly to reduce speed it may emphasise the judder.

Jack the car up, and put on stands, remove front wheels and spin each disk with a firmly anchored price of metal just touching the outside edge, you want the disk to spin true no wobble which will show if it rub the metal as you spin it.

If the disks are not warped then it's probably one piston sticking causing uneven pad pressure one the disk. You could try Remington the calipers and replacing Pistons and seals to see if this solves it.

Considering the longevity of Morgans....look at the ages of cars at your next meet...there is a strong chance of sticking brakes.
Servicing by changeing pads/ shoes and fluid can be a regular but eventually cylinders and calipers will deteriorate with seals failing and piston corrosion. How many get a thorough service of strip/clean/rebuild etc?
Morgans tend to do low-ish mileage too and this can contribute to becoming sticky. I bought a Proton as a runabout for sospan jr a few years ago while he was in Uni... Low mileage and a great runner but a brake piston seized in the caliper. I bought new one and stripped the old one out of curiosity and there was noticeable corrosion of the piston.
There are good refurb companies who can strip/ rebuild and supply upgraded parts like stainless pistons etc. and if I don't do it myself then they could be in the reckoning.
One company shows their process here
www.bigred.co.uk