It does make me wonder if some brake master cylinders on trads were left with machining swarf in the bores. Not many because it wasn't a "thing" on new trads, but makes me wonder.
Very logical "wonder". But it has never been run across..yet.
It also makes me wonder if a high underbonnet temperature might expand the master cylinder just enough to weaken the seals.
Again a very logical "wonder". But impossible to measure and at the heat that would require, wouldn't the fluid would be boiling long before?
A friend had a new FIAT back in the day. When it got hot, the brakes locked on. I don't recall why but it was a known fault with that model at the time, and the only way he could release them was to open a couple of bleed valves to get rid of the pressure. He did that at the side of the road, until something was fixed........
Yes. That is not uncommon with some cars with power brakes, depending on the vacuum hose routing. I had the same thing occur with my wife's e-type. Drove us both nuts. Everything seemed to check out, but I even had the entire system rebuilt in case. It came to me on wakening one morning. I checked the car and sure enough, the vacuum hose was perfect on its visible side, but its engine side aka the hot side, had flabby rubber as resistant as cellophane. As soon as the engine heated and the brakes were used, it acted as a shut-off valve, pushing the brakes to their maximum pressure (from the engine) and staying there until the vacuum was released by hand or normally by waiting hours.
Locked brakes on power or assisted braking cars is often caused by something in that area. Never heard or run across it with trad Morgans, though I speak only to the post June 1993 cars and not to the much earlier Plus 8s systems shipped abroad.
I am more concerned about the newer brake systems, (aka variants on electronic braking). Many of us in snowy mountains disconnect ABS brakes as they can be deadly on steep slopes with lightly snow covered ice, though carbide studded tyres CAN correct this. The new EBS braking is supposed to be far superior to ABS. What concerns me the most is the computer controlled 4 point braking. All of these newer systems are hard to set up, replace owner skill with computer programming that can and does fail. I favor the braking you and I have. Simple, easy to maintain, fully controllable, lots of feel, decades of proven reliability and easy to part source or replace in days rather than, as we recently saw, six months.
gmg
