MOT failure: handbrake and exhaust

[ed4ferrets]

MOT man says: offside front brake binding. offside front parking brake recording little or no effort.
A forum search seems to indicate the classic mechanism/cable problem, hopefully I can loosen things up and that nothing is actually broken!

MOT man also says: Centre exhaust has a major leak and Rear exhaust has a major leak.... he described it as the pipe going into the box and the pipe coming out of the box as being full of holes. Are such leaks repairable or is it replacement time, ramps not available to me right now to see for myself?

Any input welcome please lads

These leaks were not evident sound wise or odour wise to me so I was unaware prior to the test.

[Tim Leech]

To be fair ed the exhaust boxes arent that expensive if you shop around so may be worth buying new ones if they are that rusted out, the last one I bought was less than £30 last year. As for the brakes it sounds like its seized up but other guys on here are far more knowledgable than me on such things.

[DavidRutherford]

MOT man says: offside front brake binding. offside front parking brake recording little or no effort.

Siezed sliders. Classic case.

MOT man also says: Centre exhaust has a major leak and Rear exhaust has a major leak.... he described it as the pipe going into the box and the pipe coming out of the box as being full of holes. Are such leaks repairable or is it replacement time, ramps not available to me right now to see for myself?

As mentioned, a new one is easy enough to fit and not expensive. I'd weld the old one up, but that's just me.

[ed4ferrets]

Had the TZD up on an axle stand on the offside (luckily) with hydraulic jack in place. When I tried to raise the car off of the stand.... the jack gave way, burst a seal or something ... oil gushing out of it anyhow
Moral as always, work safely

Anyway, are there clear diagrams of the caliper somewhere, I'm not convinced the spring is facing the right way? I assume it's meant to assist return of the 'arm' when handbrake is released ie stop pads binding

Outer of cable looks a bit knackered, as they often do and I was able to inject silicon oil in various places loosening it up. Result, the hand brake now works on offside but still does not release decently. I have invested in two new cables and pads too, just need to fit them.

I agree with you David, repair and recycle where-ever possible so would prefer to weld exhaust if possible, just can't get to see it properly to assess possibilities. Local welding chap had shut up shop by the time I drove past this afternoon

[ken newbold]

Me too, but if it's the intermediate (S) shaped pipe that's gone where it goes into the silencer, it's renew time I'm afraid. They're usually very thin there and don't like to be welded, however they are cheap

[DavidRutherford]

Oh ye of little resolve!

It looked like this to begin with:



And eventually looked like this:




Although I did have nice easy access to it, as the car was up on a hoist.
It did only take me an hour or so to fix, but it would have been a lot easier to just sling a new one one it.

[Rob_e (UK)]

David
That looks like quite a nice repair, especially considering how rusty it looked in the first place. Did you do it all with the exhaust still attached to the car?

ed4ferrets
The bits aren't that expensive if you do need to replace them; I got some parts from here before http://www.leisureshack.co.uk/. I think they were similar sort or prices to GSF, possibly a little cheaper, but GSF don't seem to stock as many BX parts as the used to nowadays.

Although however cheap they are, I'm sure Davids way is a lot cheaper if you have the facilities to do it

Rob

[DavidRutherford]

David
That looks like quite a nice repair, especially considering how rusty it looked in the first place. Did you do it all with the exhaust still attached to the car?

I didn't. It was far easier to remove the exhaust, weld it together, and then re-fit as a one-piece exhaust.

I now weld every single one of my joints up on exhausts. It's just so much easier, and so much less likely to leak. Granted, you have to be sure that you can remove and re-fit the exhaust in one go!

[ed4ferrets]

Lovely job there David, methinks that's exactly the perforation situation the man was referring to (minus the big crack). I think that would also explain the lack of blowing noise you would have with a holed silencer. However with no hoist and even less skill with a torch I guess my choice is limited to a visit to Kwikfit esq.

[DavidRutherford]

a visit to Kwikfit esq.

Eeeek! Run. Run for the hills!

No, seriously. Remember, you can't get shitter than a kwik-fit fitter. You'd be FAR better off buying the silencer sections yourself and then taking them to a reputable garage you trust. Having seen some of the things that Kwik-bugger-up-your-car-fit have done in the past, I wouldn't trust them to hoist the car up in the air without damaging it, never mind actually doing any work.

Disclaimer: That's my opinion, and my opinion only.

[mat_fenwick]

You'd be FAR better off making an exhaust yourself out of paper mache, and getting a blind monkey to fit it.

Edited for correctness. Seriously, if my limited experiences are anything to go by, avoid...

Shortly after starting driving and buying my own car the brakes started pulling to the left, so I took it to Kwik Fit to take advantage of their 'Free Brake Check'. Apparently I needed a new master cylinder which thet would kindly supply and fit for £330. This I did not have, but a workmate suggested that one of the calipers might be sticking. A £6 seal kit and cleaning of the pistons later, and the problem was solved. I did 100k miles on that 'worn out' master cylinder and rebuilt calipers, with no problems.

Second incident: We bought a Discovery from an old work collegue. Shortly before buying it he had taken it to (a different) Kwik Fit for a new exhaust. They had charged him £390 for it (when you can buy a stainless system for £450 including 2 manifolds!) To make matters worse, 2 flanges did not mate properly (wrong shape) and there was no support for the flange gasket. The paste they had slapped on lasted a few hundred miles - I am 40 miles away from the nearest branch so opted to weld up the flange myself, and stopped the leak. The system lasted 7000 miles before rusting through in several places. And not even down to short journeys either, the shortest journey I would do was 23 miles of fast A roads to work. Absolute crap.

[ed4ferrets]

My paper mache game is strong ... and I happen to know a blind monkey who is at a loose end at the moment too Many thanks for the obvious solution

[ed4ferrets]

It's a date Jon, Niff the skunk would dearly love to meet your missus and the offspring

[ed4ferrets]

JKW has waved his magic mig wand and given a sadly corroded exhaust a new lease on life Pity I never took before and after pics of the reconstructed flange
Handbrake cable replaced also new pads and now for the retest