Testing the Brakes

The wife and kid went with me to the garage to test the brakes. Cutting to the point, the car brakes but I believe it is not perfect. It may work at very low speeds but I wouldn't trust it.

First test was her just pressing and depressing the peddle and me going around the car looking for oil leaks (since Thursday's oil was now dry). There seems to be a very slight oil leak on one of the front joins between the hard pipe and the flexible pipe, since the join was wet. But it could be old oil. I must clean it all with tissues and then retest. On the rear there was a "skushy" sound everytime the peddle was pressed, so I believe there is some air on the lines.

Second test was me spinning the back wheel (it was still in the air) and she would brake. It stopped, so even if it has air, it is working a bit.

Unpacked my shiny new hydraulic jack. Wonderful piece of kit, bought cheap at Lidl! It was the kid, 4 years old, that jacked the car up! I took the axle-stand out and he dropped the car down. I just had to tell him what to do. I think I'll be carrying that jack around on the tintop!

With the car on the floor, I pushed it a bit and she would brake to see if it stopped. Turns out it's a lot harder to push around than I thought and I don't believe this test was valid, even if it stopped. The tyres made lots of rubbing noises while I was pushing the car around. I believe it is due the the BIG amount of negative camber and toe-in on the rear wheels. It almost looks crippled. The front wheels were better, although it seems one has a bit more negative camber than the other. I really have to set up the suspension and I'm really happy I have the hydraulic jack to do it!

Just two pictures to celebrate the car out of it's "nest" and the amount of oil stains on the floor, under it. They are mostly stains I made while trying to fill the brake lines. Only two other stains are engine oil leaked from a badly tightened pickup pipe (for the oil pressure sensor) and engine oil from a previous car that we had parked there.