Hey folks. Our company has a JCB 214S and it has very soft brake pedal that works if I pump the brakes. I did find a bleeder on the rear differential area but I need to know where they put the mastercylinder and the brake fluid reservoir. Are the mastercylinder and reservoir remote from each other on this machine? I am clueless about JCB hoes but I have had mastercylinder on a car go bad and it acted the same way. So I want to find the master cylinder on it I'm hoping I will see fluid gone from reservoir and fluid leaking at the master cylinder. Thanks Bryan in Ambridge Pa p.s. the machine has the typical split pedal
Should be between the steering wheel and windscreen there is a cover to remove , pedals attach directly to them
Make sure you don't use brake fluid unless it specifies! Any of the older JCB's I've worked on use a 5w hydraulic oil in the brake system, ATF works great.
Older JCB Brakes Thanks for the info. I found the brake reservoir and it appears to have hydraulic oil in it as per instructions on the cap. Is there an adjustment at the pedals? I bled the brakes but did not see any air at the bleeders. Bleeding seemed to help. The oil in the reservoir seemed a little on the heavy side pretty sure it's not 5w. What if I open the bleeders and pump the old oil out while gradually replacing it with known 5w? I'm not seeing any leaks and I do have some pedal but still soft after bleeding. Is there an adjustment for the brakes themselves?
It says HYD oil only on the cap and I don't smell brake fluid but the oil seems a little on the heavy side and the pedal is low and soft but does pump up. No bubbles at the bleeders. Gonna pump out all that oil I can and replace with ATF or 5w. Thanks for the info
There is no adjustment for the brakes, only adjustment at the master cyls is for pedal height. You can use any light mineral based hydraulic oil in the brake system but I found ATF is lighter and works better in cold weather. I'd flush it out like you said and see how it feels, if the system holds fluid and the brake piston seals are not leaking into the rear axle but the problem persists then the only other thing would be the masters are faulty themselves. Good luck!
Only adjustment is as Gregs HD said on push rods for each master cylinder make sure the you have a bit of free play so as the master cylinder can reprime its self ready for next application, as i guess you have twin pedals light mineral oil is the stuff to use never brake fluid as this will eat the seals alive. As far as bleeding them split the link on pedals and use a bottle with a pipe with some mineral oil in the bottom so as not to suck up air and put on bleed nipple ,do the left side 1st and hold the right pedal half way down whilst opening the left bleed nipple on the axle and then repeat but opposite way around bleed right but hold left pedal half way and open bleed nipple right side .The reason for this is the link pipe between the the two master cylinders .
Thanks for the info. I'll put that to work first thing this morning. Shouldn't I have too much fluid in the rear end if I have a bad brake seal? Should be loosing reservoir volume? It has a good pedal when I pump it up and I can't feel it leaking off under steady pressure. I appreciate y'alls help. I'll let you know how it goes. We WILL get it figured out. I'll hit you guys up later on the rear steering
If you have a spongy brake pedal after bleeding the brakes and you are positive you have no air and you are not loosing any fluid at all the next thing has this machine done a lot of road work ie travels every where using the brakes a lot or been used for constant loading with the shovel ,as this could cause a warped brake and friction plate problem which gives you a long travel of the brake pedal but if you pump it you got a perfect brake but as soon as you drive a short time you have to repeat the pump up the pedal again .this is caused by the brake piston in the axle housing being forced to far back into the housing by the warped brake discs they act like a giant Bellevue washer .if this is the cause im afraid its axle apart and renew brake friction and counter plates and change the 4 piston seals whilst there. is the rear axle oil black and burnt smelling as this is often a good sign of condition it should be changed every 1000 hrs .
jcb brakes Thanks for the info. That's kind of what I was thinking. I figure they probably used the brakes alot to turn short. I'm getting the plug out and looking at the oil today and will develope my plan. Thanks again I will post progress and findings in case someone else can use the info on their machine