This Renault 16 does not want to leave!

[RENOMAD]

How is it that when you want to sell a car,it tries to bite back????Yesterday on my way back from the show after getting a lot of interest in the car,,the brake pedal goes wooden...I only fitted a new Master Cylinder a few weeks ago. It seems fine for a couple of miles,but then when you go for the brake you find that the pedal has not come back up quite fully,when you press it it feels funny,with no real power unless you stand on it-----I presume its the SERVO????Any help would be great incl supply of a SERVO if needed.The pedal feels ok when the car is not running or cold.Could it be a vacuum leak,,or isn't there a valve in the servo???ThanksJohn

[RENOMAD]

ANYBODY?

[RENOMAD]

ANYBODY?

[mouseflakes]

Hi John,I'm not going to promise anything - but I recall removing the servo/master cylinder from an early TL ('71), thinking 'that might be useful one day'.Whether I can find it and whether it will be useable are another matter - but next time I'm near my 'storage facility' (sister-in-laws wood shed) I'll check it out.I didn't mention it earlier as it's far from being a cert. Just a possibility.PM me for contact details if you wish.Strange that the pedal doesn't return though - are you sure the new m/cyl is functioning correctly?Also - no doubt you've bled it numerous times already, but perhaps give it another go? Most of my old Renaults have been sans servo, so you know when you've got air in the system. I'm wondering if what you have is air in there, and you're having to push the m/cyl to the end of its travel to get any effect. Through the servo, this feels like the pedal is wooden - when what's happening is the piston hitting the end of the bore?Cheers,Tim.

[RENOMAD]

Hi Tim, Basically,there seems to no resistance in the first inch or so of travel,then the pedal just feels wooden and you really have to shove it to get the car to stop. If you keep driving without braking for a while the first shove is ok,but then the next shove id wooden again!I changed the master cylinder because of this. Funnily it seems ok for the first 8 miles of driving --the when its warm. I havn't checked the hose from the manifold to the servo yet. or the one way valve.I think I can hear a little shot of air when changing up just after reving the car?SEAL.John

[mouseflakes]

Ah, I see now - problem was there before the new master cylinder.Definitely worth checking the vacuum hose - how about the (brass I think?) takeoff from the inlet manifold? If the problem is temperature-related, could a leak be opening up here?

[nigel bickle]

I've a VERY similar problem with an FSO (I'm currently Fiat 125- ing). Its been off the road for 19 years- and absolutely everything is fighting back. Now running, moving -a bit the brake pedal goes about half way -then seems to go 'solid' -not always fully returning. Very uninspiring!Initially I thought calipers- so overhauled them. Nope. Flexi hoses should be changed anyway - no difference. Master cylinder has been changed 3 times -nope. Eventually nicked a servo off a running car (- not an easy thing -seems Fiat built the car around it) - and the symptoms went. Does that help? off the car the servo feels fine -no fluid in it etc- but I suspect its sticking inside -due to lack of use?So -now I need a servo too. Thankfully -I think its similar to a Pandas....Oh joy -happy days

[RENOMAD]

Thats sounds like the very thing that my car is doing------do just to find a Servo.-------Could probably get it new from Renault,,but they do the opposite and charge more for old stock!!

[mouseflakes]

You can have mine for nowt John - just have to work out whether I still have it, when I can pick it up, how to get it to you, if it fits and if it's survived the years. Are you ever in Bristol?

[Renault18]

Renault Winterley Spares Department may have bits of R16 brake system in stock! (NOT the master cyl' tho') Sure I've got a full genuine overhaul kit tho' Got a genuine front pipe for a TS/TX. Normally a decent kinda guy, but since it currently seems that anything R16 related might just as well sell through a Sotherby's auction, I'm keeping it

[RENOMAD]

MOUSEFLAKES----I'M LUCKY TO GET OUTSIDE THE FRONTGATE WITH 2 YOUNG KIDS AND A RATHER UNSYMPATHETIC WIFE ---MAKE THAT A WIFE THAT THINKS ANYTHING OVER 5 YEARS OLD IS A PIECE OF SH1T. JOHN

[RENOMAD]

RICHARD,,,,I SUPPOSE I'M GOING TO HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER CAR FROM YOU TO GET ANOTHER BOOT FULL OF SPARES!