Dear fellows,

My name is Pavlos and i am writing from Greece Athens. I have found this beautifull community while i was working on a restoration of a 2cv.

I started on march of 2010 and now i am ( i hope at least) at the end. Some things on the restoration was scaring me a lot like the brakes.

So getting to the point. Yesterday i put the master cylinder back on the car. Then i try to fuel the pipes and all of the system with lhm fluids. I noticed that on the pipe that is going on the rear brakes there is no fluids. Today i took the cylinder out . Inspect it reput the pinstons and then again reinstall it on the car.

Again i put some fluids on the tank and then i noticed again that the pipes that is going on the rear brakes doesnt have any fuel and the strange thing is than even when i am pressing the brake pedal no fluids are going out from the first whole of the master cylinder.

I am wondering now what can it be? The disk brakes are working normally. That means that the second pinston is fully working. What is going with the first one though.

A second question is if it is dangerous to test ride the car with only the disc brakes working? I mean untill i find what is going on.

I am happy to be a part of this community and proud to see that our car has so many funs around the world.

ps. i apologise for my english and i hope that you are getting the meaning of what i am writing.

i wish you the best ,
and for once more happy to be here.

Welcome to the forum.

It may be the pipe running to the rear, which is blocked. Remove the pipe from the master cylinder and press the brake pedal slowly to the floor. Get some one to do the pedal and you at the same time looking at the MC to see if any fluid comes out. If no fluid, the MC is faulty, otherwise the pipe is blocked. Remove one pipe on the rear wheel cylinder and try again. Before fitted the pipe back on the MC clean the inside of the pipe with a needle file.
Before test driving, lift the rear of the car and check if the rear brakes comes on when pressing the pedal.
Good luck.

thanks for the quick reply.
i did disconect the pipes and it seems that the problem is in rhe master cylinder.
.
when i am stepping on the pedal it seems that it is working (it doesnt go untill the floor) but no fluid is coming out from the first whole.
so the pistons in the master cylinder are servicable or not? if i have to buy a new one is that ok if i test ride the car with only the front brakes ?

pavlos,
the secondary piston is stuck at the end of its travel in the master cylinder.
Sometimes, it's possible to persuade it to retract by tapping on the end of the master cylinder with a _small_ hammer.
Remove the reservoir and rear brake line from the cylinder before you try this and if it does retract, blow it through with an air line to clear whatever was causing the piston to stick.
Refit the reservoir and test to see if any brake fluid comes out of the connection for the rear brake.
If it does not, either the seals have swollen due to the wrong brake fluid being added at some time in the past, or there's rust inside the master cylinder, so it's time for a replacement master cylinder...

ken

Pavlos,
The front brakes should be connected to the first hole, the one inbetween the holes for the fluid bottle

The rear brakes connect to the port at the front of the master

try swapping it over and see what happens but im not confident that your master is working properly as i always prime the master when re building the car by leaving the unions off and pumping the pedal , plenty fluid usually comes out.

you could try washing it all out with petrol as LHM goes sticky if its left open to the air for a long time

Sean

i have ckeaned the naster cylinder 2 months ago. i ve cleaned it with gasoline from my kerosun heater which i think doesnt do any bad to the sealings inside the cylinder.
the cylinder inside has two pidtons and 2 dprings.
every pinston has a valve . i am thinkung that the first piston valve is damaged.

guys hi ,

i took of the master cylinder for the third time. I did take it to a friend of mine and examine it carefully.

The front pinston doesnt have a smooth return. Another one is that the pins that i install on the first time where taller than the ones that were on the master cylinder.

I ll put it back tomorrow and i will try to pump it without the disc brakes attached .

I hope it will work.
so i ll let you know.

edit : progress

Today i put the master cylinder in the car.

Fisrt i cut the 1/4 of the roll pins trying to make sure that they would not interfere with the valve of the pinston.
After that i took a harder spring for the front piston and finally i changed the order of the pipes.

This way i saw the pipes that going on the back drum brakes full up and i did some bleeding too. The disk brakes was in order from the begging.

I am driving a motorcycle so the way that citroen is putting the order of the brakes to the master cylinder not only seems the right way but it is what also makes the brakes of 2cv superior on difficult weather conditions ( rain, dirt etc).

So i ll take this as my test ride brakes and after a short period of time i ll try to reinstall it as the original.

Thanks fro any help and for once more i am happy to be in this community.