The Rover-Landers of BC

Has anyone with a 109 had issue with the lower front wheel cyls leaking after 4 months ? I have a recurring issue where the lower front wheel cyls start to leak brake fluid over the front shoes , replace the wheel cyl with a new one and it’s good for 3 months . Happens to both sides . Going to be changing one again as the thing is pulling to one side again when the brakes are applied and I see the master cyl is low on fluid . I’ve tried different brands , the first couple looked like they were a little rusty inside so I changed brake fluid thinking there was water in the system but leaking again . This will be the 4th wheel cyl . It’s a 64 2a with series 3 booster. All the wheel cyls were new a couple years ago and I have not had a problem with any of the other ones just the lower fronts . Anyone one have any ideas . Thanks Troy

Wow that’s strange. Personally I would still suspect poor quality wheel cylinders even though you’ve tried different brands.

And are your shoes adjusted correctly? What if they are too loose and the wheel cylinder pistons get too close to the bottom?

Or drums or shoes worn enough that the pistons get near the end of their travel?

Well took it apart tonight , it was actually the top wheel cylinder this time , pulled it apart and it was rusty inside . So Iam getting water from somewhere . I put power brakes on the 109 and when I cut the fender to make room for the power brake booster I didn’t cover the hole by the steering box . I know Iam reaching here but what are the chances road water mist off the front tire is making its way into the vent hole in the master cyl cap . Only thing I can think of , when I went through the diffs they got new drum , shoes and wheel cyls , lines etc . Thing stops great when the front brakes don’t have brake fluid all over them lol.going to make a cover for the hole this weekend .

I think I would focus on the brake fluid......DOT 3 and 4 brake fluids are glycol-ether based and are hygroscopic (water absorbing at normal atmospheric humidity levels).
DOT 5 has a different formulation and is hydrophobic....(water repelling).
I would research you brake system components and use the recommended DOT brake fluid.
.....and potentially flush your brake fluid on a fairly regular basis. See if that solves the problem.
Stuart

I’d be pretty surprised if water was spraying in from the wheel. I use DOT 4 in all my vehicles. If I remember correctly it’s the recommended fluid for the LR. Assuming you replaced and flushed the fluid when you did the rest of your brake job, I don’t think it’s been in there too long, especially in Castlegar.
I don’t think that the presence of a bit of rust in the wheel cylinder will in itself cause a leak. It’s when the bottom of the cylinder gets pitted from rusting and the rubber cups can no longer seal the fluid. Were the wheel cylinders new or “rebuilt”? “Rebuilt” cylinders may still have old pitting.

One thing that I really found frustrating in trying to maintain my Series 2 was the very poor quality of replacement parts that were available, especially if they contained rubber. When I first got it, it was 30 years old. I thought it would be wise to replace my brake hoses (which looked perfectly fine). In 5 years the new ones were cracked and weathered. Same story with replacement fuel pumps that didn’t last more than a couple of years.

All the wheel cyls were new . I do run dot 4 fluid as I believe this is what is supposed to be run in the rovers because of the rubber components . Although maybe with the new cyls and brake booster etc the rubber components can handle the dot 5 fluid now . I’ve never had any issues before with any of of my other rovers , ever . Didn’t take much with the brake hone to clean this one up , no pits in any of the leaking ones , more of a rusty stain , quick hone would clean them up but the piston rings must be deteriorated because when I put them back together they all continued to leak . This one I took a brand new piston out of a new wheel cyl assembly and used it in the leaky wheel cyl after I honed it , brakes working great now .

Disc brake conversion kit! 😅

I have a 1968 LR that I still drive. I had brake issues too and it turned out that that the aftermarket rubber seals from Australia could not stand the cold weather in Alberta. The rubber turns brittle, the sealing lip breaks , scores the cylinders and the brakes leak. I have had no issues with the cylinders obtained from Jeremy Pinney, [email protected].