I've got a 1988 Volvo 480Turbo being due for the danish version of MOT. When I got around to the brakes, I ran into a problem. The front brakes were a doddle, came apart fine and just as easy to reassemble. It was when I started on the rear calipers, my problems started.
When I push the brake pedal down, the pads squeeze together just fine, but when I pull the handbrake (and also by activating the lever on the caliper), no response. With the pads removed, I tried resetting the brake piston, with proper tools, but it seems pretty stuck, even though it seems to behave okay when using the brake pedal?!?
When I look at the caliper there is the brake fluid inlet, the bleed valve and then an extra hole being plugged with a screw. This extra hole was dry when I removed the screw - what is this for?
The handbrake cable has a minor bend, but doesn't seem to be affected by it; when activated, it retracts and extends as I would expect. Also, the actuator lever on the caliper itself can be operated by hand (of course to a smalle extent), but this doesn't seem to activate the brakes at all.
Another thing, I don't understand, is the "stuck" piston - it feels really solid when I try to push it back to make room for the new brake pads (actually, I am not able to push it back at all), but as I said above, the brakes work fine when I push the pedal down?!?
Hope someone here can bring a hapless Dane closer to a solution as the deadline for the MOT is getting close.
