Schmitty: I bled directly at the servo’s single output. That’s the union holding the pipe which goes to the 4-way distributor union.

Glyn: thanks, I’ll check for damage. I know these drawings but they don’t show any details where the distance tube is mounted relative to the body bracket or whether it goes through the hole in the bracket. Perhaps this will be obvious when I see the ordered parts.

Dave

 

"Schmitty: I bled directly at the servo’s single output."

Whatever floats your boat. Either works.

 

I used brake fluid as it's what the Jaguar Service manual says. As it's only a few drops and done away from the car, there's not much risk of spills on to paintwork. I don't know why they indicate brake fluid rather than other oil. I can only guess that, as it's eventually sucked into the servo, they were confident that it's good to lubricate the the rubber seal of the air/vacuum piston without causing it to crack or swell. In very early servos, I think the seal might have been leather.

 

They did away with the breather on S Types as servos progressed to built in. As the newer larger Servo's did not need them or silencing from sighing noises.

 

.... and in a more modern design servo the piston in the vacuum cylinder is sealed by a diaphragm arrangement which has no need of lubricant unlike the sliding rubber seal.

 

Interesting to hear all the different methods for bleeding the brakes on here. On my Yamaha FJ1200 it is a bugger to get all the air out of the system because of the height of the master cylinder in relation to the brake cylinders or the clutch for that matter. In the case of my bike I reverse bleed them. I have a large syringe which I fill with brake fluid and connect this to the nipple of the slave cylinders. I then push the brake fluid into the slave cylinder with the syringe and watch the master as all the air bubbles are expelled then you tighten the nipple and it is done.
Not tried it on a car but it would work.

 

Cass3958, it works. This was the preferred method for bleeding the clutch hydraulics on the Volvo P-1800 that I owned a very long time ago, back in the 1960s...

 

Job done! After fixing up the Panhard rod (see other thread), I went for a short road trip. The brakes work a treat and were not blocked after parking in the garage. Let’s hope that problem is solved. At least I have a new brake servo/booster, rubber vacuum hoses and reservac check valve in the car. I didn’t fully strip down the removed Lockheed unit but I suspect that was the cause for the brakes blocking.
Thanks,
Dave