ramrod;c-159537 wroteHow old is the master cylinder?
I'd say 16-17 years.
I'm told that symptoms of failing master cylinders is leakage, I don't recall spilling any brake fluid (which doesn't necessarily mean it didn't happen) and the paint on the booster has definitely been brake-fluided.
However I drove it in all sorts of conditions from hilly country roads to bumper-to-bumper for that ~4hrs on Saturday (with the new fluid), and it's not lost any. I still thought it felt squishy.
ROLL DMC wroteBrake fade is caused by too much heat, the friction qualities of the pad/rotor (or shoe/drum) stop working, or the fluid is boiling. The pedal will go hard and the car will not slow down very well.
Hmm, well maybe it's not "fade" per se, the pedal didn't go hard at all, it felt more like it had too much travel & wasn't doing as much as it usually does.
ROLL DMC wroteAt a guess, knowing little of the car etc, it may want front pads and rotors. I use Bremtec pads from Voldat in my 200s and they are great around town and not dusty. Did you look at the pads when bleeding? Much meat on them?
I'm happy to do a lot of things myself, but brakes is one of those things I prefer to pay someone who knows what they're doing to do … so no, I didn't look at the pads. It's only been a few hundred km's since I last did, though, and they had plenty of meat then. They're EBC Green Stuff (so shouldn't wear as quickly as the yellows or reds) only have maybe 10k km at a maximum on them, probably less. But it has been quite some
time since I checked them, so yeah I might check them again.
I'm starting to get a bit suspicious that I've just become used to a new car with Brembos and that the Volvo's just old ...