Technical Sedici 1..9 Elegnza Diesel 2006 Spongy break pedal

[Des999]

Hi all I've got a Sedici Eleganza 1.9 Diesel 2006 with a spongy break pedal. I've had it looked at by 4 different mechanics and they keep saying its supposed to travel to the floor like that. I've had it for five years and it didn't do it till about April this year. When you need to brake you have to pump the brake pedal to get any pressure in the system.
Apparently the discs and pads are good and the rear brake shoes have plenty of meat left on them. The brake fluid is not leaking from master or wheel cylinders and the brake pipes show no breaks in them.
The system has been bled twice but the problem's still there.
Any ideas guys what it might be? Any suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Greasytrucker]

Ah car has rear brake drums and shoes.......
If brake shoe adjusters no longer adjusting for wear that causes long brake pedal stroke

Years ago on my classic mini I used to drive with the handbrake on a click or two when the rear brakes were out of adjustment and that used to reduce pedal travel significantly. I wonder if the op could try this to see if it reduces travel in this instance? If so then that’d be the answer you would think

 

[4x4EqualsSedici]

I'll get that looked at cheers

Looks like I'm about a year late in this discussion, but found several potential causes for this condition that I too have experienced. The first suspect could center around your antilock brake circuit, as I've noted the pedal goes to the floor when braking and uneven surfaces/loss of traction are encountered. This leads me to suspect that the ABS works on the basis of fluid routing, and the event will raise your hair feeling like abject brake failure. After such events it takes a few cycles to recover for my two Fiat Sedici vehicles I've known.

It happened again to me where the pedal was ridiculously spongy and I thought again my brakes were failing. In this case I had a RF tire with low pressure, which leads me to ask if you by chance have different tire sizes on the vehicle, whether or not both in front or rear are the same. Differentiated traction will trigger the ABS to function, leaving your pedal continually spongy. I'd suggest maintaining 4 identical tires checked for appropriate size based on OEM specs for your particular model, and with good, even tread. Be sure to rotate the tires to keep tread even, as all know the fronts bear the weight and traction and wear faster. Both the tire size, width and profile are important as the computer was calibrated with OEM specified traction coefficients.

Let me know if this helps.