Zafira - weird brake problem

suet33

OK - we took our car into a bodyshop today to check some damage missed on a previous accident repair. The damage consisted of some sort of 'creasing' inside the engine cavity which they had to take the air filter out to find. The problem had been spotted when our garage were replacing the cam belt and water filter - they found that an engine mount was broken and couldn't fit a new one as the chassis was out of alignment.

ANYWAY ... the repair shop looked at it today and found the fault but obviously put bits back together differently as from leaving there to home the whole car (engine/exhaust etc) vibrated and shook. Then, later this afternoon when I went to go out again the brake pedal was seized up - could just get the slightest pressure but not able to drive it - when you press on the brake pedal it just feels 'seized' and won't press down.

So my question is - could it be something to do with them removing the air filter or leaving the engine 'loose' and shaking about that has caused this problem?? Or is it just a monumental coincidence??

Any suggestions would be appreciated - they are coming to look at it tomorrow but I would like to have some idea what could have caused it before they arrive!!

Thanks

goldspanners

suet33 wrote: »

when you press on the brake pedal it just feels 'seized' and won't press down.

was the engine running and handbrake off when you pressed the pedal down?

mchale

Sounds like brake servo pipe disconnected, get it back to garage asap, brakes will still work but with no servo assistance

cyclonebri1

Sounds very much like it to me too. Quite likely to have been dislodged damaged while they were fumbling about.;)

Hintza

suet33 wrote: »

they found that an engine mount was broken and couldn't fit a new one as the chassis was out of alignment.

Although immediately crucial, the brakes might be the least of your worries.

What are the proposals to get the car (chassis/mounting) fixed? How old is the car? etc etc

austin

mchale wrote: »

Sounds like brake servo pipe disconnected, get it back to garage asap, brakes will still work but with no servo assistance

youd think they would have noticed that on a test drive. it should never have left the garage in that state. bet they never bothered to test drive it!

the_big_fact_hunt

if there is chassis damage i would contact the repairer from the previous accident as there may be other problems with the vehicle as it sounds like it was not inspected properly after the accident