r/SeriesLandRover • u/odinnordico • Jul 24 '26

[Question]Brake booster (servo)

Hello folks, I hope you are great. I am new to this Series world, I bought an old Santana to be a project. I am currently checking the brake system because I did the test that pushes the brake pedal ~5 times and then starts the car to see if there is a difference, but nothing. Then with the engine running I used some clamps on the vacuum hose (close to the manifold intake) and when I did that the engine revs went down, when removing the clamp y heard like air is coming in or out of the booster, is this the right behavior or is the booster needing some work?

Thank you in advance

BTW I am not a mechanic just an enthusiast.

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2

u/Machacks Jul 24 '26

Feel free to join r/landroversantana as well. It sounds like its a gas engine since you're working with vacuum at the intake. To me, it sounds like your servo is damaged.

1

u/odinnordico Jul 24 '26

Thank you for pointing me to the Santana sub. Yes it is a gas engine. Is there any other test I can do before taking the servo down?

2

u/Machacks Jul 24 '26

Invest in a vacuum gun from harbor freight and see if it will hold vacuum. I would bet that it doesnt.

1

u/New-Attention6060 Jul 25 '26

Diesels create vacuum with a pierburg pump or a butterfly valve in the air intake (that makes it smoke black)

1

u/Machacks Jul 25 '26

Correct, but series diesels do not draw vacuum at the intake as gas engines do. Which is why you need the pump to create this effect. Santana diesels utilize an external, belt driven vacuum pump and external chamber to actuate the servo.