I went up the road, got to the T junction at the Main road, hit the Brakes, and almost NOTHING happened.
I wasnt going that fast as the engine was cold, and I had only done about 500 yards from home.
I thought the brakes had perhaps siezed or were being sluggish, as there was some braking force, but not enough by a long way!
So I drove it to the next village abd back, hitting the brakes every few tens of yards. By the time I got home the brakes were a little better.
So I resigned myself to a brake stripdown to see what was not working. I suspected sticking pistons.
Also the engine wasnt its usually pull like a train self.
I thought I would check under the bonnet for the brake fluid first.
I had left the engine running (dont know why I did that), and noticed a hissing sound that was not normally present.
Closing in on the sound, it was coming from the Servo. It turned out that then leak was from the Vacuum one way Check valve which is pushed into the servo. Closer inspection shows that it had been broken and repaired with Hot Melt Glue or similar.
Now thats what I call a bodge!
I have searched Ebay and the Net, and cant find one on line.
I will be getting a replacement part, as soon as I gan get into town to the Merc dealer.
It turns out that the leak in the vacuum pipe was making it limit the RPM to 3k. Whihc was a good pointer after I had thought about it!
So the upshot, its simple... check your vehciles carefully before their first run of the season.
Take care lads...
