Rear brake cylinder advice please

[maestro vans]

The brake pedal on the meastro travels about 4-5 inches before the brakes work.If it turn off the engine and pump the pedal to release air from the vacuum servo it only travels 1-2 inches.....strange.
I removed the 2 nuts on the master brake cylinder to check behind to see if its leaking. Have seen this before where fluid leaks past the seals and accumulates in the servo housing. It was dry as a bone thou!
Also I checked the rear wheel cylinders.Initially I thought they was OK.........
no leaking fluid evident, however when peeliing the dust boot back there was fluid behind the boot. Surely this cant be right?......but if it was leaking I assume fluid would be pushed out under pressure and be everywhere. Why is this not the case?. Any ideas. I also checked the front pads, they were slightly down about half thickness left. Would a new set bring the pedal any higher. I also guessed maybe air in the system, but the brakes work efficiently.its just the travel that worries me
Also I checked that the self adjusting mechanism was working on the rear shoes as this can lead to a lot of pedal travel. The mechanism was OK thou!
Any ideas or advice on this one would be appreciated. I'm fresh out of ideas now.

Thanks

[E_T_V]

If there is fluid behind the boots then this indicates that the cylinders are leaking and should be replaced. However this probably won't cause your excessive pedal travel.

The first suspect is the self adjusting mechanism.
The second is ages and bulging brake pipes flexi hoses
The third is air in the system

When I replaced all the brake flexis my pedal feel on my van got 100% better so I'd recommend you do this, and re-grease up the self adjusters on the rear. One way you can see if it is these having an effect is to pull up the handbrake then press the brake pedal. If the travel is lots less then the self adjusters on the rear aren't working correctly.

I've got to dash to a meeting now but I'll try and think of a few more things later

[maestro vans]

Thanks for the reply. Is there anyway of seeing the flexi pipes bulging, or do I have to go around clamping each one in turn and seeing if there's any difference?

[E_T_V]

If they are still the originals then I'd replace them on spec rather than bother testing them as testing them can cause damage to them when you clamp them. I think they are about 7 to 10 pounds a corner or something like that. There was nothing "wrong" with mine when I changed them however the pedal feel after replacing them vas still improved massively. However yes clamping them will work to isolate the problem to one particular section. Also have you tried bleeding the brakes? If fluid can get out of the rear cylinders then air can also get in. It certainly must be worth a go to see if that is the problem.