Date:         Sat, 7 Oct 2000 20:35:40 +1200
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:      Re: Brake troubles - need opinions...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>List,
>
>On the way to work this morning, I stomped on the brake peddle, and rather
>than offering the smooth, steady, reassuring firmness of a functioning
>system, it is nothing short of mush.  Peddle was mush, with no stopping
>effort, to a certain point, about half-way thru the distance between
>normal, at rest position, and the floor.  It hesitated, like hitting some
>kind of stop, then pushed past thru until I could feel the brakes - only
>the fronts, based on a seat-of-the-pants evaluation - grabbed, and rather
>poorly at best.  Oh, yeah, the dashboard brake light, above the headlight
>switch, is on - like the hand break is engaged.
>
>From the feel of things, replacing pads, drums, rotors, calipers, wheel
>cylinders, may not cure the problem.  I'm only going to have one shot at
>repairing this between now and BBTT next weekend.  Thoughts and guidence
>welcomed, encouraged, and really appreciated.
>
>Alan Bosch
>& Phred ('88 Wolfsburg)
>Rochester, NY


Sounds like a seal has blown somewhere in your hydraulics. You still have
brakes, but they barely work. Happened to me just after buying my
Caravelle, blew a left rear cylinder seal. The dual-circuit system ensures
that you can still stop, but you certainly won't stop in a hurry.

Check your wheel cylinders and calipers for wetness, which will also tend
to drain onto the wheel and be sprayed around the inner surface. If nothing
is evident, the inner seal in your master cylinder may have failed,
allowing fluid to pass from one circuit to the other.

Andrew