Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 17:52:01 -0900
Reply-To: Michael Moery <mikemoery@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Moery <mikemoery@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject: Re: Frustration in Brake Land
In-Reply-To: <14b.36de38c.29145b4c@aol.com>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
I had a dragging brake caliper problem several years ago on my '82.
After much frustration and work, I decided to disassemble and inspect
the master cylinder. I found that the piston inside consists of two
halves that screw together in the middle, and that they had come partly
unscrewed, causing one of the two circuits to hold an air bubble in it,
since the bleed port to the reservoir never opened to that circuit when
the pedal was released. I screwed the pistons back together tight, and
the problem was solved. I guess it's possible that you may have a
similar problem.
Mike Moery, Anchorage, AK
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**'Ol Bessie '82TD Westy***
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of KENWILFY@AOL.COM
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2001 11:26 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Frustration in Brake Land
I have a '80 Vanagon Westie here that is trying to drive me insane. The
guy brought it in to have some brake work done. He could see that one
of his calipers was leaking and draging and the pedal was feeling soft.
He told me to replace the brake booster, the master cylinder, and the
front calipers and whatever the brake system needed.
I had a set of known good, used calipers that we decided to use for the
front and I set my helper on this project because I was busy with two
other vans.
My helper replaced the booster, the master cylinder, and the two front
calipers. We then bled the system. Pedal was still low and it seemed
that you could pump it up, then let off of it, and after a few seconds
it was low again. I then inspected the rear brakes. One wheel cylinder
was bad, I replaced that and I also had a thin drum on one side. I put
a new drum on and also a new set of shoes. We bled it three more times.
Still low pedal, kinda smooshie. I went out and bought a power bleeder
(Mity Vac). I had wanted one of these for a while any way. Bled it
again, still the same. I inspected the metal lines and the rubber lines
and found that all of the rubber lines had bulges in them. I thought I
had finally found the problem. I replaced all of the lines with new
ones. Bled the system again. Still the same!!
Any suggestions? I am starting to suspect that my helper did something
wrong when he installed the brake booster, however I can't figure out
how the brake booster could cause a low, smooshie pedal. The only other
thing I can think of is that the one of the parts we put on is
defective. Any help would be appreciated. Usually brake jobs are so
simple, this one is starting to get to me.
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
Phone: (856)-765-1583
Fax: (856)-327-2242
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