Date:         Fri, 30 Jan 2004 09:39:10 -0500
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Subject:      Re: wierd brake stuff :-(
Comments: To: Adam B <TheCoolestGuy87@AOL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <18e.25207f24.2d4b2c1e@aol.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004, Adam B wrote:

> Hey everyone,
>
> After I got my front rotors and pads and rear wheel cylinders replaced (all
> OEM parts) a couple months ago, my brakes are doing this wierd thing. When I
> press the brake pedal in, it goes down quite far and the brakes do not grip
> as
> they should. When I push the pedal down, bring it up, and push it down again,
> the brakes grab real hard. My friends suggested that it was the master
> cylinder

As several people have suggested, while it *could* be the master cylinder,
these are classic symptoms of misadjusted rear brakes.  The rear brakes
effectively set your pedal height.

If your emergency brake works at all, a quick check is to pull it up a
couple of notches and see if the brakes firm up.  (This moves the rear
shoes closer to the drums.)  If they do, it's definately your rear brake
adjustment that's at fault.


David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon