Thanks to everyone on the list that gave me advice on my brakes. I'll summarize the problems/solutions for the benefit of others. Problem: Brake pedal would go slowly down to the floor when stopped at a light. Would become hard after a single pump, but very very slowly go back down. No change in brake fluid level over a period of months. No signs of leaking fluid anywhere. Brakes were bled, pads changed, calipers inspected. Problem still occurred. Vanagon List Diagnosis: brake master cylinder leaking internally and causing fluid to leak back into brake fluid container. Solution: Ordered a master cylinder from Volkscafe for $100. Got it next day by UPS. (I live close). Popped open the instrument cluster cover, took out the instrument cluster (which I had done several times before), took off the hard lines and 2 bolts. Within an hour, the master cylinder was out. New one popped in without any problems. But then, I had to bleed the system. This proved more challenging. For cost reasons, I figured that it was cheaper to listen to my wife complain about pumping the peddle in the cold night air than paying $50 for a pressure bleeder. :-) In a way, I feel it brings me and my wife closer together. ;-) I even got my son to hold the flashlight. Main problem with the bleeding appears to have been small bits of junk that was clogging a brake bleeder screw. Once I decided to take the bleeder screw out and clean them, the process went smoothly. I also decided to buy three extra bottles of brake fluid and just have them there so I wouldn't feel like trying to conserve new fluid. I really drained the old fluid and air out. Thanks to everyone. One problem solved, several more to go. I still have a problem with a misfire in my engine, so I'll be asking for advice again soon. I may try to take out the engine over the Thanksgiving holiday. Regards, Craig |
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