Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 21:02:34 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: Brake system overview
In-Reply-To: <6.0.3.0.0.20060515203908.0354eec0@buncombe.main.nc.us>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
The Vanagon brakes are split front/rear, not diagonal. That diagonal
thing is mostly for light weight front drive cars. The front brakes are
directly connected to the master cylinder. There is a rear brake
pressure regulator, mounted on the right side from member near the spare
tire. There is not an external lever or other bypass means.
The most important part of brake bleeding if you do not have a pressure
bleeder is patience. Fill the reservoir, open the bleeders and walk away
for a while. If you are lucky, some fluid will gravity feed through. The
hard part is getting the chamber in the master filled. Next, close all
bleeders. See if there is any pedal firmness. If not, open left front,
depress pedal, close bleeder, release pedal. You should see the fluid
level in the reservoir drop slightly as the Master sucks it in. Again,
open bleeder, depress pedal, close bleeder, release pedal. After left
front has a good flow, go to right front, then go to rears, one at a
time.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Edward Maglott
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 8:45 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Brake system overview
Still trying to bleed my brakes, and getting no, or very little fluid
from
the front calipers. See my original message below. Now I'm wondering
if
the 2 circuits coming from the master cylinder are really front and
rear,
not split diagonally like I thought. Can anybody confirm this? If so,
which line from the MC is for the front brakes and which for the
rear? Maybe I need to bleed the offending circuit of the MC better
before
trying to bleed the lines.
Edward
>Here's the short version of the events. Replaced Master cylinder.
Broke
>off a bleeder on one of the rear cylinders, so the project stalled. I
went
>out of town, etc, about 3 weeks pass. Anyway, put in the replacement
rear
>wheel cylinder, and start to bleed again. rear wheels bleeding fine.
At
>one point I was getting fluid out of LF, but I don't think the RF ever
was
>giving me much. Now I pump the pedal and then hold it to the floor,
open
>the bleeder and get a very slow minimal flow of fluid. The caliper is
>actually loose like there is no pressure in it pushing on the piston.
I
>suppose it could be seized but I don't think so since it is only a
year or
>2 old. And the LF is doing the same thing now.
>
>Bentley talks about pushing the lever on the brake pressure regulator
>toward the rear axe while bleeding. I think that instruction is from
>another car, since there is no lever on the brake pressure
>regulator. There is a procedure to test the Brake Pressure regulator,
>that involves removing it from the body and tilting it forward. Should
I
>have to do that to bleed the brakes? I could find no hydraulic
schematic
>in the Bentley, but assume this is a dual diagonal braking system.
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