Date:         Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:00:48 -0700
Reply-To:     neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: I learned alot about my brakes today....
Comments: To: craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <d1ea9acf0806301627pa73d0cdje0fa7912e04bb031@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi Craig.

On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 4:27 PM, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote:

> The mechanic who failed it tells me the pedal is too low and it needs to be
> pumped a few times to get up. ..... Well yesterday i bled the
> brakes and it seemed to give the pedal a bit more of a consistent feel, but
> the pedal is still low and fades a bit.

By "fades a bit", do you mean the pedal sinks a bit after you pump it
up, sinks even if not pumped up, or that it returns (if brakes not
used) to the lower pedal height some time after you have pumped pedal
up?

Regardless of pumping, if it sinks, that might mean master cylinder problem.

If it returns to the "lower" height, then the need to pump  up the
brakes can also mean the shoes aren't adjusted right.

I'm not certain if a really worn drum would make it impossible to
adjust the shoes out far enough, but this could be the case. i.e. you
adjust shoes as far as possible, but you still need to pump the brakes
to push the shoes out far enough. Kinda guessing on that one though!

Cheers,

Neil.





--
Neil Nicholson '81 JettaWesty "Jaco
http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/