Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:39:10 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Soft Brake Pedal Pressure after driving with Emergency brake
on.
In-Reply-To: <9B4B36D4-518A-4C41-A1A8-2DED53786678@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
The best 'way to proceed' in all cases of brake issues is..
do a good careful and complete inspection of everything first..
then...asses what parts or adjustments and service are needed.
usually if I do 'anything' to a wheel...
I bleed in fresh brake fluid to it ..
usually people do all four wheels at the same time of course.
if you drive nicely ...your front pads could good have good life left yet.
( fwiw ..mine brakes barely wear. I don't baby them though.
I would say two things about using brakes so they stay healthy ..
the first one is avoid excessive very light braking ..that contributes
to disc brake squeal.
Secondly ...use them to about 2/3 of their ability once in a while...
say slowing medium hard from say 50 to 20 ...do that on purpose now and
then. I don't drive that many miles per year actually ...but I have
vans with 5 years of use on the front brake pads and they are still at
90 % remaining. My rears don't wear out either. )
yes the rears are self-adjusting.
if you used decent quality rear wheel cylinders they could still be ok..
though if you wnt 6 yrs on the same brake fluid ...that's rather long.
the rear wheel cylinders are the part that generally starts failing
first, in my experience.
but always do a good thorough inspection in all four wheels first.
it's impossible for me to imagine a vanagon never getting it's wheels
and tires off teh ground and things wiggled, inspected or serviced in
some way..... for years on end.
Be like never taking a boat out of the water.
On any vehicle that's 'really loved and operated in a rewarding
responsible way' ..it gets off the ground at least once a year, often
more than that. . It's just good fun, and safety-promoting to get it in
the air, wheels off, etc.
a lot of it is just servicing and inspecting and cleaning and adjusting.
There is a huge difference between 'just driving it' ...and checking
things here and there now and then.
On 3/21/2012 10:31 AM, Robert Stewart wrote:
> I thought the rears were self adjusting?
>
> So I have not replaced my rear drums in like 6 years, I guess this is a good time to flush the fluid, replace the rear drums and front pads again?
>
> I replaced the cylinders with new ones 6 years ago.
>
> I am just wondering how best to proceed.
>
> If there are good resources on the samba or youtube I would appreciate any links.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
>
> On Mar 21, 2012, at 1:18 PM, Daryl Christensen wrote:
>
>> Readjust the rear brakes and it should typically be fine.
>> My brother just did that on my Doka en route from Montana, and the pedal
>> dropped about 1 1/2" or so. I did Dennis Haynes addition of a washer under
>> the lower pivots, repl the seeping cylinders, readjusted and It is back to
>> being spiffy.
>>
>> Daryl of AA Transaxle
>> 425-788-4070
>> "On the cutting edge of Old technology"
>> 86 Syncro Westy w/Turbo Zetec in the trunk
>> 90 Doka Tristar w/2.5 Subie
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
>> Robert Stewart
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:19 AM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Soft Brake Pedal Pressure after driving with Emergency brake on.
>>
>> Hello Everyone,
>>
>> I replaced my front brake pads several months ago and the pressure has been
>> great since. The other day someone other than myself pulled my emergency
>> brake lever. I did not know and wound up driving with it on for 20 minutes
>> on the highway. I started to smell something and I immediately released it.
>> After doing so I realized my brake pressure on the pedal sank a bit.
>>
>> What happened and how do I resolve this?
>>
>> I have not checked my brake fluid level since this happened. I will check it
>> but what can I do to resolve this?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Robert
>> Bloomingburg NY
>> --
>> Rob
>> Bloomingburg, New York
>> 88 Wolfsburg, Silver
>> 257,777 miles - automatic, engine rebuilt with 7K on it, all new fuel and
>> coolant lines in engine bay. New front brake pads.
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