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Date:         Mon, 15 Apr 1996 11:46:20 +0200 (MET DST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Darie Duclos <darie@tell.ascom.ch>
Subject:      SUMMARY: front calipers & rusted bleeder valves

My original posting said:

> The "things" that squeeze the brake pads onto the disks > apparently block in a closed position causing the brakes > to get very hot and to loose braking action.

I was told by a few of you that it was worth changing just the hoses that feed the fluid to the calipers. Unfortunately I can't confirm that this would have solved the problem. We changed the hoses but couldn't bleed the brakes because the valves were rusted in place. Ex-S.O. managed to get one of them off using Pepsi (this was recommended by a local garage), a wire brush and vice-grips, but the other one broke off. When he tried to drill it out, he drilled the hole smooth. :-( So he bought me new calipers. :-)

Having changed the hoses and the calipers, the van now does 135 km/h! I can't stand to think of how long these brakes have been blocked! The van has been in Switzerland since September and I don't remember being able to do more than 105 km/h under 4000 rpm since then at least. I even changed the pads a couple of months ago. Luckily I don't use the van very often! I just assumed it was poor performance.

Thanks for the helpful tips.

Darie '86 Westfalia


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