Date:         Wed, 3 Apr 1996 09:42:54 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <des@teleport.com>
Subject:      Re: Help..............won't stop

Darie Duclos writes:
> 
> I'm not versed in brakes on a '72, but I've just been told
> that a similar problem on my vanagon is probably due to the
> front brakes locking up and heating up. Once they've heated
> up, it takes a long time to stop the van. I've been told they
> are most likely locking because of a problem with the hoses
> that are attached to the calipers and not because of the
> calipers themselves. I will be changing the hoses tonight
> to confirm this fact.

I should say something here, since I started this idea of the brake
hoses clogging.  In the last few years my front brakes have not been
very good.  They would always pull to the left and drag no matter how
much I bled the system.  I assumed that the calipers were sticking, and
bought some good used ones from a friend's junked '78 (I think) bus.
They still had the hoses attached.  Before I bought them I pushed in the
pistons with my fingers to make sure they weren't sticking.  I replaced
the right one first (since the bus was pulling to the left) and lo and
behold, when I removed the brake line from the caliper, expecting fluid
to pour out, none did.  I then removed the hose and tried to blow
through it and could not.  After I replaced the right caliper and hose,
the bus pulled to the *right*.  I figured that the left hose was also
plugged.  Finally got around to replacing the left hose/caliper last
weekend, and sure enough that hose was plugged too.  Now the bus doesn't
pull any more, and the brakes don't drag.  I suggested to Darie that he
might be having the same problem, and since the replacement cost for
calipers is so high for him, he should check the hoses first.  I didn't
really mean to imply that the hoses were *most likely* the problem, only
that they might be the cause of the problem.  In any case, it's easy to
check.  If you remove the hose and you can't blow through it, it is bad.
If you can blow through it, then the problem is elsewhere.  Hope I
haven't misled anyone.
 
-David

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David Schwarze                   '73 VW Safare Custom Camper       (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA               '73 Capri GT 2800                (Da Beast)
e-mail: des@teleport.com         '87 Mustang Lx 5.0          (13.986@100.81)
http://www.teleport.com/~des     '93 Weber WG-50                  (Da Piano)
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