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Date:         Sat, 29 Jun 1996 21:33:23 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Remuse@aol.com
Subject:      81 brake squeal

Many thanks to those who responded with info & solutions re squealing brakes. The most attractive idea(slamming on the brakes while doing 50 in reverse)was only briefly effective and a little unsettling to the neighbors of the church parking lot.I went with the applied goop instead.

As with most vw things, it was not as straight forward as that simple statement implies. Bright and early I drove the vanagon onto the basketball pad in the backyard which since it is flat has become a favorite work area. Pulled out the jack for the first time and it worked beautifully. Could not budge a single lug bolt on either wheel! Put some odd 250 lbs of force on the wrench and succeeded only in bending it. Cussing the tire dealer, I threw everything back in the van and headed to the tire store to get them to break the bolts loose. A little note on the door says they are closed today but their store 15 miles away is open. Screw that, and we're off to three parts stores before I find a beefier metric wrench. Set everything up again and now when I stand on the wrench each bolt gives way with a very satisfying "crack".

Much to my surprise, I've got gobs of pad and rotor. Neither looks very worn. Maybe the PO couldn't take the squeal? I also had the metal "anti-noise" shims although the right wheel had them pointing in the wrong direction. Maybe that had some bearing on the noise? Anyway, it was easy enough to smear the goop on, let it set, and then reinsert with the shims already in place.A lot seemed to scrape off but I don't see how that is avoidable.

How did it work? Don't know yet since when I did this I noticed an odd oil puddle under the left rear of the van, right under the oil cooler I installed last night. Turns out the threads for the brass bayonet fitting and the aluminun cooler actually aren't a proper fit and the thing spewed oil under pressure. When I put it together I thought it a little odd that I couldn't tighten them more than about 1/2 in. What me worry, certainly JCW wouldn't have given me something less than perfectly tested. Tomorrow I'll probably pull the cooler adapter off etc and start over on that project. Hopefully I'll be able to put it back on the road tomorrow, hot but quiet.

Weston


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