Date: Tue, 14 Jan 97 18:50:40 -0800
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: vince_pappalardo@om.cv.hp.com
Subject: Rear Brake Job, Observations.
Item Subject: Text_1
Hi All,
I just completed the brake job on my '85 Westy this weekend. I have
done many brake jobs on American, Japanese, Italian, and German cars.
This was me first VW. The brake job took 8 hours (next one will only
take about 4--see observations below). I have some observations that
may help others who are doing this job.
Ob. 1) VW really meant you to pull the hub when doing this job. The
upper return springs are virtually inaccessible with the hub in place.
Solution: After trying for an hour to get at these springs ( I like
to use finesse not brute force when working on mechanical systems) , I
decided to try removing the wheel cylinders since I had to replace
them anyway (they leaked). I discovered you can easily use the
adjuster bar to spread the shoes apart, unbolt the wheel cylinder and
(after breaking it free with a light tap with a soft blow hammer)
rotate it 45 degrees and remove the wheel cylinder. After that you
can back the adjuster bar back down and get at the springs with ease.
Reverse the procedure to reassemble the brakes.
Ob 2) Bleeding the brakes is not as straight forward as other jobs I
have done. At first the bleeding went as expected, lots of bubbles
then clear fluid. However, the brakes still had a few bubbles in them
after about ten bleeds on each wheel (I use the old fashioned two
person method because, as others have posted, the one man check valve
bleeding systems are susceptible to ingesting air into the system if
the nipple is out too far and air leaks in past the threads).
Solution: I'm not sure exactly what out of the following sequence did
the trick but here's what I did. I let the car sit a night because it
was getting cold outside. The next day I did a few bleeds on each
side--still air trapped some where. Since the breaks were mostly
firm, I try just one pump on the break pedal instead of the standard
three. I do this about four bleeds per side--still some small amount
of air is present. I then go back to the standard three pumps for the
heck of it. In the next two bleeds on each side lots of tiny bubbles
come out of both sides. I check the brakes and wala--a firm pedal. I
ended up using almost two of the small (I think 1 pint) cans of DOT4
fluid.
I hope this helps others. Sorry for being so long winded about a
somewhat mundane subject.
Vince.
'85 GL Westy (next up--repack the CV Joints, Replace rusted exhaust)
'90 Mit. Eclipse GSX
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