TheSamba.com :: View topic - Pedal to the metal, but it's the brakes:(

Wed Apr 16, 2003 3:04 am

So, the brakes.... Cylinders replaced last weekend. Brakes bled. But, the brake pedal is to the floor and has to be pumped several times to engage. The bus did sit for extended periods of time before finding a home here. Someone suggested the brake adjusters being frozen, and I am wondering how to 'unfreeze.' I asked this question before and got some feedback, but consider me slow... I just didn't quite get it. I did, onsuggestion of this tribe, buy John Muirs book, which I'll read this eve on brakes... But I just want to drive her safely to and fro the mechanic while we workout her bugs....
Anyone...?
Ferris Bueller?

Wed Apr 16, 2003 6:44 am

Have the same mechanic you talked about in your other thread check the brake adjustment, and the drums for either being scored or cut too many times.The front brakes are alot more work to bleed too as there are two wheel cylinders per front wheel not one,and sometimes people dont get them bled properly. Make sure your wheel (not brake related)bearings are good as the spindles on a 69 can be hard to come by as they are a 68-70 only part. I had to replace the drums on my 69 when I purchased it to get it to brake well. A 69 is a fun bus on the road once these things are ironed out. Good luck.

Sat Jul 26, 2003 7:13 pm

Hi. I know this is an old post, but I wanted to answer it anyway since you got so much trouble with your last mechanic. First thing you should aknowledge, is that you have air in your brake lines, and that's why you have to pump it several times before it engages, and it goes down to the metal.

This is something one can get on any car, and it has to be bleed out. If that's not possible after thouroughly bleeding (look this up in a manual, there is the right and the wrong wheels to start and end on) you have a leakage somewhere, and its taking in new air there. Only way to find it really is to look for leakage, i.e dripping brake fluid. It don't have to be leaking much, it probably has to be disassembled to find it.

As far as brake adjusters go, I dont know for sure on vw bus'es, but normaly a car doesn't have one. And why should they? The disc's up front makes shure they are more heavy powered than rear drums just by design. And the sides should be equal, not differential, so I cant see any need for an adjuster. Thats something one would have on a race car, where they want to fine tune the braking power front and rear, and on sides too, if your running something like an oval track ...

After replacing cylinders, next thing to check would be what we over here call the "master pump" Dont know what you guys call it, but it's the primary pump thats get pumpet by that little shaft on the end of the brake pedal. It could be leaking and take in air, but it can also leak INSIDE making pressure drop and brakes to funktion badly. I have only had this on one car, but then it wasn't any need to pump to get the pressure up, but if you hold the brake in firmly, you would notice that the pedal was slowly moving inwards, because of pressure leaking somewhere, in this case inside the master pump. So then you would'nt have any visible leakage. But Its not any harder to fix than cylinders, not more expensive either. Well, thats in parts price anyway...

I reccon you have checked all brake lines, and brake hoses, if not do it. The symtoms you describe here has nothing to do with drums being worn or anything like that. They could be, sure, but then you would just have poorly performing brakes, not the thing you have, thats air in the lines, and thats a fact!

This is why; Pneumatics, is air based, and hydralic is fluid based. You can use both to move or engage something, but they dont mix. And the reason for this is that air is compressable, and fluids dont!

Thats why you get a squishy brake pedal, its the air (in place of fluid) that is being compressed. Get this thing sorted and then your set. After that you may check the drums and such, but that would be a whole other matter.