TheSamba.com :: View topic - Brakes just suck and mine are the worst help my bay

Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:17 pm

I"ll start this with saying that I use my brakes very sparingly and i calculate corners such so i have minimal usage. Its and 71 weekend westy. So i started with replacing the master cly and front calipers, rotors turned but still within specs. had trouble bleeding so then moved on to all the rubber brake lines. bled great. still not the best braking. after a few weeks of normal driving i started having the strangest problem. if i used my brakes too much or almost any, they would start to heat up, only in the front. and this would progress to the point that they would be locking and i'd have to park it and take the bus home. after they locked i could bleed the fronts out a few times and then i'd be ok to drive for a few more day untill the whole process happend again. oh and this really kills the millage. duhh. So lately i've taken the calipers apart and inspected them. they look fine, they're frikin new, right. so then i figured something was wrong with the master, it was NOS. so it's still old as dirt even though it was new. i no longer have the problem with the fronts releasing, they just really really suck. the petal goes to the floor almost instantly then you have to stand on it to stop decently. like if some jerk cuts me off. I just finished bleeding out again to make sure there is no air and there isn't. One more thing i just noticed has surfaced. the brake petal dosn't come back up all the way. this isn't my problem with the brakes sucking, but i think it's all related. sure enough if i drive it then after braking pull the brake petal up about 1 and 1/2 in then they do release all the way, but the brakes are still garbage.

So what can i do to make the petal come up all the way so the front's don't drag, and what do you think about the overall stopping just not happing well.

i only post when i've hit the wall. you guys are the best
-isaac

Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:25 pm

IMHO - There are three possibilities. One is that the calipers are bad, the master cyl is bad (or mis-adjusted) or the proportioning valve is bad. I would start by adjusting then replacing the master cyl if adjusting it doesn't help. There is a little hole that opens when the seals/cups return to rest. It allows fluid to flow back into the master cyl res. If it is plugged, the seals swollen or mis-adjusted they can block the hole and trap pressure in the lines. Since you say both sides are doing it evenly I would start with the master cyl.

Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:32 pm

how do you go about adjusting the master cly. it is new. anything with pics would be great thanks

Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:37 pm

do you have a bentley manual?

Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:55 pm

Very first thing is go get a service manual. Evidently you don't have one. '71 brakes are awesome and to be awesome they have to be done right. The book tells how. Fix you pedal and correctly adjust it. That is a cause of some of your problems. Are you rear brakes in good shape and properly adjusted? If not, that is the cause of some of your other problems. And then there is also the possibility that your calipers arn't set up right. Without the book you probably wouldn't know how to do it. There is too much involved to give you little bits and pieces of how to fix it. Brakes are too important to not take seriously. Do it before you hit the wall! :wink: If you're hoping to just get by with our help here you might end up with a mickey mouse job and still hit the wall. Park it until you get the manual.

Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:06 pm

thanks. i have the manual. i'll do my homework tonight.

Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:28 pm

By the way....

It's McMinnville!

I've been thinkin' of starting a NW version of IAC....

I need a job.