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Mon Dec 22, 2003 11:19 am

What in the world is up with my brakes! When I step on my brakes kind of hard for a distance then when I let off sometimes the brakes stick, but when I pop in the clutch I can hear the master cylinder shooting back out to normal. Is My master cylinder just bad? thanks

Mon Dec 22, 2003 6:01 pm

What sound does a master cylinder make? If you get pedal, it's probably not the master cylinder. VW brakes aren't very complicated. Pull the drums off and replace the shoes [they're cheap]. Rebuild the wheel cylinders while yer there [also cheap]. More than likely that'll do the trick.

I think you need to fix this before you drive to much farther.

jeffrey

Mon Dec 22, 2003 8:13 pm

I'm with Jeff. Fix the brakes pronto. They may be stopping you now, but that could quickly change in a panic stop. That's not a position I would want to be in, especially if I knew I could have prevented it. A couple hundered $$ for a complete brake overhaul, is much better than whackin' another car with a soccer mom and kids. In my job I see it all the time and it's not pretty. Unfortunately if you know your vehicle has a problem, and you don't fix it prior to an accident, the whole game changes.

Something is making you shoes stick. ie crud, broken parts, weak springs.

Mon Dec 22, 2003 9:52 pm

My front brakes are discs, I put them in about a month ago. How in the world could it be my pads sticking and they unstick when I put in the clutch? I'm a little bit confused about this. Also I replaced the whole brake system about 10 months ago.

Mon Dec 22, 2003 10:21 pm

Ahh. More information. That's a good question, wasn't aware they were discs. I may have missed that. Are you just letting the cltch out, or popping the clutch? Pooping the clutch can cause a lot of things to rattle, and if your pads are sticking it may just be enough to set them free. Check the pads to see if they have any wear marks where they come in contact with the caliper.

Does it do this when you mash the breaks sitting in your garage? Try a dry run. Have the car running and stand on the brakes while you are stopped and see if they still hang-up. This will at least rule-out excess heat or friction caused by hard breaking.

IS it just the front or all four? If it's all four, it may be your master cylinder

Tue Dec 23, 2003 10:51 am

It's only the front that are discs, and they are hanging up when I push in the clutch, not when I'm popping it. Hopefully I will have a chance tomarrow to look at the back shoes. How would I go about checking the front pads on the discs? thanks

Tue Dec 23, 2003 11:14 am

Pull the pads like you were going to replace them. Check for any uneven wear or friction points were the may be binding in the caliper.

You lost me a bit on that last post.
Quote: It's only the front that are discs, and they are hanging up when I push in the clutch, not when I'm popping it.

I think you meant they are "releasing" when you push in the clutch?

Anyway the whole clutch thing really makes no sense (not on your part) it just has nothing to do with your brake system.

If you don't release the clutch, do the brakes stay locked-up?