Empty Brake Resorvoir, no clutch pedal*Resolved

[sagebus]

Howdy Folks, van has been sitting for the past two years.Doing some work to get her back road worthy. Pushed in clutch pedal, nothing there. Checked brake fluid reservoir, dry. So first i thought clutch slave. Replaced about 12 years ago with new hose. no sign of leaking there, checked all wheels and under van, no signs of leaking. Im thinking the master cylinder has given up sitting in the searing desert heat and winter nights low 30's may have did in the O ring between master and booster. I think i will order new Master from Bus Depot, install and see where im at.Brake booster clean inside,no rust and i could not feel fluid sticking finger in as far as i could. Brake pedal felt good.Thanks for looking, Thoughts?
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1984 Vanagon GL, Wolfsburg Westy 1.9 ltr

[ALIKA T3]

Uugh?

Fill the reservoir and flush and bleed the air out of the clutch circuit and brake circuit. Then from there you can see what has failed for sure.
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Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[sagebus]

i have already removed master. i have never replaced it before, looks original. Is the O ring supposed to be square? May as well put on a new one.
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1984 Vanagon GL, Wolfsburg Westy 1.9 ltr

[MarkWard]

I believe even if all the fluid leaked out of the brake system, the reservoir is designed to retain some fluid for the clutch. Same is true if the clutch hydraulics leaked down, there’d still be fluid for the brakes. I’m thinking you’ve got 2 problems.
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[VicVan]

[Butcher]

35+ years on the road, I would replace all the hydraulic components for the clutch and brake system. There is only so many years that they parts will last and I would not want them to fail while driving it. Neither would the other people on the road.

[sagebus]

You are right on Vic, the gas tank was empty as well after two years, but im not going to replace it. I hope. But i am going to order a tank reseal kit. wanted to buy the kit from Van Cafe with the aluminum fittings, out of stock. the gas tank being empty made changing the fuel lines less messy. Im with Butcher in replacing any 36 year old hydraulic parts. So i thought i would replace the brake master while it was out.Plus need to order a new master to booster O ring, cant buy one here. Rear brake hose and wheel cylinders three years ago. Front brake hose and new clutch slave cylinder with new hose 10 yrs. No drips on driver side floor mats. the van has been parked nose down. Brake fluid must have leaked into booster?
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1984 Vanagon GL, Wolfsburg Westy 1.9 ltr

[MarkWard]

O ring usually comes with new master and it is square.
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[sagebus]

Thanks Mark for confirming that the O ring is square. I pulled one out of my breather tower last week that had been in so long it was square and came out in bits like old hard plastic.I will order new brake master with O ring, new reservoir grommets. along with new reservoir cap so i can drill a hole in it, put in a tire fill valve ( schrader valve?) so i can use the go westy cooling system pressurization pump to pump about 10 lb of air to help bleed brakes and clutch slave. I will report back when i get the parts.Thank you everyone! Can i clean my plastic brake reservoir with brake or carburetor cleaner?
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1984 Vanagon GL, Wolfsburg Westy 1.9 ltr

[MarkWard]

Master will have the reservoir grommets as well. I like to gravity bleed and get an assistant to pump the pedal for the final bleed.
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[Gnarlodious]

Pull the carpet out immediately and examine the mat. If it is saturated with brake fluid it is ruined.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[VicVan]

[sagebus]

Thanks for the tip on the grommets Mark. I will take a closer look at the carpet in the morning Gnarlodious, it didnt appear to have leaked out of of the dash area at a simple glance. Carpet is already pretty matted down and gnarly as it is. i have a new set of camper curtains on order from Sewfine. I am looking around for new carpet in the front as well. May use Sewfine carpet too. And Vic thanks for the video link. Youtube has been a big help to me. I will order parts in the morning, should get them by the end of the week. I have plenty of other repairs ongoing. Replaced the push rod tubes on the right side yesterday. Having a little trouble getting the rocker arm on while keeping the rods seated. Bought the spring loaded push rod tubes from Ken Wilford, i read on his site today vanagon dot com, that a little dab of grease may help keep the rods seated until i can get the rocker back on.No doubt i will need advice with in days to come.Thanks for your time everyone.
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1984 Vanagon GL, Wolfsburg Westy 1.9 ltr

[Gnarlodious]

I said that because the original black tube coming down from the reservoir is very stiff so the plastic nipple in back (front vanwise) of the clutch cylinder can flex from pushing the pedal which causes the nipple to fatigue and crack and leak. You can’t really see the crack but it gets worse over time and eventually the mat gets saturated and is ruined because the brake fluid acts as a solvent. Happened to me and it was a big old mess. I replaced the original rigid tube with a more flexible clear vinyl tube, which has worked well for about 8 years.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[sagebus]

OK, three weeks later i replaced brake master and clutch master as i assumed the brake master had leaked into brake booster. While ordering the clutch master it said that the clutch slave should be replaced at the same time so ordered slave as well. After taking off the slave cylinder, the boot was full of brake fluid. Found the leak! I didnt see any signs of leaking until i pulled off the boot. I have a lot of oil leaks i have been trying to stop when i discovered i had no clutch when i wanted to put gearshift in neutral so i could turn over the engine by hand to help get the pushrods seated in place.Well the pushrods have kept me busy as i had a long wait for parts to be shipped.Brake master was missing the O ring when i opened the box, $12.95 for the O ring by its self. Local VW dealer got one the next day so i didnt have to wait another week for shipping. I was worth it just to get it done. Now about those pushrods. I have read all kinds if tips watched the video's i could find, no luck...
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1984 Vanagon GL, Wolfsburg Westy 1.9 ltr