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zerotofifty
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2003
Posts: 4245
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 Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2025 9:42 am Post subject: Stuck Rear Brake, 914 |
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Hi. My 914 rear caliper on one side is sometimes staying on after I release the parking brake. The cable is correctly adjusted. The lever at the caliper to which the cable is attached is not always returning to the brake off position. I can reach the caliper and with very little finger pressure, move the lever to the off position.
This came up a while ago, I smelt burning brakes when driving. I did lube the lever and return spring with some oil, and the problem went away for a bit, but it is acting up again.
For now I am not using the hand brake.
So I am thinking what might be the cause. Could the return spring have lost its tension (perhaps from heat??)
It aint dirty so it aint an issue of grit or debris causing it to not return.
I have adjusted the venting clearance also. The calipers are otherwise in good shape, were rebuilt not too many years ago, fluid maintained well, it aint like this is some long not used vehicle sitting in a barn that has rusty internals.
So what are the possible causes of this. I am thinking maybe I might try replacing the return spring, but want other ideas before I dig into it.
Again, I can release the brake with very little finger pressure on that caliper lever, as if the spring just had a slight bit more tension it would do the trick. The cable is indeed slack when the inside car brake lever is fully down.
Thanks!
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Give Peace a Chance.
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raygreenwood
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 23507
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2025 2:46 pm Post subject: Re: Stuck Rear Brake, 914 |
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| zerotofifty wrote: |
Hi. My 914 rear caliper on one side is sometimes staying on after I release the parking brake. The cable is correctly adjusted. The lever at the caliper to which the cable is attached is not always returning to the brake off position. I can reach the caliper and with very little finger pressure, move the lever to the off position.
This came up a while ago, I smelt burning brakes when driving. I did lube the lever and return spring with some oil, and the problem went away for a bit, but it is acting up again.
For now I am not using the hand brake.
So I am thinking what might be the cause. Could the return spring have lost its tension (perhaps from heat??)
It aint dirty so it aint an issue of grit or debris causing it to not return.
I have adjusted the venting clearance also. The calipers are otherwise in good shape, were rebuilt not too many years ago, fluid maintained well, it aint like this is some long not used vehicle sitting in a barn that has rusty internals.
So what are the possible causes of this. I am thinking maybe I might try replacing the return spring, but want other ideas before I dig into it.
Again, I can release the brake with very little finger pressure on that caliper lever, as if the spring just had a slight bit more tension it would do the trick. The cable is indeed slack when the inside car brake lever is fully down.
Thanks! |
I literally had this same problem on my rear calipers on my Golf mk6 about two years ago. They are very similar to the 914 rear calipers.....in the parking brake mechanism.
If you KNOW that they are in excellent shape internally....then yes it "could" be the spring....but I doubt it.
What I found was that where the pin that is attached to the lever that is attached to the cable.....enters the caliper body.....it got a small amount of either grit or rust between that rotating pin and the caliper body. It can also be the seal or o-ring for that rotating pin getting dried out and stiff (if yours has one).
It literally only took a couple of ounces of finger pressure to cause the parking brake lever to snap back to 0 under the tension of its spring.
What I did was spray the area where the rotating pin enters the caliper body first with brake cleaner. A minute later after it evaporated.....I sprayed it with this
https://www.harborfreight.com/10-oz-specialist-dry...Z8QAvD_BwE
It has a very fluid and fast evaporating solvent (probably hexane or similar)....but has a ton of PTFE that dries to a microscopic film almost instantly. Fixed it.
Ray |
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zerotofifty
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2003
Posts: 4245
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| Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2025 7:36 pm Post subject: Re: Stuck Rear Brake, 914 |
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| raygreenwood wrote: |
| zerotofifty wrote: |
Hi. My 914 rear caliper on one side is sometimes staying on after I release the parking brake. The cable is correctly adjusted. The lever at the caliper to which the cable is attached is not always returning to the brake off position. I can reach the caliper and with very little finger pressure, move the lever to the off position.
This came up a while ago, I smelt burning brakes when driving. I did lube the lever and return spring with some oil, and the problem went away for a bit, but it is acting up again.
For now I am not using the hand brake.
So I am thinking what might be the cause. Could the return spring have lost its tension (perhaps from heat??)
It aint dirty so it aint an issue of grit or debris causing it to not return.
I have adjusted the venting clearance also. The calipers are otherwise in good shape, were rebuilt not too many years ago, fluid maintained well, it aint like this is some long not used vehicle sitting in a barn that has rusty internals.
So what are the possible causes of this. I am thinking maybe I might try replacing the return spring, but want other ideas before I dig into it.
Again, I can release the brake with very little finger pressure on that caliper lever, as if the spring just had a slight bit more tension it would do the trick. The cable is indeed slack when the inside car brake lever is fully down.
Thanks! |
I literally had this same problem on my rear calipers on my Golf mk6 about two years ago. They are very similar to the 914 rear calipers.....in the parking brake mechanism.
If you KNOW that they are in excellent shape internally....then yes it "could" be the spring....but I doubt it.
What I found was that where the pin that is attached to the lever that is attached to the cable.....enters the caliper body.....it got a small amount of either grit or rust between that rotating pin and the caliper body. It can also be the seal or o-ring for that rotating pin getting dried out and stiff (if yours has one).
It literally only took a couple of ounces of finger pressure to cause the parking brake lever to snap back to 0 under the tension of its spring.
What I did was spray the area where the rotating pin enters the caliper body first with brake cleaner. A minute later after it evaporated.....I sprayed it with this
https://www.harborfreight.com/10-oz-specialist-dry...Z8QAvD_BwE
It has a very fluid and fast evaporating solvent (probably hexane or similar)....but has a ton of PTFE that dries to a microscopic film almost instantly. Fixed it.
Ray |
I will give that go. I think I have some dry Teflon spray, either that or I will use dry moly spray, which I know I have. well let you know the result
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Sorry About That Chief.
Give Peace a Chance.
Words to live by. |
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zerotofifty
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2003
Posts: 4245
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2025 8:49 pm Post subject: Re: Stuck Rear Brake, 914 |
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So far the clean and lube appears to work. I noted that sometimes it tended to stick more if left with brake on for days, verses hours. But so far so good.
I did use dry Moly spray for the lube, brake cleaner for the clean.
Thank You Ray!!!
_________________
Sorry About That Chief.
Give Peace a Chance.
Words to live by. |
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