74 VW Beetle brake problem
Chris2Redd
I am rebuilding brakes after replacing front wheel cylinders, flex hose,
metal lines and master cylinder. I cannot build up any pressure when
trying to bleed system. Rechecked work 3 different times and found no
leaks but still cannot build up pressure. Does anyone have any clues?
Thanks,
Chris...@aol.com
Neb79
Well, I just bled my brakes for the second time in a few days....I test
drove it, but the brakes still feel mushy. VW recommends 30 strokes for
the furthest wheel, and only 12 for the closest wheel.......
The system keeps the pressure if it is pumped 2 times..and sometimes just
when it is pushed (while the car is at rest). If it is moving, the pedal
goes down further, and even to the floor under heavy braking. I really
don't feel safe at all, considering the whole reason I am bleeding the
brakes anyway, was because the braking system failed before. Anyway, the
brakes feel better today, but not good enough........A few months ago, we
did this too (when the system was brand new), and eventually took it to a
mechanic, who said there was still air in the lines. JEEEEEZ! We bled
those suckers till the cows came home!
Is there something i have overlooked? Or, should I just do 2 times the
recommended strokes as VW says?
/ben
'69 beetle
'56 beetle
MARC TOUSSAINT
make sure you dont have air trapped in the master cylinder. Then bleed
the wheels fully. that should work for you.
--
marc toussaint
slugbug - parts and restoration vw parts hotline: 972.313.0085
1119 Luke Street #113
Irving, Tx 75061-4059
Jim Mais
CCP...@AUDUCADM.DUC.AUBURN.EDU wrote:
>
> >ben, first, make sure your shoes are adjusted properly. Then check to
> >make sure you dont have air trapped in the master cylinder.
> >
>
> So just how do you check for air trapped in the master cylinder? What
> is the proper way to install a new one to insure no air is trapped?
> How do you get rid of trapped air in an installed system if bleeding
> does not remove it?
Marc had good advice about checking the shoe adjustment.
Just for grins, tighten all the wheel adjusters as tight as you can
amke them and see if the pedal feels stiffer. If it does,
air in the system may not be your problem. If the shoes don't
fit the diameter of the drum they will flex and give a spongy feel.
Bleeding should be done by two people. Open bleed valve. Press
pedal to floor. Hold pedal down while closing valve.
Sometimes it helps to loosen the brake light switches to force
air out of those ports.
Speedy jim
CCP...@auducadm.duc.auburn.edu
Neb79
Well, here is what I have done......
the "old" new brake light switch (3000 miles old, but it blew) blew out,
causing my accident, ...and..blah blah blah. It leaked a lot of fluid out
of the front circuit through the bad switch. Anyway, I bolted a new
switch in, filled up the brake fluid tank, and started to bleed the
brakes. The rears did allright, with a little bit of air (Something must
be wrong, they were bled 3000 miles ago, and almost all new parts were
added) squeezing out. The front, ..well...it seemed like there was more
fluid than I expected. Anyway, after I thought I was done, I took it out
for a spin...jeez! Even though it seemed to have adequate pressure while
parked, when I drove it, it just didn't cut it. I could have my foot all
the way to the floor, and the wheels really weren't slowing down too fast.
Yesterday, I bled them again, and found a little air in one of the front
lines. After that, they worked bettter, but when I applied the brakes,
they seemed to let the pedal sink.......still without "full" braking
pressure. I talked to a VW mechanic, who recommended I adjust the
adjuster stars. I bled a little bit out of the 2 rear cylinders....and
adjusted the starts untill I could hear a slight grinding in the drums
when I spun the tires. I did the same with the front, but didn't bleed
them at all today. I took it for a spin, and it sure seemed to have
helped somewhat. After about 3 or 4 MEGAstops, where I just slammed the
pedal as far as I could, I got out to check the drums. The rears were hot
to the touch, and the front 2 were warm, but not really hot. The car
seemed to want to go side2side a little when I was stopping hard...and I
think I heard a little tire chirping........
Then again, the pedal doesn't feel quite like it did before the wreck. I
have adjusted the stars as best I could.....and have bled them a lot. I
don't think the brakes will lock up the wheels though.....Are they
supposed to be able to lock up in an emergency?...If not locking up, are
they supposed to at least squeal?
The pedal seemed to be almost to the floor in the hard stops, but it still
had more to go.
When adjusting the adjuster stars, should I get the pads tigher, so when I
turn the wheels it has a little bit of resistance? Should I bleed the
brakes again?
?
d'oh...I really don't enjoy doing brakes every day anymore.....
Jim Mais
[snip]
>
> When adjusting the adjuster stars, should I get the pads tigher, so when I
> turn the wheels it has a little bit of resistance? Should I bleed the
> brakes again?
> ?
> d'oh...I really don't enjoy doing brakes every day anymore.....
>
> /ben
> '69 beetle
> '56 beetle
the drum diameter. You won't get good braking until they wear in
to a good fit. Right now the shoes are only contacting the drums in
a few places. That makes for poor braking. Yes, you should be
able to lock up the wheels and yes, the pedal should be very firm.
Shoes can be adjusted for slight drag, just noticeable when you turn the
drum by hand.
If your drums are badly worn beyond the max diameter spec. it may take
a looong time to wear the shoes in to the point where you have
good braking. The real fix could involve new drums.
Speedy jim
BoeDot
ben,
as someone who has twenty+ yrs on vw's, I would check the lines as it
sounds like they may have been compromised as far asm leakage is
concerned. adjusting the vw brake is simple if done by procedure.remember
one star turns one way the other, the opposite. the pedal height and brake
balance can be attained by following vw publisherd procedure TO THE
LETTER. after abt 1000 mi. thye should be readjusted and they will stay ok
at that point. my advice.....get a good book and read it till you've gotit
down...it's not THAT complicated of a car.
boedot
JBOBST
That's good advice. And don't use a screwdriver on the star adjusters if
they are stuck hard, you will wallow out the holes in the backing plates.
Spray them with an evaporating penetrant and use a medium hammer with a
long punch to tap the adjusters in the right direction.
Gml...@scvnet.com
Jlbuch wrote:
>
> Speaking as someone who has spent hours of frustration trying to adjust
> the starwheels on bugs, I would strongly recommend removing the drums so
> that you can get direct access to the adjustors. At that point you can
> spray a ton of WD-40 on the bastards, then grab them with a cloth covered
> vice-grip and twist them out. It may sound crude but it works!
If you don't want to repeat the procedure again, clean the adjusters
really well and then lubricate them with thick grease (I use Bosch
Distributor grease) This keeps the water out and prevents them from
seizing.
George Lyle
--
Note: Return address altered to deflect junk e-mail.
Delete the leading "G" in the address when replying.
Jlbuch
Barry Lampke
Are the front drums on my '79 beetle conv. self-adjusting (my back
brakes are grabbing before fronts)?
MARC TOUSSAINT
Barry Lampke wrote:
>
> Are the front drums on my '79 beetle conv. self-adjusting (my back
> brakes are grabbing before fronts)?
--
marc toussaint
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/slugbug
er...@schunta.etc.tu-bs.de
MARC TOUSSAINT (slu...@ticnet.com) wrote:
: Barry Lampke wrote:
: >
: > Are the front drums on my '79 beetle conv. self-adjusting (my back
: > brakes are grabbing before fronts)?
: No they are not. adjust them boogers...
Hang on: *drums* on a '79 convertible? Nooo. All convertibles from '67 on
had disc brakes in front, unless there were some export oddities with the
smaller engines in convertibles... but everything made for Germany and
the U.S. had discs for certain.
Yours,
Erik.
Rox-Steady and The Brumulator
My '78 convertible has drums all around.
Craig
John Connolly
> Erik.
Erik, you are on crack...
the only T-1s in the US that had discs are ghias.. or
some VERY RARE sport bug models (I have never seen one). It is different
in Europe though. A 74 bug in the US has drums all around.
John
MARC TOUSSAINT
er...@schunta.etc.tu-bs.de wrote:
>
> MARC TOUSSAINT (slu...@ticnet.com) wrote:
> : Barry Lampke wrote:
> : >
> : > Are the front drums on my '79 beetle conv. self-adjusting (my back
> : > brakes are grabbing before fronts)?
> : No they are not. adjust them boogers...
>
> Hang on: *drums* on a '79 convertible? Nooo. All convertibles from '67 on
> had disc brakes in front, unless there were some export oddities with the
> smaller engines in convertibles... but everything made for Germany and
> the U.S. had discs for certain.
>
> Yours,
> Erik.
er...@schunta.etc.tu-bs.de
MARC TOUSSAINT (slu...@ticnet.com) wrote:
: er...@schunta.etc.tu-bs.de wrote:
: >
: > MARC TOUSSAINT (slu...@ticnet.com) wrote:
: > : Barry Lampke wrote:
: > : >
: > : > Are the front drums on my '79 beetle conv. self-adjusting (my back
: > : > brakes are grabbing before fronts)?
: > : No they are not. adjust them boogers...
: >
: > Hang on: *drums* on a '79 convertible? Nooo. All convertibles from '67 on
: > had disc brakes in front, unless there were some export oddities with the
: > smaller engines in convertibles... but everything made for Germany and
: > the U.S. had discs for certain.
: WRONG!...sorry.
I'd like to apologize to all for my stupidity to assume that every option
we got here in Germany was standard in the U.S., and also to emphasize
that every German Beetle, convertible or not, that was factory fitted with
the 1500 or 1600 engines had disc brakes in front as standard.
Which leads me to the question, does anyone out there know or assume why
you only got drums?
Yours,
Erik.
MARC TOUSSAINT
Richard Toth
er...@schunta.etc.tu-bs.de wrote:
>
> MARC TOUSSAINT (slu...@ticnet.com) wrote:
> : er...@schunta.etc.tu-bs.de wrote:
> : >
> : > MARC TOUSSAINT (slu...@ticnet.com) wrote:
> : > : Barry Lampke wrote:
> : > : >
> : > : > Are the front drums on my '79 beetle conv. self-adjusting (my back
> : > : > brakes are grabbing before fronts)?
> : > : No they are not. adjust them boogers...
> : >
> : > Hang on: *drums* on a '79 convertible? Nooo. All convertibles from '67 on
> : > had disc brakes in front, unless there were some export oddities with the
> : > smaller engines in convertibles... but everything made for Germany and
> : > the U.S. had discs for certain.
>
> : WRONG!...sorry.
>
> I'd like to apologize to all for my stupidity to assume that every option
> we got here in Germany was standard in the U.S., and also to emphasize
> that every German Beetle, convertible or not, that was factory fitted with
> the 1500 or 1600 engines had disc brakes in front as standard.
>
> Which leads me to the question, does anyone out there know or assume why
> you only got drums?
>
> Yours,
> Erik.
Erik,
Your assumptions did not show any stupidity, you were just unaware
of the facts. There is a big difference.
Many imports in the US had different equipment for varying reasons,
usually as it related to reducing costs.
Richard Toth
EHoffmeyer
Funny,
I have three bugs with 1600 (70, 71 72) all with drum front and rear.
Maybe I'm the wierd one?
Eric