Corys brakes.

[David Head]

Cory. Fill us in on yours brakes. Disc or drum, new, rebuilt or orginal, rubber lines or braided lines.

[CoryN]

New lines, new wheel cylinders, new shoes, new master.

Drums all around.

Initially I had a leak in the rear where the soft lines and hard lines came together. I tightened up those connections and the leak went away.

Drove it a little, would stop but had to pump the pedal a number of times. Adjusted all the stars tighter, got in to pump up the pedal to bleed them, and one of the brake light pressure switches blew apart.

Installed new switch, adjusted the stars further, and bled.

Now they will stop the car, but they don't really start to grab until the pedal is a good 2/3rds of the way down.

Minimal free play in the push rod.

Not being exposed to what they should feel like, maybe this is it, but I kind of expected the pedal to be a little tighter, and I'm thinking the car should be stopping by the time I get about halfway into the pedal?

[David Head]

Are you using rubber or braided Flex lines to the drums? I heard that the rubber lines can be a bit spongy. Do the wheels lock up when you try to stop?

[Don]

This article may or may not help:
http://www.vw-resource.com/adjstrod.html

[jspbtown]

Cory,
I would adjust your pushrod. You might think it has minimal movement, but it really should be like 1/4"-1/2" at the top of the pedal.

Also, if your shoes are too far away from the drums they will require alot of travel before contact.

Make sure each shoe is just touching the drum. Sometimes one shoe is adjusted correctly and one is too far out. This will cause increased travel.

[CoryN]

David - original style rubber lines and hard lines. Basically it is the stock set up with new parts and a dual master cylinder with volvo resevoir.

Jeff - I've got about 1/8 inch freeplay in the push rod, are you saying I should have more? I'll readdress the stars tonight, I did the fronts the other day, and I think they are actually rubbing a little still, but not enough to be a problem in my opinion. I'll check the rears and see if I can get them tighter.

Like I said, it will stop the car, I haven't tried to skid, I guess I can see what happens if I really lay into it. I'm just not sure what they will want at the inspection booth.

[jspbtown]

Cory,
No....1/8" is fine. Don't go more.

If your getting alot of travel its either mis-adjusted shoes or air in the lines. No leaks I assume?.

[CoryN]

I'm not losing any fluid so I assume I don't have any leaks. I'll pull the rear rims so I can get up close and personal and see what I have for travel

[Jim B]

I have never had any dealings with a VW master cylinder, but have had the same symptoms that Cory is having on others. The problem was air in the master cylinder plunger circuit. I had to remove & bench bleed master & then re-bleed all the brakes. Just my .02 but it worked on my Ford.
Good luck Cory, those kind of things can be a big PITA!!!

[CoryN]

[matter396]

CONGRATS!!!!!

[CoryN]

Bled them out with vacuum and adjusted the pushrod longer. It will leave skidmarks now

[David Head]

Alright!!!!! Now that's what I'm talking about. Let's go for a ride. To bad it's suppose to rain for the next week strait.

[CoryN]

Bring it! Next clear weekend I'll fire up the grill and ice down some beer and we can do some cruising and then some eating!

[BrianB]

Bring it! Next clear weekend I'll fire up the grill and ice down some beer and we can do some cruising and then some eating!

Do I read this right? Party at Cory's???? I'll bring the beer

[CoryN]

Absolutely. I'm ready for some celebrating after eighteen months