About 3 weeks ago, the brake stuffed up on me... where no pressure in the brake peddle, that suddenly happen after I left the car for couple of hours in parking ... I only had a little of braking pressure going on cause the rear still works..

After that I replaced New Brake Shoes and everything in the Unit, exept the Master Cylinder. Now last night this problem happend to me again, suddenly while driving, no pressure at all which loses the braking power. The car still stops but I had to step on the peddle all the way back, which I feel like only the rear is braking. Today I took the car to mechanic, he said he got no idea at all, cause last time everything was changed brand new ... and we pumped the brake fluid out and found bubbles floating through the tube and out... Got no idea where the air went in that causes the bubble. I asked: if the Master cylinder is causing this, and he said he's not 100% sure..

Please let me know whats going on if you ever seen this situation! The mechanic that looks after the car said he never seen problems like this in a Dub...

Everything was replaced 3 weeks ago, and this scares me ... I hope I don't have to spend huge amount to get this fixed as I really don't have a lot of money left to spend

Please help :cry

If your mechanic has no idea find one that does,if its got air bubbles its leaking somewhere and it sounds like the original problem has not been solved,dont give this guy any more money spread it around its only fair.

ok, it's gonna be alright..just take a pill and chill for a mo.

what model have u got and what's the brake setup?

discs and drums? or all drums?

single circuit or twin circuit master cyl?

have a look. if its got 2 rubber lines going in the top it's the twin. if it's only got one then it's single.

Now, bleed the brakes again, properly. Start with the pass rear, then the drivers rear, then the pass front, then the driver's front. Make sure you get all the air out and have a good firm pedal feel. Now take it for a drive. Find a street with plenty of room to stop, get up to 60 and try a hard stop.

tell me what you find out.

I think it's probably a loose line or a bad bleed. If everything else is good, it could be your master cyl but don't stress, they are easy to replace and not too expensive.

[Edited on 13-9-2004 by pete wood]

Hello, I left it with the mechanic, as he's the one looking after the car for so long ... he sold me this vehicle so tahst why, but he told me to take it to a brake place.. but I chose to leave it with him for a while more and see if he can take a look the master cylinder...

Its a 1959 model beetle all drum brakes. I am no good @ Vdubs... still know a bit however...

For teh master Cylinder I believe there is 3 lines coming out ... left,right front and rear. If this helps..

ok, it's a single circuit master cylinder.

have you got any mechanical petrol head friends?

if so, get one of them to show you how to bleed the brakes. It's easy and straight forward.

The air has to come into the lines some where. AS long as you work ya way through the individual parts you will find the leak.

Gotta be air getting in some where. Probably at the master cylinder if thats the only thing you havent changed over. I would get the brakes bled properly as the others have said. There is a right way to bleed the brakes on a VW. Make sure the line from the brake fluid resivour is not leaking too. It could be sucking air in when you are bleeding it.

Brakes can cause You to start drinking....... heavily....

They can make You pull Your hair out....

thats with the Dual system.... the singles are easier to find.

First check everything to see if You can see any brake fluid leaking on a tyre... or a brake hose leaking...

You are lucky if its the Master Cylinder, as the single master cylinders are cheap compared with a dual circuit master cylinder ...

If He worked on it... He May have caused the problem...

Best of Luck .. Lee

Thanks... I am not too sure about the bleeding part, all I had done was, trying to push the brake fluid out ..... by stepping on the peddle giving it some pressure then on the other hand the person outside the car on the brakes release the brake fluid.. thats when I see air bubbles ...

where else can there be air sucking in ? cause this happened to me couple of weeks ago thats why I got everything changed... now suddenly it happend again..... the weeks after the car got fixed was pretty good.. until the saturday night ...
Thanks for the help! I'll have to see whats on later on the week, as the car is at the mechanics place...

how much is a master cyliner for my car ? I quoted and its like $160.. is that a price I'll be looking to pay ?

Cheer~!

Don.

think about replacing the front rubber brake lines, It could be your problem if not it can’t be a bad thing to do to an old car anyway..:P

What Mr Moose said. Old brake lines have a thinner tube inside the outer tube, and old ones collapse on the inside and that isn't a good thing:puke

if u didnt replace your lines when you changed everything then as moose said. DO IT. make sure the metal pipes from the brake fluid resivoir is tightly secured into the master cylinder and the same for all the other tubes. then work your way down each line and check any connections and make sure they are tight with no leaks..... now peer through the adjuster hole in the drums and check for moisture which could be your wheel cylinders leaking (if these were just replaced and put in correctly then they should be fine but check anyway). now if everythings tight with no obvious leaks bleed the brakes. you will need 2 people and a 7mm open end spanner. get your freind to sit in the drivers seat and u get under the car. starting at the wheel furtherest from the master cylinder (passenger rear) look where the brake hose connects to the wheel cylinder via the back of the drum and just next to that there will be a little valve which will release the brake fluid if the valve is loosened. put your 7mm spanner on the valve and get your mate to pump the pedal about 5 or 6 times and then tell him/her to hold it down untill u say stop. now loosen the valve. clean brake fluid should come out. if it bubbles wait untill it stops bubbling to get all the air out and then tighten it back up. now check your brake fluid resivoir still has lots of fluid in it. top it up if need be and then move onto the rear drivers side wheel and then the passenger front and then the drivers side front completing this process for each wheel.......if this doesnt work then i would look at getting a new master cylinder. oh and you make sure your brakes are adjusted correctly as well though im assuming they are if they were just overhauled.

Nick

what antiron said.:bounce

those brake lines are 45 years old, I would be very suprised if it wasn't all mushy inside. I reckon its the master cylinder and the rubber lines. Old master clyinders can stick which causes loss of brakes. The seals go mushy and clog the lines up. The rubber lines will let the pressure into the wheel cylinders but not out, the return springs cannot pull the shoes back against the clogged lines, the drum may even drag. Your old M/C will then not return properly and when you put your foot down, muuuushy


New rubber lines, pressure clean the steel ones, high pressure air works. If you pop the line then it was going to fail the next time you hit the brakes hard anyways. New M/C or well rekitted current one.

How much do you want to stop? Do it all properly then never worry that one wheel will do all the braking on a wet meboure day and spin you into the oncoming traffic.

kkk :blah :blah

To: Anthiron

yeah, done that on Sunday @ the mechanic's place. After that the brake has pressure, but I took it out for a quick spin around the block, the pressure went out... flat.. just like before.. only brakes slowly. In this case, does it mean the Master Cylinder is causing this problem ? If so besides M/C are theer any other possible things causing this to happen.

How much would those rubber lines cost ? and Master Cylinder ?

It sounds positive now... hope it turned out to be something simple..

You can buy the rubber brake lines from any of the VW specialist suppliers who advertise on the forum. I had mine made by ABS for about $35 each. A new single circuit master cylinder is probably in the $100-150 region. If this is too much you can just get a master cylinder rebuild kit, assuming the cylinder itself is still OK.

Where abouts in Melb. are you? Is your mechanic a VW specialist?

ikube I don't know whether you are a member of the vic vw club or not...if you are try getting a quote on the parts from Volkscare (get a 10% discount on parts if club member)

well well less than $100 should buy a new braz/mex single cuircut master cyl from any of the nice forum sponsors flashing above this post. if i was you i'd price a german or other "qality"" one and if its within the realms of reality, buy it instead. i'd happily pay up to 3x the price for a german one....

Thanks!!!!!!!! problem solved everything nice and smooth now.
Itz the master cylinder causing this problem, and not its New !!

Cheers~!!

Don.