Just finished bleeding brakes in my 71 bug and they are still soft. Tried everything but it feels like there is still air in it. Have overhauled master cylinder and rear wheel cylinders. The pedal is solid but there is still a lot of travel. Have also adjusted the rod. Has anybody else had any problems? Is there a way to fix it?

Have you adjusted the rear brakes??

Yes I have

hmmmm ok. Might be a pressure bleed job. Can you have someone pump the pedal and hold pressure while you release the bleeder??.

check the rubber hoses in your brake lines. one of them may be old and expanding whenever pressure is applied

Did you replace the fluid? An air bubble is the most likely cause, but sometimes really old fluid can become unuseable. After that you may need to look at the master cylinder - are you losing any fluid?

If ur still in trouble, I have removed stubborn bubbles by working backwards. Get a disposable 50ml syringe wo the needle from ur local pharmacy. The thin hose from the dist vacuum should fit on the respective ends of the syr & the bleed nipple or use a plastic one. Then instead of pressure bleeding bubbles out they can be sucked out by loosening the nipple & pulling the piston of the syringe out. Then close the nipple b4 taking the hose off. Repeat if necessary.

Make sure the hand brake is backed off before adjustment. One major source of excess travel if it has been adjusted over time and is pulling the shoes away from the pistons.

DH

master cylender may be seeping back

I used about 3-4 bottles of brake fluid doing My brakes after replacing everything including all hoses...

I was told by a brake mechanic to jack the rear up so the rear brake bleeders are above the master cylinder..
undo the bleed nipples and go and have a cup of coffee..
or lunch... the air should be bled out by then..
just make sure the brake fluid doesn't empty out of the brake fliud container...

also, take the brake light switches out to see if any air is trapped in them....

having all these problems is VERY common....

Lee

Have seen a number of VWs over the years with this problem and it's mostly been the handbrake causing the problem as I've said above. It doesn't take much clearance on the pistons to give excessive pedal movement. If there is any tension in the cables it is pulling the shoes away from the pistons. Loosen the cables, adjust shoes and then adjust cables last.

DH