Brakes - lack of!!

Hi Guys,

Set off to take Olli on his first outing of the year, a little tootle to the petrol station and to work this morning - got to the end of my street and stamped on the brakes...and didn't stop!! (til I used the handbrake)
Have checked the Brake Fluid resevoir, which is empty - is this likely to be resolved by just topping up the fluid or (more likely) may something else have broke/corroded that will require a mechanic?? and does said mechanic need to be a VW specialist to fix this?
(incidentally, the cap for the the resevoir is cracked, can brake fluid evaporate?)

Thanks in advance - hoping I can fix this so we can go to Stanford on Sunday, so any advice appreciated
Sarah
xx

 

Sounds like your leaking brake fluid from somewhere
Id get it checked out properly before driving anywhere else

 

unlikely loss of fluid due to evap . suggest you commence a search for leaks right now , cracked cap not good ,water vapour can enter ,replace cap soonest,total system check today mate ,handbrake to stop is seriously scarey

 

Sorry forgot to add any competant mechanic should be able to trace the fault and fix it

 

Thanks - there are 2 local garages literally just round the corner from my house, but nearest specialist is miles away. Will ring & book in asap!

 

Theres not much to go wrong on the brakes. It can only be a damanged metal pipe or fitting, a perrished rubber hose or a seal on your brakes which has caused your loss of fluid.

how mechanically minded are you? the brakes are pretty simple to work on.

If you remove a rear wheel and take the drum off, at the top of the backing plate is a brake cylinder (this would be my best guess where the problem is - rear seal) - have a look and see if it is wet of there is fluid in that area (or all over the inside of the brake drum). You can also lift the rubber edges of the boot that goes over the cylinder to see if there is and fluid leaking out.

if that side is ok, put drum and wheel back on and have a look at the other side

if the rear is dry, take off the front wheel and look at the caliper to see if there is any fluid leaking there, then look at other side - if that is all dry it could be a ruptured pipe of hose

......you dont need to dissmantle any thing to check (other than the wheel and drum) and it might give you an idea where the problem is and how much it will cost to repair - rear cylinders are about £15 and should take no more than a couple of hours max for a garage to replace, refill and bleed

 

I have spanners, a Haynes manual and no fear of getting my hands dirty so will have a poke about after work - it can't be any worse than it is! (....famous last words????)

 

Oooooer, I had a similar problem over winter! Van went through MOT fine with an advisory on rear brake adjustment which I was going to sort with the assistance of my mate who is considerably more confident at being able to do these things & for me to assist & learn but it just didn't happen.

I pulled the bus out of the garage to do a few jobs before Techenders & the brakes were even worse that I had to use the handbrake before hitting the works van so took the decision to book it into the garage to be sorted. They adjusted rear brakes & bled the system which made an amazing difference and they only charged me an hours labour!

Its something that I want to learn but had ran out of time plus wanting to be able to drive & stop safely so bit the bullet & paid to have them sorted

 

Good move. Im resonably competent but i still twitch a bit with brakes.

Regards the original post. It going to be a leak from somewhere. Likely it will be obvious. Could ba any component on the system solid brake pipes, flexible pipes, master cylinder , wheel cylinders, calipers. Common failure is rear brake cylinders. If you want to use it then get it in somewhere sharpish.

 

I would've thought that there would have been a "wet" spot under the van if it's lost that much fluid... The whole system holds around 3/4l of fluid, so it's gonna be very obvious!!

 

Chickened out / erred on the side of caution, as there were 2 patches on the drive where it has been parked over winter - took it to local garage (fortunately uphill! But scary drive none the less) and apparently its the master cylinder that's got a hole in it. £130, will have it back by tomoro night

 

Where were the 2 patches?

 

chicken...

master cylinder is leaking past the seals ,tis pretty impossible to hole one....

two patches Paul ,the other one is the flywheel oil seal...

 

not that expensive for some peace of mind. hope he gets it back to you in good time!!

 

Got him back yesterday night - brakes 110% better, had obviously had a fault since I'd bought it as they had always been crap - Stanford Hall here we come!!!!!

 

Good news!!!!

 

He was sound - it was just a common or garden back street garage, but turns out him & his dad have owned VW's all their lives (Beetles, Splitties and Bays) and he kept telling the other lads there that this was a proper car, never mind their 'Jap Crap'!!
I will certainly go back, but I will try them again before recommending to anyone else (been stung by one-off's before!), but I can definitely recommend a guy called John Sherwin near Alfreton in Derbyshire (J28 of M1). His VW garage has been established for over 20 yrs, and I started going to him in '98 when I got my first beetle and he was a one man band. http://www.jsherwin-vwaudi.co.uk - it was just too far from my house with no brakes!!!!