Pulsing brake pedal

Discussion in 'Mech Tech' started by mi2itsdl, Sep 30, 2011.

  1. Well was outside from 9.30am to 2.00pm today. After having trouble further adjusting the shoes, I called one of my old friends round who runs his own garage. He thought the handbrake was over adjusted at the top edge of the secondary shoe and was further out than the bottom edge on one side and the other side was just adjusted back to far. After adjusting every thing and getting the wheels back on, we took it for a test drive and still the pedal pulsed back. This time even more !! As we were driving back down a dual carriageway, a car pulled up next me and the driver leant out and said, 'hey mate you back wheel is going to fall off, it is wobbling all over the place. I was sure I had tightened every thing up, so we were now thinking bent stub axle !!

    Turns out the new drums from C&C don't fit. We thought when putting them on it was a struggle getting them to sit right. The centre bore is too small for the hub mounting. You can see where some of the metal on the drum centre is now scored. Therefore the drum will not seat far enough back and when rotating it is moving in and out.

    I replaced the old drums and they fit nice and flush. No wheel wobble on test drive, but still the same pulsing.

    My mate said it is best start from the beginning as he does not really know what was done by the other place I took it too, who are supposed to be vw specialists. While under the car I also noticed my new master cylinder was leaking as well !!

    Going to send these drums back and get a new rear drum kit, with new shoes as well, possibly from VW Heritage. Does not cost much more and at least I can try and eliminate everything. May just have a naff shoe, with a high point on it !! May get some new front discs while I'm there as well.

    Are the cross drilled discs worth the extra money??

    At least my wheel never fell off and nothing is bent underneath. Just going to take a little longer to resolve.

    All your input is much appreciated.
     
  2. from what your saying i think you need to bite the bullet and take the van to someone who REALLY does know bays inside out! might cost you for labour but someone good would be able to find the problem in a few hours saving you buying loads of un-necessary parts, thing is with diagnosing on the internet hard to get a feel for whats going on and is wrong and if your not 100% on what things should feel like and the correct technique's ect with your brakes your playing with your and other road users lifes :eek: you could have lost a wheel this afternoon and you could be in hospital now or worse :(
     
  3. I know what your saying. My mate who helped out today is a valid mechanic and was only giving me a hand on my drive, (as I wanted to have a go) The car had to have a test run and it was only round the block. I won't be taking it to the original place I took it too (vw airfix) again, that's for sure. I seem to have more issues since I left there, than when I went in.

    I am not a mechanic but fitting and adjusting brakes is standard work if you are. I tried using a local vw aircooled expert before and this is where I am now. I am going to order some new parts and drive it to my mates garage when they turn up. Everything is on tight and no wheel wobble, just back to having a pulsing pedal again.

    The money is not an issue at all. Knowing who to trust is !!
     
  4. try asking on here for recomendations of places people have used local to you?
     
  5. My bus is going to autotechnics in Epsom soon for an engine and gearbox upgrade. Just wanted to get my brakes sorted out first, but did not see it being this big a problem, and have to try to fix some issues my self !

    I did not take it to vw airfix because I had an issue, I just wanted everything checked for safety sake. I had no pulsing pedal at all. I was told that my cylinders had leaked onto my shoes and they need replacing. This was done and I was then told that one of my drums was off round. The drive home gave me the pulsing pedal. Don't really want to take it back there. Maybe there is no issue with the drums, who knows !! £110 for a complete rear brake kit is not too much.

    If anyone in the Sutton/London area does know a good vw bus mechanic than please let me know.
     
  6. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    What a faff mate. You'll get there in the end. I recently bought some drums from a nameless supplier that had 6mm thick plate instead of 2-3mm. You'd think they'd get such basic thigs right. These things happen. We can't really blame your garage - maybe your brakes were so knackered before they fixed them you didn't notice the pulsing pedal. As 13W says - it's hard to do diagnosis over the net and when push comes to shove having your hands on it is the only way.

    Good luck.
     
  7. I know I shouldn't blame the original garage, but it is just the feeling I have. I am aware fixing one problem some times highlights another problem.


    I managed to find the original receipt for the drums purchased by the last owner. They also came from C&C back in 2008. The difference in weight between them is massive though. This new set is much lighter. Not sure if that matters, but they don't feel as substantial as the old set.

    As for my mate. He has been in the game for over 25 years. It would be a bit like someone posting on another forum about you, and calling you 'my mate zed'. It was just one of those incidents when the parts let us down.

    I'll next update this post when I have tried some new parts.
     
  8. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I have full faith in your mate, mate. :thumbsup: He and you have it in your hands. The cause isn't always immediately obvious even if the problem itself is in your face.
     
  9.  
  10. small update.

    Found out that Custom & Commercial where I ordered my drums from are only 10 miles up the road from me. Things you find out when you read a bit more ::) Took new drums and the old ones up to them. They got out an original rear hub and mounted the new drums. They could see that they do not sit flush. The hub centre is 65mm and the bore of the drum is also 65mm, but this stops it locating fully. My old drums have a bore of 66mm and sit dead flush. They were happy to take them back and refund my money. The guys there were very nice. The parts were from a company called zimmerman in Germany, so they were surprised that that they were machined wrong.

    Will be using C&C again as there warehouse looked like an Aladdin's cave !!

    Mark from Autotechnics, said he would sort it all out when I have my engine done. May even turn out to be the front discs, and you can all laugh at me............... if I own up to it ;D ;D

    Holmsen............will say hi for you when I am next up there
     

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