Dire Volkswagen Brake problem!!?

Question

I am reposting with some more details. I am the "boyfriend" from the original post :))

All this started with a busted soft line on the driver side. Both front soft lines looked ancient so when the one broke I replaced both of them. Since then we have been completely without front brakes, but the back brakes have been fine. I have changed all 4 wheel cylinders, the master cylinder twice, the soft and hard lines, adjusted the brake pedal, re-verified that the shoes are adjusted properly, and replaced the the rubber tubing that connects the reservoir to the master cylinder. With all of this the problem is the exact same as when it started...no fronts and the backs are 100%.

The master cylinder has a seperated reservoir, one side for the front and one side for the back. It has two seperate inlets, one for the front and one for the back. If that doesn't make sense look @ the exploded view on wolfsburgwestdotcom. It DOES NOT look like that. It has 2 inlets to the reservoir.

cont.

There is no proportioning valve in the front. There is in the back but the back brakes are working fine and the front and the back brakes systems are totally seperate. I have not check for leaks toward the back, but as I said through all this the back brakes seem to have been unaffected.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for not adding the bleeding. :))

Starting with the backs then the next longest (the passenger side) then the shorest (the drivers side). All the big bubbles bleed out and you have clean fluid but still no pedal at all. If you press the pedal hard small bubbles rush out, almost foam.

'73 Standard Beetle(Not Super) Bone Stock Everything

I bled it by plugging a piece of clear tubing over the bleeder then putting the other end of the tubing in a jar of fluid. A friend mentioned "gravity bleeding". Is that a viable option?
Would installing discs on the front make the proportinging different/easier/better??

Answer 1

Did you bleed the brakes after installing new parts?

Answer 2

Dont listen to the retard that said to pump the brakes real fast, that is retarded and pointless to say the least. I used to work on old vw's for many years, also built a few to race, had a 67 bug that ran high 9's in a quarter, we used to have a Bug Out in Manassas Virginia. Sometimes dude, these can be a pain in the you know what, you seem to be doing it right, I hope you didnt buy a rebuilt master cylinder because if you did, this could be the problem. There is not two places to add fluid, there is one, it is under the hood on the drivers side against the fenderwell. If you got rebuilt, try again, if you bought a new one, either get it pressure bled, which I have at my shop, or do what you are doing, just open the rr, place the hose on the bleeder screw and have it submerged in a pepsi or beer bottle half full of brake fluid, pump til its no air, close it go to lr, then rf, and lf, always keep the fluid full. When I used to do it, the owner had a hot az daughter and I loved having her help me during her aerobics exercises as she was in a tight top and a nice bikini good luck

Answer 3

pump up the pedal, open the reservoir and let off the pedal, if you see a fountian, you have 2 problems.....air in the system and or misadjusted brakes. i missed the first post so I have no idea what type of v-dub. i am assuming its an older bug since you mentioned all four wheel cylinders.......... but sounds to me like you havent bleed the fronts correctly or your master cylinder has gone into single op mode. which means its not going to work the fronts only the rears. this happens when one of the pistons inside the master cylinder stops working. the perportioning valve can do the same thing so look at both of them closely .............try to bleed the front brakes this way......open the bleeder valve, rf and then have someone step on the pedal and hold it down. do this several times to make sure there is no air and clean fluid. check the reservoir. now do the left front the same way. then pump the pedal up and open the bleeder valve rf just once or twice and do the same on the lf.......now check the system, especially checking the adjustments again and again.......its a v-dub and those little buggers are nightmares with brakes, well any vehicle with all four drum brakes are pains in the ****.............................................................................................................................check the proportioning valve. sounds to me like its slid to one side meaning only the rears are getting full pressure. you still will get fluid movement through the fronts but no pressure...... you can try and open the rears up and see if it will move over but i will recommend you to rebuild or replace it. oh and the white foam is from pressure build up. are you sure your fronts arent way out of adjusment. you should feel a slight drag when you spin any wheel with drum brakes

Answer 4

Let me take an educated guess. You have an old beetle since you have 4 wheel cyl and front drums. IM me if yo need to. If you are getting fluid to the front cyl. but no pressure then you have a bad master. if you are not getting fluid, throw out all methods of bleeding that yo know of and open 1 front bleeder. have someone keep the reservoir full while you pump the hell out of the brakes. pump like 20 times really fast to make sure you dont have an air lock.

Answer 5

Bro, you need to take this vehicle to a good technician. There is something that you are not doing right. There is a lot of air in your system, and is getting trapped in the lines somehow. This is a dangerous situation and needs to be properly corrected.