[T3] Brake Warning Light

[Dave Hall]

When the rear seal in my M/C failed, the fluid leaked into the tunnel - not
on the floor - and came out the tunnel drain at the rear.  This may be a
difference in being right-hand drive. That does give an advantage in that
the pipe is routed by the clutch pedal, not the gas pedal, and we don't get
a lot of snow and salt here.  We do get a fair bit of rust on the bottom of
the accelerator pedal though, due to the rain I suppose!

I would expect a failure of the rear brakes to make quite a difference, as
the dynamic brake tester used for our annual MoT test shows about twice the
braking effort on the rear compared with the front.  The pedal also goes
down a lot further, which is certainly noticeable (no warning light on UK
models, at least as far as '72. Not sure if the '73 got one over here.

Dave
UK VW Type 3&4 Club
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-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org]
On Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: 21 November 2014 14:59
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Brake Warning Light

On 20 Nov 2014 at 21:39, Chris Sheridan wrote:

> What can I expect if my brake warning light came out with no notice 
> about 6 months ago. Only comes on when I depress the brake pedal. 
> Fluid level is good and haven't noticed a change in braking ability.

This almost certainly means that your rear hydraulic circuit has failed, so
you aren't getting any braking from the rear wheels. Take another look at
the fluid reservoir. There's a divider up the middle, so one side is
probably full while the other side is empty. This is easy to miss.

The problem is likely either that the long brake line to the rear has rusted
thru under the gas pedal, or the master cyl is leaking out the opening that
faces the pedals. In either case, you might have noticed an odd smell (brake
fluid) when this started, because both leaks would have come out on the
floor under the pedals. That fluid lifts paint and promotes corrosion, so
you want to clean it up. Just use a sponge and water.

I can rebuild the MC, but the front to rear line is something you'll have to
do. It's a real pain.
 
--
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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