[T3] brakes

[Jim Adney]

On 30 Apr 2015 at 20:01, Fiesta Cranberry wrote:

> The brakes work now, but I'm noticing 2 things.  First is a weird kind of
> "chatter" when I put my foot lightly on the brake pedal.  It's like the
> pedal is fighting me, in a rapid, da da da da da da da kind of push up
> against my foot.

Not sure what this is, but I've experienced something similar with 
certain brake fluids that seem to lack lubricity, so that the seals 
in the MC seem to be sticking in the MC bore as they go down. I get a 
sort of stick-slip effect: stick-stick-stick...stick. Sort of a long 
scriiiiiiiich as I push the pedal down. It's as if things were 
"squeaky clean" inside the MC.

The end result of this was that the MC seals wore out quickly (a 
couple of years) from the friction. The brake fluid that did this to 
me was Castrol LMA, which is normally considered a good product, but 
this problem went away when I switched to DOT-5 silicone brake fluid, 
which has excellent rubber to metal lubricity. The Castrol is a DOT-4 
fluid. A run of the mill DOT-3 fluid would probably also work better.

> The second is a soft scree scree scree coming from (I think) the passenger
> side back wheel.  I notice it when I'm coasting.  The brakes also seem to
> grab very quickly and hard.

It could be nothing, just some rust sticking up and touching the 
rotating drum, or it could be a sign that the brakes on one wheel are 
adjusted a tad too tight. There are also some small parts which hold 
the rear brake shoes in place against the brake backing plate. 
Sometimes when these get old, they come apart and fall to the bottom 
of the drum, where they slide and make noise. Those parts could 
probably just be left out, or they could be replaced if you can find 
Type 3 replacements. There's a spring, a pin, and a washer: two of 
each on each wheel. I think only the pin is Type 3 specific.  

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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