[T3] Brake Hints!

[William Jahn]

I'm not sure if gravity bleeding will make it possible to replace the fluid.


On Sun, Aug 28, 2022 at 12:56 PM William Jahn <willjahn975 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I worry about how long it's been since I replaced all the old fluid. It's
> not that I never did , I remove as much from the reservoir then add new.
> It's been since 98 since I replaced all the fluid. And new MCs are not
> cheap. I read somewhere even new ones sitting too long , even plugged might
> need new seals. I read this , but I don't know how true it is.
>
> On Sat, Aug 27, 2022 at 11:05 PM <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:
>
>> I've been doing a lot of brake part rebuilding for Type 3 people this
>> summer, and one thing
>> that I've noticed is that nobody does anything about their brake
>> hydraulics as long as it works.
>>
>> I'm writing to encourage everyone to take a bit of time to flush fresh
>> brake fluid thru their
>> system every few years. Suck the old fluid out of the reservoir, refill
>> with fresh, dry, DoT-4,
>> and flush this thru all 4 wheels until everything comes out clean.
>>
>> Standard brake fluid likes to absorb moisture right out of the air. It
>> does that even if you live in
>> a dry climate. When it does that, it becomes corrosive. There are several
>> places where this is
>> a problem: the mouth of the MC (master cylinder) is the worst of these.
>> I'm seeing MC after
>> MC this summer with pitting just inside the mouth that has rendered
>> another MC as
>> un-rebuildable.
>>
>> I used to see NOS OEM Type 3 MCs on ebay for about $125, but those seem
>> to have
>> disappeared. The price is now ~$US250, and there don't seem to be many of
>> those. The
>> price will be going up.
>>
>> I can send pitted MCs out to be sleeved. That increases your cost from
>> $65 (rebuilding) to
>> around $200 (sleeving and rebuilding.) Sleeving is a great option, as the
>> stainless steel
>> sleeve is a perfect match to the cast iron MC, but that extra expense can
>> be avoided if you
>> would just flush good quality DoT-4 brake fluid thru your systems every
>> few years. This is
>> cheap preventitive maintence. In the later years, VW started suggesting
>> doing this every 2
>> years.  I think this is extreme for most of us, but most people NEVER do
>> it, and that's an
>> expensive mistake. Have you ever flushed YOUR brake system?
>>
>> I HATE it when I have to email someone and tell them that their old MC is
>> not rebuildable for
>> a reasonable price. Don't be one of those people.
>>
>> FYI, if you really care about your car and its brakes, switch to DoT-5
>> Silicone Brake Fluid. It
>> does not absorb moisture and it doesn't become corrosive when it sits in
>> the car. It never
>> needs to be flushed and replaced. I find that it extends the service
>> interval for MCs, wheel
>> cylinders, and brake calipers almost indefinitely. It costs more up
>> front, but saves time,
>> money and aggravation in the long run. I use it and recommend it for all
>> Type 3s. I have a
>> writeup on installing and using it. Email me if you want a copy.
>>
>> And, BTW, if you have a few old Type 3 MCs lying around the garage floor,
>> thinking they are
>> your backup spares, they are now junk.  If they have been sitting there
>> for more than a few
>> months with old brake fluid in them, they will need to be sleeved before
>> they will be usable. I'll
>> pay shipping for cores for sleeving, just to keep them from being trashed.
>>
>> thanks for reading,
>>
>> --
>> *******************************
>> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
>> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
>> *******************************
>>
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>
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