[T3] Brake Hints!

[Jim Adney]

On 28 Aug 2022 at 13:37, William Jahn wrote:

> As far as just flushing the rears. I thought just doing the rears did
> something to the master as far as the seal location. All I read was to do
> the fronts first.

Books seem to vary. I've not found there to be a difference, except that it 
makes sense to finish one end of the car, then do the other end. No 
approach does damage, some just take a bit longer.

>  I see the boot on mine is a bit swollen yet I don't see brake fluid on the
> push rod. 

Brake fluid won't cause any of the brake parts to swell, but petroleum based 
oil will. Don't let oil get on any of your rubber brake parts.

>  I'd rather get all the old fluid out 

There's no advantage to this, and some disadvantage. You tend to leave 
behind quite a bit of fluid because there are a number of places that will 
retain fluid if you just do a gravity bleed. And you leave most of the dirt 
behind.

> I read somewhere if you do slow pumps on the pedal to start the
> gravity it helps. I don't have anyone to pump the pedal for me. 

Yes, a few pumps will help get a gravity bleed started.

You can do fast pumping by yourself, but it's a lot of climbing in and out of 
the car to keep checking to make sure you haven't drained the reservoir dry 
and sucked air into the MC, which means starting over.

> Then there are speed bleeders , I don't know how well these work. 

Personally, I don't see the point. A hose into a bottle works perfectly, and 
most people would do that anyway. If you're thinking of just letting it sink into 
your lawn, it will kill your grass.

My FLAPS has a listing of a number of bleed valve sizes. Ours are M7x1 
thread and some length. They are available in that length. The taper on the 
end is not as important as you might think; they will all seal. I don't 
remember the brand. You may still be able to buy OE from VW if you don't 
mind paying 4x the price. Those are probably the best.

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