[T3] Battery Install, Oil Change & Brake Fluid Reservoir

[Jim Adney]

On 13 May 2024 at 14:30, Gary Forsmo wrote:

> If you inspected the front brake pads & rear brake shoes, would you expect
> to find sufficient "wear" that allows the Brake Pedal having* too much*
> travel before the car is slowed?

Drum brake pistons always return all the way "home" regardless of wear, so 
drum brake wear does not affect the brake fluid level in the reservoir. Drum 
brake shoes require adjustment as the pads wear, to keep the pedal travel in 
a normal range.

NB: NEVER try to reduce the E brake lever travel by adjusting the cables, 
unless you've first done the necessary adjustment of the shoes back at the 
rear wheels. In my experience, adjusting the shoes will almost always bring 
the lever adjustment back to where it belongs. (If someone adjusted the 
cables without adjusting the shoes first, it WILL be necessary to loosen the 
cables, then adjust the shoes, and only then adjust the cables, in that order.)

Disk brakes are different. The pistons slowly move inwards as the pads 
wear, leaving more fluid behind them in the caliper and less in the reservoir. 
For this reason, disk brakes don't need periodic adjustment.

> My other concern is:
> 1.)  Pulling the Emergeny Brake Lever as hard as I can with my limited
> strength,  stroke-affected, right arm, the car rolls *forward* even on our
> sloped driveway from garage to the street.

The thing to look for is how many clicks you get on the E brake lever. 3-5 is 
normal; 8-10 means that the rear brakes need to be adjusted. If the rears get 
adjusted, the pedal travel will be reduced.

This may all be due to the reduced force your stroke-weakened right arm is 
able to apply to the E brake lever. Plus, the E brake is not much of a brake; it 
takes quite a good tug to make it do much. It can be informative to apply it as 
hard as you can while coasting down an empty road at 20 mi/hr. You'll 
probably be surprised at how little effect it has.

Keep in mind that driving a modern car with power brakes for many months 
is likely to make your Square feel like its pedal has a lot of travel and is soft.

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