redders 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 taken from somewhere else i have this question up to save me writing it all out again...monday/tuesday...ok, so changed, front and rear discs and pads, and fitted my good ridge hoses, then i went to bleed the brakes, i used a pressurised bleeder (on the spare wheel)i jacked up the rear, both wheels off, jacked up the front, all wheels now off...started at the back left and carried on as follows, back right, front left, front right, not just waiting for air to escape but until all old fluid was expelled and only fresh stuff was freely flowingi made sure i jacked the rear axle before bleeding the rears for the compensator, and bled all 4 corners with the ignition ON... (then found out late vr's dont have a compensator)all 4 corners are passing fresh fluid out, with no trapped air... and with the engine off, the pedal is solid, but as soon as i start the car up and bress the pedal it depresses approx 2/3'ds of the way before it does anything...now ive repeated the process 3 more times since, and although its a LITTLE better, its still not right... and ive been doing it so long now ive forgotten how its supposed to feel...also the handbrake isnt biting at all, fully adjust the cables to their tighest position and it only just bites...so after abit of reading i have come to the conclusion the abs pump needs purging/cycling, no ive also read that if you lock up the brakes on a drive, it will activate the abs bump, opening the valves and freeing up any trapped air... so last night i nipped out and locked up the wheels abit to activate the abs pump, hopefully thant will work when i re bleed it...wednesday...ok, heres where i am with this peice of crap...jacked the car up and removed all 4 wheels.removed rear calipers, undid the bleed nipples and wound piston fully back in on both sides, then tightened the nipples off adjusted the piston back out so it JUST squeezed over the pads... when i undid the nipples to wind the piston in, i used a peice of tubing in some fluid so no air was sucked in...anyway, there is a world of difference in the handbrake, i completely loosened off the cables and the handbrake fully applys with only 3 clicks... awsome...so calipers done time to bleed again...started the car up this time just to be sure, bled from rear left, rear right, front left, front right, got a bubble or 2 from the rear calipers, but then just pure perfectly clean fluid again, nothing from the fronts, just clean fluid... repeated the process 2 more times just to be sure, tapped all the calipers and lines with a rubber mallet but to no avail, so figured all the air must be out...removed the bleeder guess what... yep... still no real feel to it, pedal travels about and inch or so before theres any bite...im happy my handbrake is sorted but its going into a vw place for the brakes now as im completely done with it...cheers for all your help guys, ill post up what ever they find out...so as you can see guys, im at my witts end with the car, i just dont know what else to do, never have i ever bled a car so many times in my life to no avail...any help would be apprechiated... Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Seabrook 4 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 is it an obd1 or 2 car mate ? as on the obd1 you can also bleed the abs pump - two nipples on the top of it and that cured mine when I had the same issue - I know the ABS pump on an obd2 car is different so not sure if it works the same ? Link to post Share on other sites
b road blaster 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 you may need to bleed them with a vag-com to actervate the abs for 10 seconds mate or old school trick jam a bit of wood from the brake peddle to the steering wheel makinging sure the peddle is depressed as far as you can get it then leave overnight Link to post Share on other sites
redders 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 does it require bleeding again after the peice if wood method? i figured that purging the abs with vag com was needed as its the only thing i have been able to do Link to post Share on other sites
legvw 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 You said your pedal travels about a inch before biting? Thats about right surely? The pedal has about 3" to 4" of travel so that sounds about right.When you replaced the hoses, did you replace 1 at a time, replacing each hose as 1 comes off, so as not to allow too much air back in? Link to post Share on other sites
redders 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 well yea, took front one off, put one on, then rear off, rear on, didnt take them all off at once or anything...im not sure any more, its been 3 days of bleeding now and ive totaly forgotten what its supposed to feel like... Link to post Share on other sites
legvw 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 When i did spadams brakes, replaced the hoses and front calipers, it seemed to bleed ok after. Can you lock all 4 wheels? Link to post Share on other sites
redders 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 yea, im pretty sure they all lock up, and i can feel the abs kicking in through the pedal, the abs light comes for a second or two on startup then goes straight off again... Link to post Share on other sites
legvw 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Yeah it should do.Maybe your brakes are ok? Sounds as though they are ok.Do you know anyone close to you that has a mk3 that you could 'feel' their pedal? :-) Link to post Share on other sites
redders 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 lad at work has a vr, so im gonna jump in his and see, might just be my mind playing tricks Link to post Share on other sites
legvw 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 I've been there with brakes mate! Gone through litres of fluid!!! I hope its just paranoia! Link to post Share on other sites
finny 0 Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Agree up to 1" pedal travel sounds normal.When I bleed the brakes, last few pumps I have the engine running. Don't know whether this is normal or wrong thing to do it.When the engine fires up, the pedal becomes soft and after a few pumps it comes back again. Then close the bleed nipple and engine off.I use a one man bleeding tube/ valve kit. Cheap thing from ebay. Seems to work. Link to post Share on other sites
liamellis11 0 Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 dont mean to come across as rude...... but breaks are pretty important mate. take your car to a proper garage and get them checked if they dont feel right. Its not all about saving as much money as possible by doing things yourself when others road users lifes could be at risk. Link to post Share on other sites
CALICO 130 Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 dont mean to come across as rude...... but breaks are pretty important mate. take your car to a proper garage and get them checked if they dont feel right. Its not all about saving as much money as possible by doing things yourself when others road users lifes could be at risk. some people get satisfation out of doing a job themselves and saving the money especially when you ask a garage to change the brake fluid and all they do is suck out the reservoir and fill that with new no harm in doing it your self then asking on a forum to see if it sounds like how it should be but you are entitled to you opinion Link to post Share on other sites
redders 0 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 thanks for the advise, but ive been a mechanic for the best part of ten years in the army, unfortunetly i have only ever owned a vr6 once, as i have one with ABS too... and theres no tanks in the uk with ABS so i dont see anything wrong with asking for feedback or advice, if anything id be daft not to...anywho, long story short, its solved now, been off work for the last 3 days that i have been working on it, so the car hasnt moved, today i drove to work, about 20 miles, and the brakes feel great, still not bedded in yet, but the pedal is nice and hard pretty much from the top now, cheers again guys Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Seabrook 4 Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 glad you got it sorted mate Link to post Share on other sites
donpulsar 0 Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 One quick footnote - had the exact same problem with the Mrs' Mitsi Colt & the problem was unused but old brake fluid...was proper 5.1 stuff that was in a closed bottle, but the bottle had been opened some time previous (at least 9-12 months) and even though it had been sealed it had still gone off. Reflushed and replaced with brand new 5.1 and brakes are spot-on! So a lesson from my experience is always use new brake fluid! :-)Steve Link to post Share on other sites
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