Barbie,

The brake pedal on my '87 also pulsates when the brakes are warmed up and
applied at highway speeds. I have only had my van for a couple of months,
and I noticed this pulsation when driving it from Colorado home to San
Francisco. I have not done anything yet with my brakes, other than remove
the front wheels to inspect the front ones. My rotors are worn out (too
thin) and will need to be replaced. Warped rotors can cause the vibration,
as can rear drums that are too thin/out of round. I haven't checked the rear
drums yet, but I will probably replace them anyway as they are not that
expensive and the van has over 150K miles on it.

The symptoms I experience don't happen around town, only at higher speeds
and once the brakes are warmed up. This leads me to suspect that my discs or
drums (or both) are warping/out-of-round when they reach operating
temperatures.

Your service provider should drive your van on the highway to test for this.
I have read in the archives that the rear drums on the Vanagon in particular
can cause this vibration when they get too thin from wear.

If you need new parts, both the drums and the discs are available and not
too expensive (I think about $40 each from one of our popular vendors). If
you can confirm with your service place that the discs or drums or both are
the problem by having them drive your van, you may be able to order the
parts and have them installed by them to save a bit of money on the job.

Your vibration might also be caused by something in your suspension, but for
a pulsating pedal I would suspect the discs/drums first.

Dan

Barbie wrote:

> Have just joined the list and have leaned alot about my 86 Westy
> (weekender).
>
> I need some help. I just had the brakes replaced - both front and back.
> While driving on the highway I noticed that the brakes would vibrate
> when I had to stop. I searched the Archives of this listserve and found
> some discussion about the vibration being related to the rotors and/or
> cylinders. I returned to the service provider with my complaint and they
> said that they would check for the problem for no additional cost. Today
> I drove the highways again and the brakes still vibrate. I had asked if
> they did a road test and they said ,"yes". My guess is that they only
> drove on local roads and did not feel any vibration.
>
> Am I over-reacting or do I need to keep insisting that they correct the
> problem?
>