I spent the better part of today replacing the rear shoes and wheel cylinders
on my '87 Westy. I was told by a local mechanic that they could not adjust
the handbrake because the rear brakes were shot and needed replacement, and
that the wheel cylinders were leaking.  Luckily I chose to do the work
myself. The cyliders were not leaking, although the dust boots were funky and
the seals looked pretty shot, so it would have been time to replace soon
anyway.  The shoes still had about 1/8 in of material, so they weren't as bad
as I thought either, but, again, they would need replacing soon.

Anyway, when I put everything back together and bled the brakes, they worked
fine, although the pedal feels soft.    However, even after adjusting the e-brake per Haynes, the e-brake does
not engage at all. If the van's in neutral and I'm on an incline, and I pull
the handbrake, nothing-the van will keep rolling.  (And forget about keeping
the van still if in gear-it will simply start rolling.  I'm about out of
threads on the adjuster, so any suggestions? I'm out of ideas.  Thanks. -Mark

Mark G.
'87 Westy
'00 Passat

Mark G.
1987 Vanagon Westfalia (to go slow)
2000 Passat 1.8T 5SPD(to go fast)

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