I believe I assembled everything correctly. It was the adjustment that might not
be right. I will redo the adjustment and bleed it again. Thanks.

David

--- Zoran Mladen <zmaninco@YAHOO.COM> wrote:

> In both cases I think you guys need to check your rear brake adjustment / adjusters.  The rear
> brakes are self adjusting.  If they are not working, you get more and more gap in the rear
> brakes causing the pdeal to go lower and lower.
> Often times, people do not assemble the rear brakes correctly.  The position of the upper
> springs and the brake adjuster are important - if assembled incorrrectly, they will not work.  I
> would check this first.
> Z
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: David Kao <dtkao0205@YAHOO.COM>
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12:54:37 AM
> Subject: Re: Master cylinder question
>
> I am no expert in Vanagon brakes. But I did two brake jobs on my two Vanagons
> recently. The result of the fist brake job wasn't great. My pedal often passes
> 1/2 point to kick in. But if I pump the pedal once then it will kick in at the
> beginning 1/4 point. I bled the brake twice but no improvement. I had no idea
> why.
>
> My 2nd brake job recently was far more successfully. I put in new brake shoes
> and cylinders. Adjusted the shoes back and forth to make sure proper tightness.
> Then bled the brake once. The result was great. Parking brake level is perfect
> and brake pedal is firm and will kick in at the beginning 1/4 depth.
>
> Nothing was done to the front brakes as the pads all looked thick enough. So
> one brake job was not good but the other great. The difference I think is in the
> adjustment of the brake shoes. I believe it affects the pedal.
>
> Today I did another brake job for a Honda Accord. I put in new brake shoes and
> new cylinders. I found that Honda Accord's rear drum brakes have no holes for
> adjusting the star wheel. SO there is no way I could adjust the shoes the way I did
> on the Vanagon. After bleeding the brake it turns out that the pedal also will only
> kick in beyond 1/2 pedal depth. Not good.
>
> Based on these I tend to believe that adjustmnent of the shoes is critical for the
> pedal to work right. Again I am no expert. Any comments from experts out there
> please?
>
> David
>
>
> --- Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET> wrote:
>
> > Hi folks:
> >
> > I'll stop talking about battery woes and move on to a new subject;)
> >
> > Just finished up installing a new master cylinder on my 89 Westy as well as an Audiovox cruise
> > control. Everything went fairly smoothly, and my homemade brake bleeder worked great. It was
> fun
> > to finally get a chance to try it out. Puzzling thing to me is the brakes are now
> > grabbing/engaging towards the end of the pedal travel, whereas prior to changing the cylinder
> > out they engaged a little bit sooner, but would fade. I've got really good pressure, pedal is
> > not spongy, so am I looking at a rear brake adjustment? Just can't figure out why a master
> > cylinder would change where the brakes would engage.
> >
> > From what I recall about adjusting the rear brakes, the star adjuster is turned until the
> brakes
> > just scrape. Someone mentioned then applying the parking brake as well as pumping up the brake
> > pedal to center the pads, and then readjusting. Is this the correct procedure? I've only ever
> > tried this once.
> >
> > I like to have the brakes engage at the first third of travel instead of the last third, and I
> > believe pedal height comes form the rear brakes adjustment, but would like confirmation of
> this.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Troy
> >
>
>
>
>