it's not especially kosher, but you could probably get away with just
bleeding the master cylinder at the lines after you replace the switches.

I've almost never seen a faulty brake switch on a master cylinder on a
vanagon .......but I just put fluffy cotton rags under the switches, swap
them out.........
then bleed at the lines, one circuit at a time, and going back and forth a
bit between the two circuits.

you know........the ole ..........pump up some pressure on the pedal, crack
open a line, and air and fluid comes out while the pedal goes down. .
Tighten line fitting, let pedal come back up.
And repeat.  And do the two circuits back and forth a bit.  Since nothing
has been disturbed downstream going to the wheels..............you should be
able to get a fine firm brake pedal this way, assuming things are good in
the wheels etc.
Try not to stroke the brake pedal more than about half or 2/3 of the way to
the floor of course, unless it's brand new.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Thoma" <mpthoma2003@YAHOO.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 4:27 AM
Subject: Brake light switch replacement

Hey all,
Is there a mess free way to replace the two brake light switches on the
master cylinder?
It looks like I'd have to drain the entire system then replace switches,
then refill and bleed the brakes. What a pain.
Thoma

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