Maybe someone swapped some of the parts from right to left.  Have the
mechanic inspect thoroughly.  With the drums off, he should be able to test
the adjusters to make sure they are working properly.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Paquette <cp@IX.NETCOM.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Thursday, May 06, 1999 2:08 PM
Subject: Rear "Self-Adjusting" Brakes... Don't

>Greetings, All:
>
>When I initially got my '88 Westy about 6 months ago, all was well until I
>noticed the brake pedal was going "soft" and I had to pump the pedal to
make
>it come back firm. I took it to a good mechanic (as recommended by a friend
>and fellow Westy owner) who diagnosed the problem as the rear
self-adjusting
>brakes needing to be adjusted. He did this, and the pedal was good for
maybe
>three days, then the same thing happened.
>
>I took it back. He adjusted the rear brakes again. It was good for another
>couple of days, and the now the same thing has happened. There are times
>when the brake pedal goes all the way down to metal, can't go down any
>further, but the bus is still rolling forward, which, um, concerns me.
>
>Questions: Based on your experience, does the "out of adjustment
>self-adjusting rear brakes" diagnosis seem accurate? If not, what else
could
>it be?
>
>If adjusting them doesn't work as a long-term solution, do I need to
replace
>the rear brakes completely? What's a ballpark figure for how much this
>costs?
>
>Chris
>'88 Westy, "Rozinante"
>Los Angeles