I always welcome the end of the story from other backroomers so here's mine.
The story so far. VW Golf Mk 4 with a brake fluid leak from the left rear brake pipe where it joins the caliper. There were no pipes in the UK apparently even though this is a known fault with Audi A3s according to HJ. Had the car recovered when the pipe arrived at the garage because all the fluid had drained out of the system while it had been stood in the car park. The pipe was fitted on 18th Feb and I did some work on the laptop for a couple of hours in the waiting area. Apparently the mechanic had come back white-faced and shaking from the test drive because the seal on the caliper had given up while he had been testing the brakes. True to form, there were no calipers to be had for days, so the car stayed in the dealership waiting...
This brings us to last week when the new caliper was fitted, but the garage were unsuccessful in getting a "pedal" i.e some resistance from the brake pedal, so a new master cylinder was ordered and fitted, and today the car is ready for collection. The service manager said this was quite common in cars that had lost all fluid, the lack of fluid apparently allows the seals in the master cylinder to turn and you can't get any brake pressure. Everything except recovery paid for by VW. Goodness knows how much this excercise would have cost a private motorist with a car out of warranty.
There are a couple of points you may like to comment on; a chronic shortage of VAG parts in this country - true or just the dealer getting it wrong? Also; don't they rebuild faulty brake components with new seals any more? Also; what price the service manager's comment about seals turning in empty systems?
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Darcy,
Seals can turn due to incorrect methods of pad changing, and perhaps bleeding.
All seems odd though after just a simple pipe leak. You never know the real truth in a larger dealership do you?
I overhaul some brake components on my own cars. Not worth it on a customers car where you want to give a 100% warranty.
David
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David
Re your comments on seals turning due to incorrect bleeding. This summer I was thinking of renewing the brake fluid in my daughters 95 Fiesta. Having done this sort of thing before, though not for some time, I was anticipating a reasonably (bleed nipple jams excepted) easy time. Is there something I should know?
Dave
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I don't know of seals turning, or the reason, but I can confirm the frequency of master cylinder failure following other brake work, and the inability to get a 'pedal'.
Mike
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David W,
The Gunsons brake bleeding kit that I use (Ex Halfords) pressurises the master cylinder and allows a constant flow at the slave cylinder bleed nipple. Its operating instructions insist on a max operating pressure (using the spare tyre) of 20 psi.
This seems a marginal system to use having read Darcy's note.
What do you think?
Regards,
Julian L
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Julian,
Gunsons is good! Why would you think it is marginal?
David
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