Missus crashed the van today Brakes Failed

[Red Westie]

OK OK! I may have been a little over.......zealous! with my remarks.
I accept that there could have been another component failure other than what has been replaced. As a fellow mechanic (Simon) you must agree that the recent repairs are still the most likely cause of this failure.
In the first instance, I would be very keen to pin point the fault , which really shouldn't be too dificult to trace as brake fluid leaks are fairly easy to detect (put the van on ramps and have someone apply the brakes hard whilst carrying out a thorough visual inspection)
Once you know what you are dealing with you can decide on your next move.
If it clearly is poor workmanship, I stand by my first post.

[Rozzo]

i think the important thing is to find out what is wrong. i don't really see how the mechanic is at fault after 4 months?
hopefully all will be revealed in here cos i'm dying to know what the cause was.

[Red Westie]

Quote
i don't really see how the mechanic is at fault after 4 months?
It isn't just the parts that are gauranteed! all work carried out by a garage should have been done to a certain standard and should also carry a gaurantee (usually 6months) although work carried out by main dealerships is even longer at 12months.
The general consensus is that something else has failed...which may be right, important thing is to find the fault.
could be one of many things:
Leaking wheel cylinder
Leaking pipe union
leaking flexi hose
leaking master cylinder
Weeping caliper seals
Excessively corroded pipework etc

Martin

[irishkeet]

Keet...

you should have had the red low brake fluid level indicator come on....the little red light when the handrake is on should also come on when the fluid is low. On top of the reservoir is a little button - pushing this should test the circuit and the lamp should light. If not, the circuit is faulty.


Em
x

tested the circuit its working fine now

topped up the fluid and checked all felxi hoses - no leaks!

gonna pop the wheels off and bleed the system

no leaking in footwells either

any other ideas peeps

also coolant light is flashing too could this be connected?
checked the levels - all ok, checked the fan fuse - all ok
just changer the hose to expansion tank which was in poor condition - maybe it wasn't keeping pressure/ anyone had this problem?

cheers for all the advice so far, wish i wasnt so far south it would be good to have some help advice
lol

[irishkeet]

well the hose swap fixed the coolant light - nice ti fix something today

took both wheels off, bled the brakes all good now but there was no sign of any leaks!

the locking wheel nut for the rear wheels is missing ARRRGGH! so im at the end of my rope with this van

going to sell as is and list a suspect weeping rear cylinder with the ad
just did 30-40 miles brakes are better than ever but there has to be a leak somewhere and my interest in this van is a ), no its in the minus

anyway anyone wanna buy a bluestar,will photograph and list tomorrow eve if i get enough time.

[autohausdolby]

I've had a couple of customer's vans in with partial brake failure in the last couple of months - one was a recently fitted rear wheel cylinder that only showed up when the van had been stood and use wasn't keeping the system air free (although the van was almost out of fluid as well , the other was an invisible pin hole in one of the rear solid brake pipes. It was only evident under sustained system pressure (the pedal was held down overnight), but it was still enough to cause the rear brake circuit to fail.

It is worth knowing that the system is dual circuit - lots of people don't, and think they aren't going to stop if there's no pedal feel.

I'd chase the problem down rather than sell the van with faulty brakes - it'll put a lot of people off if they think it's got a difficult to solve issue

[irishkeet]

autohausdolby

i agree I would want the brakes to be in good order if I was van shopping
Ive spoken to my better half and she is thinking about it.
took all the photos today just read to write a description

cheers
irishkeet

I've had a couple of customer's vans in with partial brake failure in the last couple of months - one was a recently fitted rear wheel cylinder that only showed up when the van had been stood and use wasn't keeping the system air free (although the van was almost out of fluid as well , the other was an invisible pin hole in one of the rear solid brake pipes. It was only evident under sustained system pressure (the pedal was held down overnight), but it was still enough to cause the rear brake circuit to fail.

It is worth knowing that the system is dual circuit - lots of people don't, and think they aren't going to stop if there's no pedal feel.

I'd chase the problem down rather than sell the van with faulty brakes - it'll put a lot of people off if they think it's got a difficult to solve issue

[irishkeet]

autohausdolby

well my better half has seen the light and I have taken it back to the garage that did the original brake work this morning, once the problem is fixed ill pop it in the 4 sale section.
I have to say today it drove well, brakes were responsive, if i didnt have a westy already I'd be tempted to have it off her

[irishkeet]

well the garage has just called to say it is the Clutch Slave Cylinder that has been leaking so nothing to do with previous work, just one of those things.
Actually all this has kind of worked out for the best.....I would hate to have sold the van to someone and have the brakes fail on them as they did for us.

All is well that ends well

So is anyone after a Bluestar?

irishkeet

[toomanytoys]

Clutch slave cyl feed is designed to not empty the brakes... so its not possible the clutch did it..

What are the front pads like? worn down a good bit? rears may have self adjusted a lot since the work.. this all takes quite a bit of fluid from the system so if it was a little low air could have got in..
brake fliud leaks are usually pretty evident around the backing plates on the rear..

Does it get parked up on a steep slope regularly? it has to be a wierd combination of factors that has caused it..

[irishkeet]

Clutch slave cyl feed is designed to not empty the brakes... so its not possible the clutch did it..

What are the front pads like? worn down a good bit? rears may have self adjusted a lot since the work.. this all takes quite a bit of fluid from the system so if it was a little low air could have got in..
brake fliud leaks are usually pretty evident around the backing plates on the rear..

Does it get parked up on a steep slope regularly? it has to be a wierd combination of factors that has caused it..

hi
garage has now replaced the cyl (£150)!!
front pads are good, its always parked on a flat road outside the house

do you think the garage is messin me about?

[toomanytoys]

hi
garage has now replaced the cyl (£150)!!
front pads are good, its always parked on a flat road outside the house

do you think the garage is messin me about?

Cant say as I havent seen it..
but VW built in a safety device so the clutch cant use all the brake fluid, but it also acts as a warning device when the clutch stops working very well... it means the fluid is low.. but that does rely on the clutch being able to suck air in...

clutch cyls do fail but normaly leak fluid on the floor by the pedals.. quite easy to see...

[Simon Baxter]

Coh, £150 to chage a slave cylinder, on a syncro I could understand that but on a Bluestar.
No wonder I'm constantly dropping people from london off at the railway station!

[irishkeet]

Coh, £150 to chage a slave cylinder, on a syncro I could understand that but on a Bluestar.
No wonder I'm constantly dropping people from london off at the railway station!

lol
Simon I know, I wish I was nearer to yourself, have driven to Steve (Gasure) many times to get some bits done with the LPG and propex fitting

Rip Off London