Club 80-90 Forums

Year of manufacture: 1989
Engine size: 1.6D [originally 1.7D]
Engine code: JK [from Jetta, only 40,00 miles, allegedly]
left or right hand drive: RHD
transmission type: manual
Fuel type: diesel

Not happy with the brakes on my 'new' van, I had the brakes checked by my fave v-dub club recommended mechanic, who stripped them, and found one set on the back with springs assembled backwards, causing a problem, and that I need new front discs, due to heavy scoring and lipping. His rebuild and clean of the brakes improved matters a lot, and whilst they passed an MOT only two weeks before I bought her, and he says they would pass an MOT today, they are still troubling me, having had excellent brakes on my old T25. It feels like braking on an old Bay!

I have a suspect servo, and have been advised [by my fave v-dub club recommended mechanic] to have a vacuum test done, but I can't find anyone who can do one. So what do I do? I have a servo on my old van, which I am stripping [1989 1.7D], so maybe I could remove that and take it to the garage for refitting on the new bus, but I would like to be sure it's a necessary move before doing it.

Braking action...the servo kicks in at first, but after that, you're on your own, and the braking is then hard. A full release of the pedal, and you will get servo assist on the next brake stroke.

How do I confirm that this is the servo? From what [little] knowledge I have, I would say that this is the case, but I need to know, ideally.

Cheers in advance for the help,
Blue.

Blue,,,,,,Jump into your vehicle before starting engine evacuate the remains of contents of Servo by pressing brake pedal repeatedly, then hold pedal down,,,,,,Start engine,,,,,,if Servo is working you should be able to feel the pedal being pulled away from your foot.

IF the pedal stays put this usually indicates a lack of Servo assistance, so you will then have to check the Vacuum pump on the engine is working properly,,,,,,this can be done by simply disconnecting the pipe from the pump to the servo and feeling for good suck from the pump.
If this suck is poor even if the engine is speeded up, the pump may be at fault.
If the pump is OK check the Servo pipe and the non return valve fitted on the pipe ( The non return valves do fail from time to time ).
If the Vacuum from the pump is fine and dandy the fault may finally lie with the servo diaphragm and or its casing.

Regards

Fritz,,,,

Thanks, will do these tests as soon as I have a daylight moment to test it.

Cheers,
Blue