Missus crashed the van today Brakes Failed

Post by **irishkeet** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:09

Missus called me at work today very upset because the brakes failed! She went into the back of a chelsea tractor so no real damage to that but the Bluestar's front bumper was split

Thankfully no one was hurt which is the main thing

I left work straight away, when i got home I checked the brake fluid which only has a tiny bit left in it

We had front brake pads, front & rear flexi hoses, rear copper brake pipe and the fluid changed in Dec 2007

Im wondering should this have happened after all this work? I'm getting some Dot 4 brake fluid tomorrow so I can check for leaks. Anyone have any other suggestions about what could have gone wrong.

thanks
irishkeet

Post by **shallyscarlet** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:12

Thank goodness ur other half is ok xx. soz but i can't answer ur break problem xx

Post by **irishkeet** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:17

shallyscarlet wrote:Thank goodness ur other half is ok xx. soz but i can't answer ur break problem xx

thanks
she was on the was to get the kids from school so things could have been so much worse

Post by **Westy.Club.Joker** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:19

Check the front master cylinder and footwell for fluid leakage.

Post by **Red Westie** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:24

Your mechanic needs the biggest bollocking! and FREE collect and RETURN on any necessary repairs (including the bodywork)...otherwise he should face prosecution.
SERIOUSLY! if he doesn't agree then you will need an engineers report to start the proceedings.
I would even go as far as to demand all repair costs he charged are returned and compensation sort.
You have lots of bargaining chips to use here!

Brake fluid leaks are normally very easy to see and diagnose and I would be extremely suprised if his repairs weren't to blame.

Martin

Post by **Mocki** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:34

when did you last check the fluid level?
if you have had a weeping rear cylinder for some weeks, and it finally let go, the man who did the work can not be to blame.......the parts maybe, but the man who fitted them, doubt it.

Post by **andysimpson** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:54

Red Westie wrote:Your mechanic needs the biggest bollocking! and FREE collect and RETURN on any necessary repairs (including the bodywork)...otherwise he should face prosecution.
SERIOUSLY! if he doesn't agree then you will need an engineers report to start the proceedings.
I would even go as far as to demand all repair costs he charged are returned and compensation sort.
You have lots of bargaining chips to use here!

Brake fluid leaks are normally very easy to see and diagnose and I would be extremely suprised if his repairs weren't to blame.

Martin

How do you know its the mechanics fault? there is lots of things that could of gone wrong, it said some parts were replaced not every last component stripped and inspected. Speaking to mechanic with that sort of attitude is not going to achieve anything.

Post by **mininut** » 24 Apr 2008, 20:59

Like Mocki says, rear wheel cylinders? I'd also check all your hose connections as well.

Post by **irishkeet** » 25 Apr 2008, 08:09

Hello

many thanks for your replies and ideas on where to start looking for the fault.

Westy.Club.Joker - Check the front master cylinder and footwell for fluid leakage. - checked this but it all looks good will check again when i put in the fluid.

Red Westie as andysimpson says who knows where the fault lies as its an old van, if i find it is with new parts then ill give the gargae a call

Mocki - when did you last check the fluid level?
if you have had a weeping rear cylinder for some weeks, and it finally let go, the man who did the work can not be to blame.......the parts maybe, but the man who fitted them, doubt it. - have not checked it since the work was done at xmas - how do I check for a weeping rear cyl/ is it rear wheels off, pump brake pedal?

mininuts - Like Mocki says, rear wheel cylinders? I'd also check all your hose connections as well. - again is checking the hose connectors just a matter of pumping the brakes? is it better to have the front wheels off to do this?

many thanks....
funny thing is the missus called me on monday to say she was looking for a smaller run around for school run etc etc and was thinking of selling the van. We went to look at a mk3 GTI last night and it was in great nick so she has her new run around, I have the brakes to fit and the bluestar will be in the for sale section next week. She told me that she never want to drive it again, what with needing a new engine from syncronutz at xmas and now the brakes she has fallen out of love with the van

all the best for now
irishkeet

Post by **ermie571** » 25 Apr 2008, 08:18

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

Post by **Laurie** » 25 Apr 2008, 10:03

Good point EM.

You could be talking about a combination of faults. The clutch operates from the same reservoir, ony it takes fluid from half way up so it can't empty the brake system.

If your clutch slave is leaking and your rear wheel cylinders seeping, you could get rid of a reservoir full very quickly.

Check the connections on the lid and get it working. ALL OF YOU!

Then, get the brave missus to pump the brakes up to pressure, stand on the pedal and have a look for leaks.

Post by **irishkeet** » 25 Apr 2008, 10:23

thanks will get busy over the weekend

Post by **VWCamperfan** » 25 Apr 2008, 13:19

Also check vaccuum pipe from engine manifold to brake servo, could have come adrift and lost you your servo braking. Becomes difficult to stop one of these then espicially if you're not expecting it.

If you still had some brake fluid left then I would imagine there would still be enough in there to still operate the brakes, its got to be empty before anything like brake failure would occur.

Post by **Simon Baxter** » 25 Apr 2008, 19:54

Bollocking the mechanic ain't gunna do sh!t unles he has f**ked up, there plenty of other parts in the system to fail.

Clutch, the feed for the clutch master cylinder is only half way up the reservoir, even if you drained out all the clutch system there is still over half a reservoir left, so it won't be clutch related.
Sounds like you've sprung a leak somewhere, thing is if you have sprung a leak you have a dual circuit braking system so yes, the brakes won't work as they should but you will still have some brakes as the two circuits work independantly of each other. Safety feature see.

Website · Post by **syncrosimon** » 25 Apr 2008, 23:11

Sorry to hear about the accident, if the system has lost that amount of fluid I would expect to see a trace of it underneath somewhere visible fairly easily

Litigation, what a wonderful world we live in, it is becoming harder now to get brake rebuild kits on anything under 6 years old. The reason being that if a garage fits a complete brake component, then a failure will be passed to the parts supplier, if they rebuild it themselves, then they might do it wrong and get sued. A big accident is so expensive now-a-days, and the insurance companies chase down anyone that they can make liable to save themselves money.
I have just forked out for a replacement caliper on my rear discs on the kangoo, failed an mot for missing handbrake cable return spring. Could not get the spring separate, could not make one or find one similar enough to work. £90 for a spring as part of a new caliper, and we think VW are bad for parts.
This is mad in this so called Eco friendly times. How wasteful.