Since it was 50% off at the LKQ junkyards this weekend, I dusted off the Rabbit Pickup and headed out for the yard in Daytona. Braking at the few traffic lights I had to stop for, the pedal felt kind of squishy. I decided to turn off and check out the dump for useful hazardous materials (oil, antifreeze, paint can frequently be had free) and the pedal sunk almost to the floor. Well, that wasn't right and wouldn't do as I got closer to town where there would be traffic, so I headed home. After a few nervous stops (really need to fix that emergency brake cable...), the brake light came on (Duh!) and at home I inspected the reservoir and found the front empty. The RR drum was dripping. Gee - I had replaced both rear wheel cylinders a few months back...WTF? Pulled the drum and one end of the cylinder was leaking badly. Pulled it apart and I was obvious that some moron had crammed the piston in without paying attention and dislocated the lip seal. This was a Brakewear part I had bought some time ago from a FLAPS made in the lovely PRC. Luckily I had another new set of Meyle Germany ( yeah, right) that I pulled apart and inspected this time and all seems to be well (except for the stain in my shorts).
Moral of the story. Inspect everything first.
Moral of the story. Inspect everything first.
Always, thats a scary event!
I pull them apart and put them back together with some silicone dielectric compound to lube and seal water out.
Rubber band or twisty keeps them from popping apart now that they are lubed up.
You can still get German ones, FTE maybe, big aluminum block style, new. I used chinese drums last time but I'm pretty sure they can cut metal good enough for those.
The FLAPS master cylinders were a joke, I coughed up $200 or something silly for an ATE.