Bleeding Brakes On VW Bug - Non-Wakeboarding Discussion

(wakeworld) · (wakeworld) **Join Date: Jan 1997** 06-05-2010, 12:24 AM

I ended up with an old beater baja bug and I'm trying to get it running. However, the brake fluid appears to be completely gone. It looks like a pretty simple system, so I put in some brake fluid and started the process of bleeding the brakes. However, nothing is happening. The fluid is not moving through the lines. There is no bleed fitting at the master cylinder, so I loosened one of the lines there to make sure fluid was making it that far and it is. The only thing I can think of is that the master cylinder is just not pumping and needs to be replaced. Any ideas?

(jaegermaster) · (jaegermaster) **Join Date: Sep 2002** 06-05-2010, 8:03 AM

Most likely the master cylinder is bad.

(iridelow1998) · (iridelow1998) **Join Date: Jun 2006** 06-05-2010, 8:30 AM

Had the same problem when I had my 66, it seems the master cylinders are notorious for going bad on those.

(three6ty) · (three6ty) **Join Date: Feb 2004** 06-06-2010, 12:19 PM

Good thisng is that they are cheap to replace and easy to get to.

(95sn) · (95sn) **Join Date: Sep 2005** 06-07-2010, 11:08 AM

Be patient bleeding the new MC, sometimes they take awhile. Make sure you have correct tolorance on push pin from the pedal to mc. buy the best part you can, not the cheapest! Get German if you can. theSamba.com is a great source for everthing VW.

(jwag) · (jwag) **Join Date: Apr 2002** 06-08-2010, 3:28 PM

Like 95 said, make sure there is some free play in the pedal before it actuates the M/C. Pump slowly and make sure you let the pedal all the way out. You can loosen the lines that go to the wheels at the master cylinder to get it started