Any car brake savvy folk out there ?

[FraserinFinland]

You have the brake fluid resiervior over filled.

Lets put this another way, someone tells you they have blood in their urine every couple of weeks. Would you tell them to go to a doctor or tell them to try and solve it on the net?
Just like this mystery brake fluid, it can be an internal issue you can't see.
I'm not a doctor and you are not a mechanic.

[aguinness]

i think you should at least try a different forum to see if you can find the answers like a V.W forum http://www.google.fi/search?q=vw+forum& ... =firefox-a or a Passat forum http://www.google.fi/search?q=passat+fo ... =firefox-a or even just a regular car repair forum. Just my 2c.

[A11an]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, I will try get it to a garage.

[Mattlill2000]

Let us know how it goes and what was wrong with it. Good Luck!

[Rob A.]

Here is a pic of the MC etc, there is no signs of leaking brake fluid and no way for me to tell if the MC or Servo is faulty. The leak in the rear where handbrake cable meets caliper and is so slow it takes maybe 2 weeks before warning light comes on.

So...are you saying then that the only problem you are having is a slow decline in braking action that takes about two weeks before the warning light comes on?? ...Nothing else?? Or is this an additional problem??

Anyway ...I was kind of surprised at how cautious a lot of the posters have been... So I tried to visualize what I would do if I had an old Passat that was revealing braking issues... First, I would have a good repair manual ...Haynes manuals have been my preference...designed for the backyard mechanic...I always found their advice worth heeding... I've done lots of repair and maintenance work over the years on old BMWs and Volkswagens.... But there are other good repair manuals...

I got all the information I would need to make decisions about a simple brake job by downloading this Bentley manual for free:

http://servicemanual.blogspot.com/2007/ ... -1997.html

....there are two choices for the rear brakes...drum or caliper....and I think you are saying that you have rear caliper brakes,..which are far easier, IMHO, than drum brakes...I used to hate working on drum brakes...all those springs... So let's go with rear brake calipers...

Anyway, it more or less starts at page 46-27 for rear brake calipers .... The big tip I got from reading this is how the automatic brake adjustment works...that probably would not have been obvious while trying to disassemble....it's a screw-action and according to the manual you need a specialized tool to replace the piston in the caliper ...

Well...this probably would "end" it for me...unless I could figure out a "work-around" or, unless I could find a way to borrow this tool.... I found one for US$60 ...the old style ...and the replacement version US$114.99... I likely would think it just couldn't be justified....

But at least I would know what the problem is, and I would know how to fix it...and I would make this all clear to the garage doing the repair...

Heck, that may save me lots of money ...they may decide I'm too much trouble to try to "rip off"...

...But just for fun, let's carry on...Let's assume I was able to borrow the tool....

OK...once the leaking caliper seal has been PROPERLY diagnosed... ...then the caliper mounting bolts are removed; the brake piston removed; and the seal replaced following the procedures laid out in the manual.... Also I would give some thought to how much wear is left in the brake pads...if necessary, I would replace the pad sets on BOTH rear wheels....

Well, that's how I would do it....but I'm also now coming to the conclusion that if you thought it was a good idea to come to a forum like this one for advice on repairing a car...rather than go to a proper car repair forum...maybe you should leave the repair jobs to the mechanics, even if they are going to "rip" you off a bit in the process ...

Here's another link in simpler language....they recommend replacing the caliper mounting bolts...though I would probably just use Loc-Tite....the right strength...but the bolts are probably cheaper than the Loc-Tite...

http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl655f.htm

Gee, I'm almost looking forward to the next time I have to fix the brakes on my old BMW 7-series ...

[Tiwaz]

Considering we tend to be the people who are in traffic with this VW repaired by backyard repairman...

We have every reason to be extremely worried. Car with no breaks on motorway is a killing machine. 100km/h during winter just does not stop in any reasonable distance.

I am firmly against all this personal handyman stuff when people are not trained professionals. It does not take much to do small screw up which ends up blowing your system at unpredictable time.

I am protecting myself and my family here. If this guy wants to "fix" his can himself and I could be assured that he will only kill himself if he @#$% up a bit...

I would not care. But it might be me, my wife or other parts of our extended family who have to be scraped off his cars front bumper when bad luck and little flaw in his workmanship blow his brakes at most inconvenient time.


By the way, OP, if you are worried about travelling costs. Talk to your unemployment office about something called "matkakorvaus". I recall that if you have to travel outside your municipality or such you have right to receive money from government to help fund the expenses.