brake vacuum pump

peggysgirl · Post by **peggysgirl** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:02 pm

My brakes are very stiff feeling at the petal. If I slammed them on, the vehicle wouldn't stop.They have good shoes etc on them,but feel they need an adjustment I am wondering if the vacuum in the brakes can be adjusted by the vacuum pump?

libbybapa · Post by **libbybapa** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:06 pm

The stock vanagon brakes are somewhat poor at best, meaning that a full westy requires that you stand on the pedal to lock them up on pavement. Without being able to feel the pedal response it's hard to tell if what you are describing is normal. If the pedal is firm and requires excessive effort then the hydraulics are fine and you might have a vacuum issue. One decent test is to press the pedal firmly with the engine off. Then start the engine while still pressing on the pedal. If the pedal moves down some when the engine starts running, then most likely the vacuum system is working. If it doesn't, then you do have a vacuum problem. Report back after the test.

peggysgirl · Post by **peggysgirl** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:08 pm

I did the test twice and the petal never moved.Vacuum problem?

libbybapa · Post by **libbybapa** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 4:11 pm

Yup, most likely. Do you have access to a vacuum gauge? If so, you can measure the vacuum at the pump. You could also pull the hose off the vacuum pump and see if it is pulling a hard vacuum. It will pull 25" of Hg and so I would use something other than your finger. Do you have access to a hand pump (Mity-vac)? If so, you can pull a vacuum on the brake booster hose that connects to the vacuum pump and see if it holds vacuum.

Andrew