Former VWDieselParts.com Forum

97 1.9 AAZ Turbo Diesel has an odd braking issue.

After putting in new glow plugs and having the car raised on the front end for a few days the brake pedal goes all the way to the floor and only applies pressure to the brakes til the pedal is almost at the floor. And the brake fluid looked pretty much empty.

I think its the master cylinder but after being parked a few days being level the brakes are back to normal.

Its pretty odd whats happening. I think the master cylinder has a small leak. So when the front of the car was lifted the brake fluid leaked somwehere? and then leaked back when i left the car level.

I drove it about 30 miles with no issues with braking. So I dont really know what the problem is.

I did not notice any leaks in the front calipers or the rear wheel cylinders.

So...

The brake fluid can leak into the vacuum booster. This may also cause your brake pedal to stick down.

And would you say that's normal

Neither a sticking brake pedal nor brake fluid leaking into the vacuum power booster cylinder are considered normal.

Ok well I could add that the pedal is not hard to press and I don't have to exert unnecessary force to stop/slow the car.

I belive it's the master cylinder. It'll be in the mail on Tuesday so well see next week how it goes.

This may be a dumb question, but is there a spring up under the dash that pulls the brake pedal back? Maybe this is only for a clutch, and maybe I've even thinking of 40 year old cars too.

I did not see a spring on the brake pedal