# 99 Jetta 2.0 Mk3 Brake problems, please help me!



## AndrewH05 (May 29, 2013)

Hey guys.. This is going to be quite a long 'story' so bear with me! I bought a 99 VW Jetta 2.0 with 4 wheel disc brakes, non-ABS a couple months ago and am in the process of getting it road worthy. So the brakes had a few problems, needed new pads / rotors all the way around. The rear two brake calipers were not working so they needed replacing. I got all of the pads / rotors and got mk4 calipers for the back. 

So we change out all the pads / rotors and the rear brake calipers, bled everything multiple times (one rear caliper i bought on here ended up being bad and couldn't get it sealed at the banjo so I had to replace it with a new one). Put everything back together and start the car, no brakes at all, the power assist is working but the brake pedal goes to the floor, there's absolutely no brakes at all, not even enough to stop the car a little but yet when the car is off we can visibly see the pistons on all of the calipers moving. I did some research and figured the MC had to have crapped out even though everything was working just FINE before messing with the brakes, I had driven it a couple hundred miles with no issues. So this weekend I bought a brand new MC and we got it installed, bench bled it and bled the brakes 2 more times just to be sure. Start the car up, the power assist works but same issue, absolutely NO brakes, the only way to stop the car is the ebrake. So after that we unplugged the vacuum line to the booster and as expected the pedal is super hard when the car starts but there are absolutely NO brakes whatsoever when pushing it all the way to the floor.

I want to mention that we've bled gallons of brake fluid through, there is NO AIR in the lines. Whether or not the booster is hooked up makes zero difference and when the car is off when pressing the brake pedal we can visibly see the pistons moving on the calipers. 

At this point I'm at a loss, I have no idea why it's not working, there is no leaks anywhere in the system, the brakes bleed just fine with no air in the system. Put in a brand new MC. If anyone can help I would really appreciate it. I probably missed some information because I'm so tired but I can answer any questions, I need to get this issue fixed.


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## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

Were the rear wheels drooping down when you bled the brakes?

The proportioning valve in the rear will prevent full fluid flow to the rear brakes (and proper bleeding) when the rear wheels are drooping. You must hold the rear wheels in the same position they are in when on the ground, or hold the proportioning valve up, or have the rear wheels sitting on the ground when bleeding the rear brakes.


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