# brakes are very weak...tried searching please help......



## tojr1088 (Feb 25, 2009)

i have a mk4 gti and am experiencing a loss of braking power......if i hit the brakes i can push the pedal down to the floor without too much effort....also if i slam them my car will barely go into abs....i have tried searching all over the place and this is what i have done so far
1.)replaced brake fluid with appropriate dot4 fluid and bled all lines in appropriate order as bently manual states.....
2.)checked pads all are worn evenly and all look next to new...
3.)rotors are all smooth
4.)no caliper slide pins are siezed at all.
5.)brake fluid is full
6.)the vacum booster is holding strong vacum and responds as it should
7.)i held the pedal down hard with the car off for a minute and the pedal didnt drop so i kno the master cylinder is not leaking and the brake fluid never goes ow so no leaks..
My brakes used to work much better and compared to my budies mk4 my brake pedal feels the same as his only his stops instantly and is very responsive even with a soft pedal.....just cant seem to figure this one out...
One thing i noticed is that my ebrake barely works and wont lock the tires at all so maybe the adjuster isnt set right by whoever did the pad change but if so can this mess up the entire braking system....any help is appreciated


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## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

*Re: brakes are very weak...tried searching please help...... (tojr1088)*

Parking brake not working is going to affect the total brake performance of the car, as it shows that the rear brake pads are out of adjustment which means when you step on the brake pedal fluid is being to move the brake pads to contact with the rotors, instead of clamping the pads to the rotors to stop the car.
The front brakes are tied to the rear brake fluid flow wise. If the rear brakes are not working correctly, the front brakes won't either.
Get the parking brake problem fixed. It's going to take adjustement, and/or replacement parking brake cables (if they are seized), and/or replacement rear brake calipers (if the parking brake cables are good, and the rear brake pad clearance is adjusted properly, but the parking brake does not engage on the calipers when the parking brake handle is pulled).


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## tojr1088 (Feb 25, 2009)

*Re: brakes are very weak...tried searching please help...... (germancarnut51)*

thank u for the instant response.....yes i have a feeling whoever did the rears must have not properly pressed in the pistons on the rear messing up the self adjustment....i will try to readjust or reset it btu my parking break works just has alot of free play and doesnt grab very well....will take a look...any other insight is appreciated


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## tojr1088 (Feb 25, 2009)

*Re: brakes are very weak...tried searching please help...... (tojr1088)*

ok so i just re bled the brakes but this time used a power bleeder from motive products.....a little better sort of but the ebrake still barely locks the tires even in rain.....i checked the rear brakes and the pads are nice and snug and i dont think the adjuster is out of wack maybe my ebarke cables are just losse....but do you think my smushy feeling is potentially from poor quality pads....my friends mk4 requires about 1/3 less of pedal movement to do the same braking as my car......


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## Das Borgen (Sep 10, 2008)

*Re: brakes are very weak...tried searching please help...... (tojr1088)*

replace ur ebrake cables
they have a tendency to rust out on the mk3...might be same on the mk4
in any case, it s actually quite an easy job to do
lift car and support on stands
remove wheels
unhook parking brake cables from caliper
unhook cable from inside cabin
feed new cable through guide tubes (recommend replacing those also)
repeat for other side

read here for how to adjust on mk3 (must be very similar to mk4)
http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty...x.htm

http://www.germanautoparts.com...ke/40


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## waabaah (Jun 24, 2006)

*Re: brakes are very weak...tried searching please help...... (Das Borgen)*

you probably haver air in the system. dotn get me wrong as a bad self adjusted caliper can lead to a soft pedal but most of the time when you get new pads, new rotors, that rear caliper position is all the way maxxed anyhow and maybe just one or two positions left.

how are you bleeding the car?


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## tojr1088 (Feb 25, 2009)

*Re: brakes are very weak...tried searching please help...... (waabaah)*

please read the thread.....i already said i bled the system using a motive power bleeder....i kno there is no air in the system....the pads and rotors are next to new.........however my moms 2002 toyota corolla stops 10 times better than my car


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## waabaah (Jun 24, 2006)

lol.. just because you have the newest technology bleeding thing going on doesnt mean that it is the best. power bleeders especially the vaccuum operated ones are sometimes bad. the reason being is because when you "crack" open the bleeders, air can escape between the threads of the bleeder and NOT your clear hose.
if air escapes that just means air is entering. its a double door.
but anyway..lets see if you can read. only four things that i know of to cause a low pedal.
1 air in system
2 rear brakes not adjusted..not to be confused with ebrake adjusting!
3 master cylinder leaking internally or externally
4 a leak in the lines or hoses
so with a quick process of elimination you can rule out 2 through 4 and that leaves number one. good luck. an when your bleeding your brakes again like a normal person, make sure your thinking of me..the one who cant read!



_Modified by waabaah at 1:00 PM 10-20-2009_


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## tojr1088 (Feb 25, 2009)

*Re: (waabaah)*

first off..... a motive power bleeder is arguably the best way to bleed out brakes....forcing new fluid all the way thru the lines from the master cylinder.....instead of the old fashioned way which alot of times is the reason air is still in the lines.....


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## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

*Re: (tojr1088)*

If you got air into the ABS pump, you aren't going to get it out yourself. You need to use vag.com to operate the ABS pump and purge the air, or take the car to a VW Dealer and let them do it for you.
The method that you use to bleed the brakes is not as important as the skill and experience of the person doing the bleeding.


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## tojr1088 (Feb 25, 2009)

*FV-QR*

well i kno i bled them good....not ne air bubble....and i had the abs pump cycled after the second time i bled them because i found out about that......i dont know why they dotn feel strong.....maybe my pads are just mushy or bad but they look new and my rotors look real good.....im hoping this has something to do with my rear parking brake adjusters


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