[Vwdiesel] 85 Jetta TD Front brakes locking up

[82 Diesel Westy]

I agree, great call, you can also get new plastic
"bushing" for little $$, so if they look bad replace
them too.

Good luck, stinks you did all that break work but hey,
you are good to go on front brake hardware for a long
time.

--- James Hansen <jhsg at sasktel.net> wrote:

> The bushings that the caliper moves on must be
> stuck/rusty/seized.
> 
> remove the two allen head bolts that holds the
> caliper on, there are 
> plastic sleeve things in there that they call
> caliper bearings, remove 
> those too. (fish them out)
> 
> Polish the bolts on a wire wheel, clean the caliper
> inside bit where 
> this stuff came from well, antisneeze the heck out
> of it, and reassemble.
> 
> Problem should vanish.
> 
> Head gasket would be incidental.
> So would the master cylinder change.
> 
> Problem is in the calipers.
> 
> I bet you have one pad worn way more than the other
> too, on the side 
> opposite the piston.  The caliper moves over to
> squeeze on the rotor, 
> but can't move back, because the semi-stuck bushings
> hold it from moving.
> 
> There is special high temp grease for caliper
> bushings, but anti-seize 
> works just fine.
> 
> -james
> 
> Doyt W. Echelberger wrote:
> > About a month ago my aging 85 Jetta TD developed a
> brake problem. I'd drive 
> > it about 5 miles and then the front brakes started
> dragging and making the 
> > engine labor. The front hubs got hot and were
> smoking, and I had to stop 
> > driving the car and let everything cool down. 
> This problem developed on 
> > the test drive after replacing the head gasket,
> which may only be 
> > incidental.  Same brake problem showed up about 6
> months ago, and I swapped 
> > in a new master cylinder and the problem went
> away.
> > 
> > OK, I did some easy fixes....  First, I replaced
> the master cylinder. It 
> > was still under warranty and the replacement was
> free, so I just did it. 
> > That stopped the passenger side front brake
> problem, but the driver side 
> > front brake just kept on locking up.  "I'm gonna
> fix that," (sez I).....and 
> > replaced the caliper and both the hard line and
> the flexible hose on that 
> > side.   It didn't change anything except the
> thickness of my wallet.
> > 
> > Driver front brake still locks up after driving
> about 5 miles.
> > 
> > So, all the easy answers seem to be used up.   I'm
> obviously overlooking 
> > something....probably obvious to someone....or at
> least I hope so.     Help.
> > 
> > Doyt Echelberger
> > old guy in Ohio
> > 
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