Dreaded hard brake pedal

[dannyboy201062]

I noticed this coming for some time.........the servo effect seemed to be lost too quickly after a few rapid pedal applications. Did`nt really affect normal driving so paid no more notice until..........in slow moving traffic....engine at idle.......brake to a stop.....all`s well........another few feet , brake to a stop.......whoa !.....brake gone hard. All was well when the revs came up when driving away a little faster. Had a look around the brake servo pipes . Made a mistake which I will reveal later ( basic trouble shooting ) Found the pipe entering the vac pump from the servo was a little loose.......was a type of a ball joint fitting...not one you could tighten. Oh dear looks like a vac pump ( and fuel pump ) replacement to fix......expensive. Decided on a high quality ( Tech 7 ) silicone sealant repair to that pipe area, did that ..........noticed that the pipe to the servo from the vac pump where it enters the bulkhead didn`t seem a very tight fit so put a jubilee clip on it and tightened it up well . This fitted well with the info on the Forum. Good job !! ( or not ) . The problem was worse !...........had look ....this time with the engine running looking for a hissing sound ( basic trouble shooting ) I found that the jubilee clip I put on the bulkhead fitting had exaggerated the problem.......a split in the rubber bulkhead fitting where the pipe to the servo goes through the bulkhead....replaced temporarily with a rubber hose of the correct size and problem sorted. The correct fix is to replace the rubber grommet ASAP.......will order from the dealer.......can`t be that expensive...............should have listened for the hiss with engine running and pull at the pipes..........this problem had been there for years...slowly getting worse.............could have gotten to a point where it could have been dangerous at high speed braking ! By the way the tech 7 repair worked well but was not the actual problem .

Regards.................Dannyboy

[smithy602179]

have you had the dreaded water in the plenum chamber at all ? if so your servo may well be rusted so will need new one

[dannyboy201062]

Hi Smithy602179.........no ...no problems with water in the plenum chamber. The bottom of the servo feels ok......can`t feel any corrosion.
Regards..............Dannyboy201062

[smithy602179]

It may be rusty inside mine was with no visible rust on exterior


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[dannyboy201062]

Hi Smithy602179........Oh dear..I hope not. The servo pipe repair returned the brake system operation to normal so I`m hoping I`ll have no further problems. I`ve had the car about 7 yrs with no issues with water in the battery bay / plenum.....so here`s hoping I`m all right. Tks for the info............Dannyboy201062

[dannyboy201062]

I got the replacement "grommet" ( pipe joiner / bulkhead grommet ) from VW.............only cost approx 10 euro. Easy to fit. All is back to normal.

Dannyboy 201062................