THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

One of the benefits of having two pinzgauers is comparing performance. You can determine whats a normal trait of these vehicles vs an issue. Case in point: My 712 braking is horrific compared to my 710. There is tremendously more pedal travel plus less bite.

This leads me to my questions: Am i correct in my logic below?

If pedal travel is extensive, adjust brakes.

CHECK. (Adjusted front and back, backing off 4 clicks (5 on the inners). Is this too many?)

If adjusting brakes yields minor gains, bleed brakes.

CHECK. (Not the easiest job to accomplish with one person. I may want to recheck one of these days but im pretty sure I did all 6 wheels correctly using a vaccum brake kit from HF)

If neither yield significant gains, rebuild master cyl?

A double pump does not result in significant increase of braking. What does this mean? Rebuild is needed or go back and readjust?



And while i have your attention, would bleeding the clutch system raise the engagement point on the pedal? The 712 pedal is less firm than the 710.

Back off 3 clicks each adjuster, and vac bleeders are useless for this application.
Spend the measly $60 on a pressure bleeder. It saves time, money and is a one man operation

As for clutch pedal "feel", that is determined by the health of the pressure plate and disk .

As the disk wears, the fingers on the P.P. get higher resulting in higher pedal pressure

Thanks Jim, appreciate the response. Ill readjust brakes and try the pressure bleeder.

When using a power bleeder, which cap on the reservoir do I use?

edit: I found a reservoir above the master cylinder (high up and out of my range of vision) but I notice a bit of dark substance on the bottom of the tank.
I had intended to bleed the brakes using the power bleeder and am curious if that stuff is actually contamination. The fluid in all of the containers is clear and not cloudy.