Rear disc brake wear

[Mark944gold]

I have now done just over 3000 miles and have noticed that the rear disc are starting to wear and get score marks in them, one side seems worse than the other. The front disc's are unmarked and still look like new, in addition I know I'm not hard on brakes and have had pads do over 100,000 miles before. Has anyone else noticed any issues?

[philbes]

There are other posts about this. My MkII FL Octavia vRS has heavily scored rear discs. Had them when I purchased it at 9,000 miles and they don't seem any worse now at 38,000 miles. Still plenty of meat on pads. At the two MOTs the scoring was not mentioned so I discussed with the tester and he advised doing nothing until pads need changing and then change discs at the same time. Car stops fine.

Like you I am not heavy on brakes. On my last car (2-litre Civic Type-S) I changed front discs/pads at 62K and at 85K (when I sold the car) rear discs/pads still had plenty of wear left but were heavily scored.

Edited 4 August, 2016 by philbes

[Alf01]

There should be no scoring at all with just 3000miles on the car.

Certainly not on the rear discs as cars do most of the braking with the front discs. I would be taking it back to the dealer and have them have a look at it.

You might have a stone trapped in the pads causing the scoring.

2nd hand cars are a different animal. Very often they are serviced at a cheaper place and cheap hard pads are installed. These pads promise longer life but are so hard that they actually score the discs.

False economy.

[Q102]

What I have noticed with modern cars is that they tend to use the rear brakes more if you brake gently as the limiting devices spread the load IYSWIM.

 

Noticed this in my last 3 cars

[Prykey]

Don't forget that the Superb 3 has an electronic parking brake, so if you are making use of auto-hold or the facility of releasing the parking brake by driving off rather then flicking the switch this must have an impact on rear disc and pad wear.

Edited 5 August, 2016 by Prykey

[dstev2000]

Don't forget that the Superb 3 has an electronic parking brake, so if you are making use of auto-hold or the facility of releasing the parking brake by driving off rather then flicking the switch this must have an impact on rear disc and pad wear.

I always let the system manage the parking brake release when I pull away. Time to see what my rear brakes are like!

 

IIRC, Vauxhall recalled loads of Insignias due to the electric parking brake dragging on the rear discs when pulling away. I believe it was a software tweak and new rear pads and discs fitted FOC.

 

Could be something similar here perhaps? Also, the brake proportioning is managed by the ABS/EBV system nowadays, rather than the old mechanical proportioning valve. The electronic system can send more power to the rear brakes as and when it wants/needs to, rather than on the occasions when the boot is loaded up. 

I always let the system manage the parking brake release when I pull away. Time to see what my rear brakes are like!

[Kev Hamilton]

My car has same issue.  Took it to a tyre place a few weeks back to get a puncture repaired and the guy there said the rear discs were in a poor state.  Car only had 6000 miles on the clock.  Car stops fine but the rear discs are pitted and scored.  I'll try and get a picture.  I'm not really that bothered as the car is a lease car and will be going back in 16 months time. 

[RickTT]

Mine were scored from 1000 miles... now at 3500 and still look bad.

Fronts are perfect.

[Leeboy]

What he said above...

This is how the front nearside disc looks on my 1.4 petrol manual (so not a big heavy engine over the front end)

Car has done 10500 miles, 80% I would reckon have been motorway miles. Long term fuel consumption is about 50mpg which tells you car is driven in a manner that keeps off the brakes. Mostly it's just me in the car and some shirts and an overnight bag.

In contrast this is the near side rear disc

And the off side

Don't look good in my non trained mechanic mind. The front wheels get covered in loads more brake dust indicating as we expect that the front wheels do the majority of the braking effect (although I appreciate the front pads are twice the size as the rears)

Drive with the windows open at low speed and you can hear the rear pads dragging on the discs. They rust up quickly too compared with the fronts which tells me one of two things, the discs are some sort of soft iron particularly to score up so badly, or pads don't release sufficiently and get hot. Repeated overheating leads to the metal corroding quickly.

Is there a service mode you can put the parking brake in so that the car can be jacked up and the rears checked for freeness when the electronics disengage the pads from the discs?

I'm feeling i should have the dealer take a look but imagine that warranty doesn't cover what they will call normal wear and tear on the friction components.

[maffyou]

I'm feeling i should have the dealer take a look but imagine that warranty doesn't cover what they will call normal wear and tear on the friction components.

I think it's legitimately arguable that on 10k miles this is not normal wear and tear, especially when compared to the front. Give it a try.

[dstev2000]

The warranty excludes wear and tear components like brake discs & pads, clutch friction plates and such like after 6,500 miles or 6 months, whichever hits first. That's unless there is proof that a component defect is causing the problem, like the parking brake allowing the pads to drag, for example. 

[teebs]

I had the same issue on a Vauxhall and they replaced FOC, even post warranty period

[Mark944gold]

It could well be something to do with the automatic handbrake, I thing I will have to get it looked at.

Front disc

Rear disc

[dstev2000]

I had the same issue on a Vauxhall and they replaced FOC, even post warranty period

A work colleague had an Insignia SRi Nav with the 'leccy parking brake. It roasted the rear discs and pads. It was all replaced under warranty. 

[Leeboy]

A work colleague had an Insignia SRi Nav with the 'leccy parking brake. It roasted the rear discs and pads. It was all replaced under warranty.

I had a 61 plate Insignia with leccy handbrake too but never had a problem. However because it was an auto i never use to deploy the handbrake because I saw it as something that might let me down at some point so I just would pop it into park unless parking it up on a slope. It needed new pads all round after about 60k but discs didn't end up looking like the Superb's do after seven months of ownership.

Incidentally I was at the dealers this afternoon picking up my Octavia after a service campaign coil pack inspection. I mentioned the Superb and the poor condition of the rear discs. He said they would have a look but normal as quoted above they won't consider pads and discs as warranty claims after six months or 6500 miles. So I don't hold out much hope. But we'll see.

[RickTT]

Ok.. so my car has 3446 miles on it delivered late March.

 

The fronts to the eye look fine, the flash does highlight every mark

 

Front offside

 

 

Front Near Side

 

Rear Offside

 

 

Rear Nearside

 

 

 

 

I also have a Skoda Rapid Spaceback SE Sport - 65 plate with 3200 miles on it.  - The rear discs are even worse on that

 

Here are the rear discs.

 

Edited 5 August, 2016 by RickTT

[maffyou]

It's worth making a fuss about and trying I think. As people have said, given the front brakes do more of the actual braking, if the rear are in much worse condition then there is cause to argue that there must be something not right. After all the worst they can say is no

[RickTT]

i think the braking split between front and rear is far greater at the front, however you would expect any force of braking would leave the discs clean.

 

I will ask the garage to look at it when it has its first service unless they look bad before.

[Mark944gold]

So I drove home for about 3 miles without using the brakes apart from to stop when I got home. Front discs were not cold but not warm, rear discs were hot, not so hot that you couldn't touch them but about as hot as a mug of coffee. So to my thinking the rear brakes are binding, going to give the dealer a call and see if I can get it looked at.

[Nick_H]

Mine are exactly the same. 6k miles. We need to find out if every superb with the electronic handbrake is the same ...

[rytmask]

Mine look the same. ~5000km. I use autohold/hillhold (always on) and let the system manage handbrake.

[dstev2000]

Here are mine at 12.5k. Auto hold has been on from day one and I always employ the parking brake at stops longer than a few seconds. I also let it release automatically. 

 

I usually carry a lot of gear in the boot and I do partake in some heavy braking on occasions. 

 

Fronts look ok, rears not so good. 

 

N/S front

 

O/S front

 

O/S rear

 

N/S rear

 

 

[RickTT]

Funny one this... after a few drives in the past my rear brakes have smelt and the alloy have felt really hot like they are binding but on the inside as the outer face of the disc still contains surface grim/rust.

[dstev2000]

Funny one this... after a few drives in the past my rear brakes have smelt and the alloy have felt really hot like they are binding but on the inside as the outer face of the disc still contains surface grim/rust.

 

Were you able to visually inspect both sides of the rear discs to see if they're both covered in surface rust? Could the inside pad be dragging on the disc perhaps? 

 

I'll have to check the inner and outer faces of my rear discs to see if they look the same - which they should under normal circumstances. All the pictures so far show the outer disc faces only. 

 

I think i'll be stoking up my thermal imaging camera soon......

[RickTT]

no, not removed the wheel, but when the outer face has surfaces deposits still after a drive and the discs are warm, it would suggest its the inner pads binding to me and the outer face piston is not applying full pressure to scrub the disc up under some driving conditions...

 

however... the binding does not occur all the time i have found.