vRS brake pedal going down...

[cboman]

Hi!

I just noticed that if you press brake pedal hard if goes to a certain point but after that it slowly starts to give up and goes all the way to the bottom. Is this normal? If you guys only understood what I tried to explain... None of my ex-cars did that. Should I be worried.

Also I'm so annoyed about the scratching sound from rear brakes when braking moderately at city speeds. The car is 14 months old and driven about 15 thousand miles. And the handbrake doesn't keep the car in place on hills...

Thanks for opinions...

[jamesr]

mine does the same, I was going to get it checked out.

[viewer]

Get it checked soon. It should never go all the way down. You need a working handbrake.

Hope it is just pads and loosening/adjustment and isn't going to be expensive.

V

[ianbev]

I think this sinking pedal is known as 'diesel sink'. It happens because the pressure from the brake pump is high enough to push fluid past the valves in the ABS system. This never happens at normal pedal pressures when braking and shouldn't happen without the engine running. Don't test the effect too often as it may eventually damage the seals. Sounds plausable but I may be wrong!

[john_grant358]

If its only 14 months old, id be straight down the dealers with it.

[Neily03]

If its only 14 months old, id be straight down the dealers with it.

Don't be silly, its normal, they all do it!

[ming]

Mine does the same. Noticed this shortly after getting the car in March last year but had quite forgotten about it until this thread. MOT is due this week so I'll ask the dealer to check it out.

[vrsfab]

They all do it

[ric04vrs]

They all do it

yep , they all do it , Ford Galaxy does it as well as that uses VAG parts

[vRSLen]

But that would not be anything to do with the handbrake.

Check the rear discs for rust...

[ScoobyChris]

Agree with Len - check the rear discs and pads and if you can get someone to operate the handbrake while you're watching to see if the mechanism is actually clamping the discs. It could be that the pad is constantly rubbing the disc which will cause premature wear, lots of noise when the pad wears down, as well as not holding the car when you come to a standstill. I'd also expect fuel economy to be down too.

Chris

[FastFabia]

My SE does something similar to this. Under hard braking the pedal suddenly goes all the way down and there is a metalic "clunk" noise and loss of braking power!

Is this the same problem you are having cboman?

Alex

[mexicorich]

FastFabia

That sounds very very wrong!

That needs sorting out!

[Maffu]

Mine did this the other day, too. It was whlst going over a bump in the road, so thought that might have something to do with it.

I'll mention it when it's next in.

[rapeseedracer]

"Also I'm so annoyed about the scratching sound from rear brakes when braking moderately at city speeds. "

The scratching sound at city speeds happened to me. I thought my rear brake pads were down to the metal. But when I went to change them it transpired I'd just been doing too much light braking, driving around town and corrosion was building up on the rear discs and was not being cleaned off.

I've learned you need to treat the brakes mean to keep 'em clean on these light, high-torque diesels.

There is so much engine braking available that you can easily not use the rear brakes enough.

Motor way round a bouts are a good excuse, just make sure there's no one behind you & that you have your sinking pedal solved before you do!

[giandougl]

Hi!

I just noticed that if you press brake pedal hard if goes to a certain point but after that it slowly starts to give up and goes all the way to the bottom. Is this normal? If you guys only understood what I tried to explain... None of my ex-cars did that. Should I be worried.

Also I'm so annoyed about the scratching sound from rear brakes when braking moderately at city speeds. The car is 14 months old and driven about 15 thousand miles. And the handbrake doesn't keep the car in place on hills...

Thanks for opinions...

Hello cboman,

I drive a 2005 Fabia VRS, since new.

You have three issues here.

The handbrake should be fully 'On' at 4 clicks, to lock the rear wheels, according to the MOT.

Assuming no brake-fluid leaks and cables/linkages/calipers/ pads/discs etc are all in good working order, it maybe simple adjustment to the handbrake cable itself ? That's a DIY job.

As to foot-brake creeping to the floor is the 'NORM', IF, the following is observed.

With the engine idling, handbrake fully on/off doesn't matter.

Pressing hard down on the footbrake pedal and keeping this pressure on, the foot-pedal will travel almost to the floor, I repeat almost to the floor. Remove non-original carpeting when doing this test.

When car is moving / travelling at speed, braking application will be effective immediately, and pedal will only travel a few inches, and bring car to a halt.

I took my car back after a few weeks old, to the dealer with concern's over this brake creep.

Skoda dealer head mechanic told me, it being a diesel engine, air is displaced in the brake servo and not replaced, pedal travel will be felt/ experienced. He asked me to try out other Fabia VRSs on the dealers court-yard, for peace of mind. I tried two Fabia VRS's, these gave identical symptoms I was experiencing.

Rear discs are very prone to rusting, as most braking is done by the front brakes.

At two years my rear disc's was so badly rusted I had to replace disc's and pads, now nearly at 4 years old they are getting to the same point.

It's the outer first inch of the disc that gets badly rusted, as this is not touched by the brake pads.

I'm going to try and remove this rust on the outer inch of disc, as a test, as the rest of disc is still rust free and serviceable.

Hope this may be of some help.

Best regards.

Ian. 04/04/2009

Edited 4 April, 2009 by giandougl

[Hammondluvsit]

I have a 2005 Fabia VRS and my handbrake is playing up

When I lift the handbrake it's fine around 5 clicks nice and tight

However when I put my foot on the break the handbrake is really slack around 12 clicks. I had my cable changed and a new rear caliper last year which I was advised would resolve the issue. It hasn't.

Any thoughts? Didn't want to tighten the hand break too much as it's fine without foot on the break.

[coskev]

Search for 'caliper return springs' on here

Will be all the info you need

[danny6189]

I have a 2005 Fabia VRS and my handbrake is playing up

When I lift the handbrake it's fine around 5 clicks nice and tight

However when I put my foot on the break the handbrake is really slack around 12 clicks. I had my cable changed and a new rear caliper last year which I was advised would resolve the issue. It hasn't.

Any thoughts? Didn't want to tighten the hand break too much as it's fine without foot on the break.

My handbrake goes up more when I have the brakes on. It's down to the design of the calliper.

If you think when you pull the handbrake up with no foot brake your physically pulling the pads together thus feeling harder.

When you have the foot brake on the pads are already gripping the disk and you are just pulling the slack up on the handbrake.

I've fitted the calliper springs, they only really stop the calliper from dragging (very common issue) and make the handbrake have a bit more weight when you pull it.

Edited 24 July, 2014 by danny6189

[JPCarlin]

My handbrake on my 05 vrs did that and the calliper return springs sorted it all out.

Have a look on this link for part numbers etc.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/index.php?/topic/137832-Handbrake-cable-issue-on-my-VRS

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