VWD

I did. They're passable, but something to get for next shoe renewal.

I found normal pressure was enough. Showing my age now, but I fitted them to an old Maxi . Saved marital brake bleeding problems. Cheap at th price of a night fighting. But a Q for the techies- have bleed nipples gone metric, or are they still part of th old imperial system. Or when did they change?( if they did?)

I'd suspect it's the "bus driver syndrome", aka I'm bigger than you- get outa my way. I personally wait for a bit of tight road after a roundabout, where the SUV /driver has problems with curves and Furby has none. They don't like it done to them.

Any experiences ? good bad or indifferent. I'm with Plusnet, but contract renewal for 38M BB has jumped to more than a new customer would pay for 66M, so I think I;ll become a new customer elsewhere and having a Vody PAYG ,I get 66M BB for less than Plusnet 38M. I could go to Virgin and get 100+ but I like having a landline, more than I don't like Virgin.

What make do you recommend, Andy. I might have to replace at least one . I've got one side not puling in, which could be a seized cable . It's one of the options for this fault. BTW- with wheel cylinders- don't forget that they have a spring inside running between the two sides and whilst the shoes are off the pistons will move out. I block off the master cylinder lid( stops any gravity draining of fluid) and then I can slack off the bleed to get the cylinders back in, with a final bleed . Wish I'd bought a Gunsen years ago. And from my recent experience of sorting out one side- take some photos of the spring layout -dead easy to forget what goes where. Now to find out what the garage did last winter to the other side.

It arrived today and it fits. Result as it was last on eBay. And only £5

Wino- "from NOV 2005" =bnv/bnm. Mine is 2004 , Unless Haynes is flawed, AMF is 2004.

Hadn't seen any mention,so stuck it in as I believe you can never post too many links to info.

Another nice thing to have in the box is a spray brake cleaner. Gets rid of muck /dust and in the case of a bad cylinder -brake fluid. I've found Screwfix do a decent one https://www.screwfix.com/p/holts-aerosol-brake-cleaner-600ml/1396g Got rid of the old dust+ fluid on my rear wheel.

As per my other post ( ref axle grinder 😀), after a few years the so called 7mm allen key on the cylinder nut rounds and it's not possible. Only other option is to use angle ( not axle) grinder on the cylinder. As for knocking up the adjuster - it's great if the rivet has not seized. Then the alternative is hammer and levers. That's why I recommended the holddown kit replacement as at least one of the cups gets damaged forcing off the drum in this case.

jamie- as you are in MK ,check out the great guys on UNIT 18 who reside at https://www.unit18.co.uk/

OP- TMB has posted a decent photo of the assembly.https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/484528-2004-tdi-mk1-brake-fluid-quantity/ I've been working on my rear brakes recently and after many years of car DIY, I'd suggest you at least change the shoe hold down springs ( the circular items almost half way down the shoe). From experience it's almost impossible to get these at a reasonable price ( unless someone knows different ,and I'd be happy to hear that), so the next best option is a rear shoe fitting kit.

It makes sense to do both sides. That way the rear braking is balanced and a little bit of extra work and expense now means more consistent brakes in the future. Believe me the last thing you want to experience is loss of brakes. Rear brakes are a bit more difficult to keep tabs on, but when you put new tyres on the front, it's a good chance to look at the front pads. The outer pads are visible through the wheel, but the inner ones are not, and I've seen calipers where the inner and outer pads wear differently.

OP- TMB has posted a decent photo of the assembly.https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/484528-2004-tdi-mk1-brake-fluid-quantity/ I've been working on my rear brakes recently and after many years of car DIY, I'd suggest you at least change the shoe hold down springs ( the circular items almost half way down the shoe). From experience it's almost impossible to get these at a reasonable price ( unless someone knows different ,and I'd be happy to hear that), so the next best option is a rear shoe fitting kit which includes all the springs and the holding fixings. NB- do not forget before or very soon after removing shoes to secure the pistons( or better still if you don't), be prepared to open the bleed nipple to allow the shoes to contract ( and get the drum back on). (I do it with two levers after opening the nipple. It's easier that way and simpler to bleed with something like a Gunsen. most of the fast fit places simply remove the shoes and wait for the new ones to arrive. Result more air than fluid in system. Depending on age of car and what's been/not been replaced it might be worth replacing the wheel cylinders. Best place for this is something like Euro car parts/Car parts 4 less/GSF ETC with one of their weekly sales . Another problem you may find is that the drums have worn slightly and a lip has developed, where you may need to grind off the rusty lip to get the drum back on easier.

I used them for years with no problems.

RM decided today was not my day. Hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow

I found this manual when looking for info on rear brakes. I know I've referred to the section on rear brakes, but it seems to cover most of the MK1 in more detail than Haynes, so it might be worth a sticky/ mention on the usefull MK1 post. https://workshop-manuals.com/skoda/fabia-mk1/chassis/technical_data/chassis_specified_values/

lee - once again you've turned up trumps. That second photo is what I needed. it's the position of the top retractor spring I needed. I did a bit of digging online and found this site https://workshop-manuals.com/skoda/fabia-mk1/chassis/brake_brake_mechanics/repairing_rear_brake/repairing_rear_brake_drum_brake/ and a breakdown of the parts with a diagram, but it does not show the system assembled. I'll post it here in case it's of interest

Baster might be handy when renewing front disc pads to prevent overflow. Nice to say ,but this is first time I've had to replace any fluid.

Thanks .i've done a bit of googling on this and there's also an old post on here about it. In the end I found that it's the spline number that matters( or so I hope). I've searched e bay for what I think mine is ( 17 spline) .Should arrive tomorrow, so I'll post if this method works.

Many thanks for the idea. I've got some I kept from when i used to fill my printer tanks (clean ones I mean).

Typo - should be angle grinder. ( reminder to self - calibrate fingers). Next request- brakes great, but I forgot to take photos of the spring setup, and I've noticed a shudder in reverse ,plus the odd warming of the rear wheel, add to that I had a bit of a problem with the usual quality of Haynes photos. I'm about to go back in to ease my mind, but in meantime has anyone got an diagram showing the positions of springs .( it's offside rear drum), no discs. , if it makes any difference). I must be getting senile-as last time I sorted out a seized rivit all went back to gether with ease . I said at time it was the easiest set of drums I'd ever done. TIA RUM-I was working the other way- know how much is in system ,then put in that much + a bit more. THB it's first time I've ever had to do a brake fluid change as all the other cars I've had needed parts changing that often I must hacve done many brake fluid changes over the few years I owned them.

These days , brake bleeding is seen as a black art. But many years ago ( possible 40 years ago) , the latest fad was auto bleed nipples. Simply remove the standard ones and fit these . They worked on the principle that when the nipple was tight, then it behaved as a normal tight nipple. When you wanted to bleed, you slackened off the nipples in sequence and pumped the pedal. The nipple acted as a one way valve. FLUID + AIR was expelled ,and on releasing the pedal the valve shut preventing air entering the system. Of course, you had to look after the master cylinder for level. These days I've only seen them mentioned in motorbike sizes. Anyone seem them or have they been priced out .

Could the "Jeep " be a Flambe edition. But coming from an older generation( where cars couldbe either +/- ve earth)if in doubt of polarities, I'd grab a meter and test both setups to verify polarity ,then connect -ve to-ve ,connect one +ve, then tap a jump lead on to the other +ve. I'd only expect a small ( at worst) spark.

Found out that the wheel cylinder retaining nuts are splined, but after 16 years they were rusted in. Fortunately I've got a HGV rescue tech close by who knew what to do - he showed the wheel cylinder an axle grinder and off it came. As for the bolts- I had some high quality Allen bolts of same thread ,but slightly long. add one locking nut to fill the gap and lock up tight. In practice the wheel cylinder is held on with one bolt.