Tailhappy

I'm just completely stripping down and rebuilding the rear calipers that were on my 2005 vRS. Going to work one day the O/S rear stuck on making for a very stressful journey as I had smoke from the brakes on a fast dual carriageway with no lay-byes. I had third party replacement ones fitted that day. So stripping down the failed original ones is quite an eye-opener. The amount of dirt that had made it past the rear handbrake seal was quite incredible, a horrible mess of corrosion and dirt. The seal in the unit is only a fairly basic o-ring which also ended up loose and leaking a bit. The piston had a corrosion band around it and was scrap. Complete kits are available to rebuild but actually getting the calipers apart and seeing what is going on inside was a real shock. No wonder it failed. Anyone else here done a full rear caliper rebuild? Were you ones in such a mess behind the rear seal? I can't believe how much easier they work with no dirt and gunge inside. Well worth doing.

A couple of years ago I had the offside rear jam up as I was on the M1 commuting. Smell of burning and I dropped it in at a garage near where I worked. They couldn't wind the piston back in so fitted new calipers, but not original ones. I see that the brake pipes now enter the replacement calipers in a different place so the pipes are not in the clips on the torsion bar. I'm actually overhauling the original calipers now. May be a good idea to refit them. When I got the failed one out I saw pitting in a ring on the cylinder which probably interfered with the return action. Ordered a rebuild kit. I can see the brake fluid burned on the inside from the heat.

Cheers. I now am pretty sure it's a sticking handbrake cable. Will get it replaced.

Just a quick update. Due to the bar being corroded I'm going to take completely off and have it powder coated and then renew both clamps. Will ask the lads at Unit 18 to refit when I'm over there next week. Jabba ARB paint came off almost immediately and now it looks a right mess.

I am currently adjusting the handbrake cables on my vRS. Unfortunately when one side is perfectly adjusted the other side is not tight enough so only one side brakes properly. Borh calipers are recent and working fine, just the cables are uneven. On the Estelle there is a nut for both cables and the yoke for tension. I can't see such a system on the Fabia. Is it a case of new cables needed or is there a way around a bit of cable stretch? Cheers. Edit to say when currently adjusted the offside is fully on and the nearside half on when handbrake fully applied.

Thanks I checked and the plate is still thete so that's one positive!

Thanks. It looks a bit different but I ordered a couple.

Hi, don't have any sorry...but I can see from your photo the contact is bent. Its an easy job to straighten out. If you need any info on how to do this please ask - done it loads of times!

Yes - its Mikalor 92-97mm but I am not able to find the same sort on the Mikalor website. All the ones there have a joining part between the two bolt eyes. Sure Ken. Cleaned them with a brass brush.

I've just had one of the Mikalor clamps break open due to corrosion on the inside weakening it. Not done bad, been on there 13 years. But does anyone know what the clamp used is or us it a special Jabba manufacturer part With this broken the car feels unstable as one clip is still there. Any help appreciated

Just to add don't do what I did and fit trailing arm swing arm bushes. The semi-trailing ones are more rigid with a metal strengthener in the rubber. This results in too much negative rear camber so tyres wear. I did not even realise there were two different types until I held both side by side.

Thanks. Got to look after our Skodas!

One from Sunday.

Ok I'll not worry about the ABS pump. A standard pressure bleed is fine. Cheers for the input.

Definitely no air. Brakes feel great. Just I hear about cycling the ABS for completely changing the fluid. Not sure if it's important but it's mentioned in the workshop manual.

I always do my own brake fluid changes every 2 years but ideally I'd like to run the ABS pump to do a full flush this time. Is there a basic tool that can do this? I see the scan tools are all around £600 but I only need it for this task. If its going to be too expensive I'll just carry on with normally bleeding out. The times I took it to different VW or Skoda workshops they either just topped up the fluid or did nothing. Its a job they want to skip I feel. Last time brakes felt worse as somehow they got bubbles in the line to the offside rear. Thanks for any suggestions.

All sorted now. Skoda Parts online had the parts and arrived after a few days. So happy with that and now no noisy knocking and tapping from the bonnet.

I'll let you know I get on. Trying TPS first, drop them a message.

Thanks. My Fabia VRs has been so reliable with just basic servicing and regular maintenance that I'm almost out of touch with actually ordering anything! Last fault was the motor for the heating air controller and that was years ago. Truly amazing cars.

Cheers. I'm ideally looking for new as they get loose and crushed over time but if no luck with new I'll happily fit used Thanks. Not heard of TPS so I'll check now cheers 👍

Sadly one of mine has gone missing and now the bonnet is rattling badly. I think it's part number 6Y0823481 but amazingly can't find any for sale in the UK. Has anyone replaced with a generic part or have any leads on a UK supplier? Thanks for any guidance.

Skopart Germany has new in stock but these don't come with the letters picked out in white so you need to do yourself with some tyre white.