Just got my new (to me) VRS diesel, and the am shocked at the brakes, or rather lack of them.

The car is an 06 with 39K miles. It has grooved and dimpled discs up front which look recentish fitted. Can't tell what the pads are. The pedal feels very hard with very poor bite and braking force. An awful lot of strength needs applying to the pedal to make the car slow down, at any speed, even a crawl. I mean I wouldn't let my missus drive it as she wouldn't stop the car

Any one any ideas?

Cheers

pull em off and go oem through gsf or eurocarparts with 25% forum discount

pagid are really good i had aftermarket shat on mine went oem and they are awesome now

go pagid from ecp and fluid replace / bleed. just had mine done yesterday and now feel safe.

If your pedal is hard, check the main vacuum pipe from the brake servo at both ends. The stiff plastic often splits and you lose all vacuum and servo assistance, it sounds like thats your problem.

Update. Just looked at the fronts to check the pads (which look new) and there seems an alignment issue. The inside edge of the pad only is in contact with the disc :think:

In other words the inner edge towards the hub centre is touching the disc, and there is a visible gap which gets bigger towards the edge furthest away, possibly as much as 3mm :wonder:

WTF?

run out on the disks ?

outer edge a lot more worn than the centre, would seem like new disks needed

I vaguely recall the pads on my sons new Octavia are shaped strangely in a 3d sort of way that look as if they wouldnt make full contact, but they do.Check that vacuum pipe, its a very common failure,and the amount of effort needed without servo assistance is immense.

Edited 15 June, 201214 yr by xman

Here's some pics

The edge furthest away from the centre must have 5mm under it

Edited 15 June, 201214 yr by bonesetter

Looks like the pad, which looks brand new to me, has been incorrectly fitted, and only ~5% is in contact with the disc - no wonder the brakes feel 95% down on power lol

have you tried a number of "italian" brake tunes e.g. 60mph abs tests ?

That looks very wrong, I would get those brakes looked at ASAP or return it to the purchased garage to get the problem sorted.

Change the brake fluid you would be amazed the difference it makes if it's not been done

caliper out job and have a good look i would say, did you get any warranty (assuming garage not private buy) did you test drive it before buying?

I'll whip a calliper off and have a closer look what's going on.

What a just plain dangerous way for any garage to deliver a car, especially a national chain like Nissan used cars

I'll whip a calliper off and have a closer look what's going on.

What a just plain dangerous way for any garage to deliver a car, especially a national chain like Nissan used cars

i would tel them come collect and fix

Update:

I have looked and in fact the pad is fitted correctly

The pedal feel is very hard, and the amount of force required on the pedal is huge. Feels like the brakes are un-servo'd...?

I did have a look at the vacumn pipe but couldn't find it, I'll have another look

.

Edited 17 June, 201214 yr by bonesetter

assuming diesel engine, right hand end you will see a black shiny pipe about 10mm, follow it back to bulkhead and across then down behind engine to brake servo

assuming diesel engine, right hand end you will see a black shiny pipe about 10mm, follow it back to bulkhead and across then down behind engine to brake servo

Thanks

the U bended piece of pipe had cracked at both ends. Hopefully that will sort it

Make sure the garage you bought the car from pays for it if you've only just bought the car. They supplied it to you in a dangerous condition.

if you do it yourself, make sure you drain the vacuum by giving the peddle a few good pumps (assuming you have any at all) before you try and get the pipe out the servo

i learnt the hard wayand broke a pipe off the vacuum box on top of the drivers wing, not to drastic but cost me 40 notes to get a new bit from dealer and fun fitting all the pipes to the turbo etc

I have recently fitted pads to the front of my VRs and they were like the photo. Only about the middle 70% was in contact with the disc. God alone know why.

To test the servo- with the engine off, depress the brake several times until it feels really hard. Then lightly press the brake pedal and start the engine. If the servo is working correctly then there should be a noticable give in the pedal pressure.

SN

Edited 17 June, 201214 yr by Steve Neate

The vacuum pipe will sort the brakes out, mine split so needed a whole new pipe !

I wouldn't be using the car while the brakes are so crap

As a temporary fix you can tightly wrap the ends with self amalgamating tape.

Edited 17 June, 201214 yr by xman

As a temporary fix you can tightly wrap the ends with self amalgamating tape.

Did that for taday's ride out. Brakes fine now . In fact I was very impressed indeed today. Super fun car, keeping on the torque. Very capable car