Hi guys having recently purchasing my vrs I've noticed a few issues with it, the most important being a braking issue.  I've searched and read quite a few posts, but nothing seems to pinpoint exactly what i'm experiencing so i hope you guys can help.

 

Sometimes when braking mainly at low speeds under light braking my brake pedal goes rock hard, and i can feel almost a bump, bump, bump through the pedal leaving me with almost no braking effort what so ever. I had a very scary incident nearly happen today which almost made me crash into the back of another car, I managed to avoid it by the skin on my teeth. like I said it doesn't happen very often but every now and then

 

Once in a while the abs warning light will flash up but if I switch the engine on or off it goes out. I spoke to a mechanic and the first thing he said was "it's the abs speed sensors". Something tells me it's not that, It seems to me that it's servo related I've checked the vacuum pipe and all seems good. If I press the pedal 3-4 times with the engine off the pedal goes hard, hold my foot on the pedal, start the engine the pedal slowly drops.

 

I'm a bit stumped and don't want to just throw money at it for no reason, but I seriously need to get to the bottom of this.

 

The car has been fitted with aftermaket drilled and groved disks all round and the pads seem fine, the car has 110,000 miles on the clock and has a full service history.

 

Any help would be most appreciated thanks M

 

 

I have the same problem eith the brake pedal, My abs and traction light keep popping up as well. It's going into the garage this week, pretty sure it's one of the ABS sensors just can't be sure which one until I get it plugged into a diagnostics machine.

Is there any mention of brake fluid (ever) having been changed in the full history? 

I'll have to double check but I think the fluid has been changed, I did have a quick look in the reservoir there's plenty of fluid in there but it might be a good idea to get it changed anyway i'm in the process of giving it a good service.

Just checked my service manual, It seems that the brake fluid was changed at 34000 miles so i'm just about to buy a Gunson EZ bleeder and bleed the brakes.

 

Anybody recommend a particular brand/make of brake fluid? I do have an unopened bottle of comma dot4 brake fluid lying about somewhere that I brought for one of my Golfs a year or two ago, any reason not to use that?

 

Also I'm thinking about replacing the servo vacuum pipe, anybody know where to purchase from and how much?

 

Cheers guys.

euro do blue brake fluid ... really easy to change as its such a dif colour ....

 

on mine you can also press brake with engine off and its solid then it softens when engine is running ... that is normal ... i would be tempted to change the vacuum pipe to the servo though and go from there .... its meant to be a **** of a job though

euro do blue brake fluid ... really easy to change as its such a dif colour ....

 

on mine you can also press brake with engine off and its solid then it softens when engine is running ... that is normal ... i would be tempted to change the vacuum pipe to the servo though and go from there .... its meant to be a **** of a job though

 

Cheers will look into that.

 

I'm sure it is a pain but if needs must then needs must. Still not sure where to buy one from, is it dealer only or something?

 

Also does anybody recommend a particular make or place to buy ABS speed sensors from? Their seems to be lots to choose from and at different prices, so far I'm leaning towards Avs Spares. I don't want to buy cheap crap and have to replace them again in a years time.

 

Sorry for all the qestions but I like to get as much info as possible before spending my hard earned.

just found out that the blue fluid is for track use only .... dyed fluids are illegal on the road? i dont really get it but suppose its the law lol

 

as for sensors tps? dealer? ebay

Personally i would go to TPS mate, if you have a mate in the trade ask him to get you a trade line, every little bit of discount helps!

Can't imagine a 'bump bump' coming through the brakes off Brake fluid. Definately a sensor.

Can't imagine a 'bump bump' coming through the brakes off Brake fluid. Definately a sensor.

One thing that I have noticed is when the abs lights appear on the dash the braking issues go away, so it does seem to be abs related i'm just hoping that it's sensors or pick ups not the abs module. I have noticed ove the last few days it seems to be getting worse i'm thinking disconnecting the abs fuse or something. I'm still waiting to get it into a garage to have it properly looked at, unfortuantly the only garage's I trust are really busy at the minute.

 

Thanks for the feeback guys

Im running ate racing blue dot4

Had my mot last week and passed with blue fluid!

Load of tosh if you ask moi

It could be a faulty sensor, the reluctor ring could have broken too.

Day

just found out that the blue fluid is for track use only .... dyed fluids are illegal on the road? i dont really get it but suppose its the law lol

 

as for sensors tps? dealer? ebay

I've just had the brakes done on the wifes Fiat and bled through

with ATE super blue racing fluid on that. Immediately after it was

MOTd by the same guy who did the brakes. I'm sure it didn't say track use

only on the can.

It could be a faulty sensor, the reluctor ring could have broken too.

Day

If the reluctor ring had broken would I not experience the fault all the time? I say this because it only seems to occur at low speeds. When I'm traveling on the motorway at 70 for instance the brakes work perfectly, when I'm in traffic or pulling up at a junction that's when the pedal goes hard and I lose braking, If I push down hard on the pedal the wheels try to lock and the car usually tries to veer off to the right.

I've just had the brakes done on the wifes Fiat and bled through

with ATE super blue racing fluid on that. Immediately after it was

MOTd by the same guy who did the brakes. I'm sure it didn't say track use

only on the can.

Dont think mine did either tbh

Check the fuses on top of the battery.

Check the wiring to the ABS sensors is OK.

Whilst the wheel(s) are off check the wheel bearing (cartridge?!?) is fully pressed home on both sides.

 

J.

Check the fuses on top of the battery.

Check the wiring to the ABS sensors is OK.

Whilst the wheel(s) are off check the wheel bearing (cartridge?!?) is fully pressed home on both sides.

 

J.

I haven't got the ability to jack the front up and take the wheels off at the minute so I've just taken the fuse out and disabled the abs, so far the brakes are working fine so until i'm able to put a diagnostic machine on it that'll have to do.

 

Once i've found out and replaced the faulty sensor or pickup i'll bleed the brakes and go from their fingers crossed it's not the pump.

 

Cheers

Just in case this might help someone else. It turned out my n/s wheel bearing was shot so after replacing that and the abs speed sensor everything now works perfectly.

 

Cheers guys

In the last couple of days mine has begun to be a one pedal press and then it feels like you are braking with no servo assistance at all.

I read all the comments in this thread to try to ascertain what the problem was but was getting nowhere, fortunately a technician friend told me that it has become quite common for the brake servo hoses to perish and/or split on the VRS's and so need to be replaced, sure enough, when mine was checked, there was a split in it.

Got it replaced today and the brakes are now performing at their best again, thank goodness.