Brake fade?

[Danboag]

Got a Skoda Superb II, 2009. Had it 3 months but was driving down motorway slip road, came to brake at the round about and brake pedal was rock hard but the brakes were barely working. Seems ok now but not much confidence. Any ideas why? Thanks, Dan.

[Pesmog]

Brake servo problem. This can occur if there is a vacuum leak to the servo, check the feed pipe for splits or leaks. Slightly strange that it is intermittent though, which might  suggest it is the servo itself.

Edited 19 July, 2013 by Pesmog

[Danboag]

Cheers. I'll have a look. It's been fine since. Drove back a out thirty miles with no more issues.

[United 11]

It you think your car has faulty brakes don't drive unless it unless it is totally necessary, I would get it recovered to a local garage/dealer and get them professionally inspected and repaired. Years ago I was driving to to a gig in a mk3 transit and I noticed earlier that day the brakes were a bit gutless anyways I was approaching a set of traffic lights that had about 3 cars at it, I pressed the brakes and nothing so just yanked on the hand brake put it into 1st and banged the clutch out it slowed me down but still ploughed into the car in front. Luckily no one was hurt and I knew the guy I hut so I just gave him £100 and then there was a garage on the same street so I had another two people in the car and we just pushed it up to the garage got the brakes fixed was a faulty master cylinder and then to the bodyshop. Never drive anywhere with faulty brakes you never know when you will need them

[Danboag]

Was a bit hair raising when it happened. Have lost confidence in braking in it now. It's only 4 year old. I'm disappointed that I should have had any problem at all. Going to get it checked ASAP.

[JakeBlade]

When was your brake fluid last changed?

[bill2]

brake fluid change not that old dealer money spinner. I have been driving for 50 years and have never changed the brake fluid on any of my cars and have never had a problem with brakes. Its the as same carrots help you too see in the dark.??

 

bill

[silver1011]

When I read the title my post was going to be along the lines of "well done mate, brake fade inducing driving in a Superb is commendable!"

 

[Danboag]

Sorry. Mine has never been raced or rally'd. Lol. Title should have been. S##T........it won't stop!!!!!!!

My mechanic's away for the weekend, did 50mile tootling around today with no trouble. Only a fool breaks the 10 second rule at the minute.

[Caspian]

IMHO Bill2 has been very lucky if he has never changed brake fluid in any of his cars over a 50 year period and has never had a problem.

 

Most brake fluids, even modern ones, are hygroscopic (they absorb water over time) and for this reason it is advisable to check the water content of the fluid at every service. If for some reason that check cannot be done, then it is advisable to change the fluid at regular intervals. If there is even a small amount of water in the fluid then a change is advisable if you want reliable and effective brakes.

 

From my experience, there are two issues with water contaminated break fluid.

1) It will cause corrosion of master and slave cylinder bores leading to complete brake failures.

2) In hot weather or when heavy braking heats up the fluid the water turns to steam. Steam is compressible. In such instances the best case is spongy brakes, the worst case is no brakes at all.

In years past, I have twice had complete brake failure due to corroded bores, with the pedal going straight to the floor in both cases. In the first case it happened at the end of a long journey, just as I parked the car. In the second It happened when I tested the brakes before driving off. In both instances the brake fluid was contaminated with water and had damaged the bores. Many years ago I also suffered brake spongyness once when going down a mountain pass in the lake district. I was able to pull off and let the brakes cool, but it could have been nasty. This was also determined later to be due to water contamination.

 

IMHO taking chances with your brakes is for people who don't value their lives or the lives of others. 

[silver1011]

Especially when Skoda only charge a maximum of £45.

 

It's hardly going to break the bank to have it changed as part of the service every third year...

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/national-pricing/maintenance

[Guest]

brake fluid change not that old dealer money spinner. I have been driving for 50 years and have never changed the brake fluid on any of my cars and have never had a problem with brakes. Its the as same carrots help you too see in the dark.??

 

bill

What are members of this forum comng to, what an absolutely stupid and dangerous attitude to take on brake safety. It is not a dealer money maker nolthing could be further from the truth.

As a retired Motor Vehicle Technician with over 40 years in the trade, none in a main dealership, I can assure you that changing brake fluid is a vital safety service, brfake fluid does absorb moisture, severe braking can cause extreme temperatures in the system which have had fatal results through fluid failure.

In the case of an accident and brake failure is due to contaminated brake fluid, condition  of the fluid is a simple and accurate test,  and you have not had fluid changes as specified by your vehicle manufacturer, you will most likely face failure to keep your vehicle in a roadworthy condition, and your insurance will most likely be cancelled.

 

For your own and other road users safety if you are not prepared to spend about £50 after the first three years, and every two years subsiquently best to use a taxi.

[Supurbia]

Well I guess I'll get slammed for it but I used to work for a VW/Audi dealer and the mechanics used to keep the brake fuid and tick the sheet as done,

 

I also have never changed fluid, there is this water thing that is mentioned and I can see the logic but ask yourselves why does a dsg need new oil so often when the old oil comes out as clean as the new oil going in, why does a cambelt need changing every 4 years regardless of mileage,

 

Could it possibly be to encourage bread and butter work form the customer?

 

and for the record I just traded a 6 year old Passat with 72 on it with the original belt, as I know my way about it got checked every 5k anyway and the belt still looks like new, hmmmm

[JakeBlade]

Chaps it is called preventative maintenance, and is recommended by the manufacturer. Please don't turn this into another thread that isn't linked to OP's original post.

[Pesmog]

The brake fluid thing is interesting and will become more important in the future as fluid testing will eventually go into the MOT.

[Supurbia]

Chaps it is called preventative maintenance, and is recommended by the manufacturer. Please don't turn this into another thread that isn't linked to OP's original post.

 

 

Fair dues Jake,

 

I was just highlighting all this wallet opening criteria they all come out with so it wasn't only Skoda I was talking about.

[silver1011]

If there was ever justification for renewing the brake fluid then it is the opening post.

 

And as for a main dealer claiming to have changed the brake fluid without actually doing it then I hope it was reported.

 

Skoda's service regime is made perfectly clear prior to purchasing one of their cars. You aren't forced to follow it but I can't see why anyone would advise someone not to purely on the suspicion a profitable business is out to make money.

[Supurbia]

I don't say don't change it and I agree with the hydroscopic angle but I also believe the fluid to be stronger than 2 years worth.

 

The main dealer thing was back in the 80's the dealer didn't know it was going on and not all the mechanics took part as I remember one saying to me if a blokes paid for it then he deserves to have it done, the motive was to make bonus believe it or not, it all went on like wiping the oil filter clean and just changing the oil.

Edited 22 July, 2013 by Supurbia

[xman]

Getting back to the OP, it almost certainly is a split brake vacuum hose. I've seen (on a Fabia granted) a split hose end that is loose at the engine end and when the engine tilts forwards you lose the vacuum - I guess the slip road descent and roundabout allowed the engine to tilt considerably under braking.

 

VAG brake hoses splitting at the ends seems a depressingly common thing.

[Danboag]

Getting back to the OP, it almost certainly is a split brake vacuum hose. I've seen (on a Fabia granted) a split hose end that is loose at the engine end and when the engine tilts forwards you lose the vacuum - I guess the slip road descent and roundabout allowed the engine to tilt considerably under braking.

VAG brake hoses splitting at the ends seems a depressingly common thing.

Thanks for that. It's being looked at tomorrow. Sounds a good possibility. It's not done if since, so I wouldn't have thought it would have been the fluid or it would re occurred. It's an ex VW lease car with FVWSH. would it have had the brake fluid changed on one of its services?

[Supurbia]

Thanks for that. It's being looked at tomorrow. Sounds a good possibility. It's not done if since, so I wouldn't have thought it would have been the fluid or it would re occurred. It's an ex VW lease car with FVWSH. would it have had the brake fluid changed on one of its services?

 

 

If it hasn't what does that say regarding "essential" fluid changes?

 

Again not aimed at VAG as it's the same across the board.

Edited 23 July, 2013 by Supurbia

[JakeBlade]

Skoda recommends changing the brake fluid every 2 years.  They (like all other manufacturers I have experienced) don't include the cost in the headline price for the "service", and it's not obligatory (but recommended).  As OP's car has a full VWSH you should see in the service book if brake fluid has been replaced by the previous owner - it should have a tick against it.

 

Likewise the air con service is not compulsory, but is recommended every 2 years to keep your air con fully gassed up, and to remove microbes and germs from the system.  Again, if OP's car has had this it would have the tick in the box in the service manual.

 

Unfortunately not every car that has a "full" manufacturer service history will have had the brake fluid and air con services done - just the headline "service" which covers the engine service + pollen filter, which is all you need to get the dealer stamp in the book.  Like everything, you need to look into the detail of what was actually done at service.

 

A brake fluid change costs £45 at Skoda every 2 years.  If your brake fluid has been contaminated with water then the consequences are likely to cost you a lot more than that.  I would happily pay the equivalent of £22.50/year to avoid the hassle of having to deal with contaminated brake fluid.

[silver1011]

I thought the brake fluid interval had been extended to three years now?

[JakeBlade]

First brake fluid change is recommended at year 3, then every 2 years thereafter.

[Supurbia]

Good post Jake and for POM the price is reasonable and will show care of ownership,

 

My next one will save you money and regards the AC,

 

Go to Tesco and buy an antibac spray cleaner, Dettol etc, then put your AC on and on re-cycle, then crack the drivers window enough for the spray can and empty it into the car, leave things to run for 15 mins and your AC will be clensed, even better if you buy a new pollen filter and even more better if you while the filter is removed spray directly into the fan housing.