Hi, new to posting - although I have used the site before and found it useful.

 

I have a problem with the brakes on my 1.4tdi Fabia (2003, AMF 6Y) that I hope someone can shed some light on. I will start with an outline of events:

 

It started with the front offside binding. Mechanic I know had a look, cleaned them up, and noted that the general condition seemed to be good, although the nearside pad had broken away from the backing plate.. Plenty of meat left on them, but replaced both sides anyway, cleaned them up (also checked rear drums - all OK) and off I went.

 

Later found that it was still binding - wheel hot as hell and vibrating through steering wheel when braking at speed. Back I went, caliper was stripped, was told slider pins were OK, o/s piston removed and that looked OK too - no scores etc and moving freely inside caliper. 

 

At this point we decided to replace the hose in case that was the cause. Bled brakes up again, road tested, and for a couple of days I thought we'd cracked it, only for the problem to re-appear. Note that both rear drums were (and still are today) fine.

 

Now, this is the interesting part, so I will try to recall as much detail as I can (this bit was 3 months ago now!). The problem seemed to get worse when the brakes had become warm, so I waited until they had started to bind, and in an attempt to try to suss it out a bit for myself, I jacked up the car only to find that BOTH sides were now binding (although the offside was definitely worse). This didn't seem to be the case initially! I also carried out the usual check to see if the servo was functioning ok by pumping pedal with ignition/engine off, holding foot on pedal and checking that it sinks (almost) to the floor on startup..

 

Back I went to report this to my mechanic mate who said that due to both sides sticking he could only think that the master cylinder was at fault. So, off I went and bought a new (pattern part) master cylinder. On it went, drive home OK, next morning to drive work OK, but on way home the binding started again - worse this time. Only able to free off by stopping the car, switching off and pumping the pedal before moving off again. No free movement in pedal either, but after they're freed off the pedal has more travel, only to gradually decrease until they start binding again.

 

At this point the whole thing is driving me to distraction, and I am not sure whether it's caused when the brakes become warm.

 

By now my mechanic friend is clutching at straws, and as he's going on holiday I decide to get a second opinion from a garage, so I choose a recommended establishment which have a reputation for being straight up and honest. However, due to the nature of cars and garages, this is where it starts to cost me serious money..

 

I asked the garage to check the whole brake system for their own independent opinion. They eventually crack a bleed nipple (somewhere - not sure where) and reckon up that it's the servo that's at fault. Now, by this point I am pretty desperate and, I guess, rather gullible. Off I go again to buy a new servo (genuine part), and they fit it, convinced that all is well. I am however, told that the old servo was full of oil, and that this was probably caused by the vacuum pump. I am advised that I should replace this at some point to avoid damage to the new servo. Not good news but it was noted.

 

Off I go again, but a day or two later they are binding again. In my frustration I reached down at the pedal, by now wondering if the cause was something to do with the mechanical link to the pedal. I did succeed in breaking the brake light switch (which I later learnt were defective anyway), and this caused the garage to check and replace the vinyl clip at the back of the pedal. STILL no joy..

 

This is the final straw. It may or may not be worth noting that the problem does not seem to be so acute at this stage - not sure whether this is just because I have the knack of pumping the pedal automatically at traffic lights etc). Having called the garage again to discuss (having no better ideas), they suggested that I dropped it in when binding so that they could pull the vacuum pipe off the servo and see whether the brakes free up. I am told that there is a release valve in the vac pump, and they wanted to see if this was the cause. Sure enough, as soon as the pipe was dragged off the servo the car rolled backwards. Now, as you might have guessed, this is all new to me so I want to take their opinion, so, off I went and spent some time searching for the part (in an attempt to 'save' a bit of money). New, they are expensive, so I opted for a second hand unit.

 

On it went yesterday, all OK at first but then driving home today and guess what? Yup, I note the reduced travel in the pedal and lo and behold, both fronts are binding again.

 

I want to get rid, but I cannot let go AND how the f*** can I sell it like that? Without declaring it I just can't, it's as simple as that. 

 

Sorry for the huge post - I just hope someone can give me some ideas. Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome       and sorry your having lots of trouble with the motor....Have you tried to post in the fabia section. I'm sure someone, somewhere will be able to help you...

Hi and welcome aboard.

Welcome Sorry to hear of all your trouble. As above post in the fabia section thats your best chance of getting your answers

Will do, thanks for your help!

No problemo :p

Welcome.