Bought a 1.8 4x4 from Marlborough Cars in Isleworth last month and soon noticed a grinding noise every time the brakes were applied, naturally I assumed the pads or disks were worn dropped car back into Marlborough this morning, also told them that they werent very responsive - feel soft under foot

 

Ray the mechanic just calls me to say that the front disks are more or less new and there is only slight rusting on the rear brakes....

 

How can this be happening? :(

Edited 30 September, 201312 yr by Yetski

Haven't had any grinding noises yet, but as far as the responsiveness / softness is concerned it is one of my few gripes with the car since new.

 

A few solutions involving uprated pads, brake fluid and braided lines have occasionally been discussed on here.

Grinding isnt good (obviously) but hopefully they'll check over the caliper pistons etc to make sure the theres no isse there.

 

The standard brakes on the 1.8TSi was my only negative from day one with mine. Personally I think the car is too heavy for the 288mm setup.

If the car has stood for a few days and it has been wet then I get a grinfing noise the first couple of brake applications, but that is to be expected as the rust gets "wiped" off.

^ same again, rust almost overnight depending on conditions and it is quite noticeably noisy when the breaks are first applied. As there is a small slope not far from my home the 'hill holder' function also is very sticky if the breaks have not previously applied. Clears after a couple of normal brake applications.

What difference would 312mm VRS disks make? I need more stopping power - the 288's arent working for me - seems odd that they wouldnt fit these as standard on the quicker models...

What difference would 312mm VRS disks make? I need more stopping power - the 288's arent working for me - seems odd that they wouldnt fit these as standard on the quicker models...

Take a look at my project thread in Yeti projects as Ive covered this fairly recently.

Take a look at my project thread in Yeti projects as Ive covered this fairly recently.

 

Will do,

 

Out of interest - just looked at your Euro tour thread - how did you get such a high mpg from the 1.8?

Will do,

 

Out of interest - just looked at your Euro tour thread - how did you get such a high mpg from the 1.8?

you'd need to read the whole project journal to get an understanding of whats been done but it isn't a factory standard 1.8tsi engine.

Will do - I havent got £2500 to spend on a stage 2 conversion 

I agree with Graham's comments above. When the car has been left for a few days the rust forms on the discs and the grinding sound usually goes after a few touches of the brake pedal. We get this on the Octavia regularly as it stands outside and the damp causes the rust formation often even overnight

But the surface rust after washing the car or rain etc wouldnt make the pedal soft would it?!

read on here somewhere there is a vcds(?) tweak which can 'tighten' up brake characteristics, more than that don't know, maybe worth looking in the vcds section