I've been having some problems with my front brakes since the garage replaced the front discs for an MoT in April last year.

 

Brakes start out fine but after a few weeks - especially after any vigorous braking - the brakes start to develop a judder which gradually worsens over time.  After the garage replaces the discs, all is fine for a while then the pattern repeats.

 

After four sets of replacement discs in a year - total miles 6k - the garage said they couldn't keep replacing the discs for free but neither could they suggest a cause.  I did examine the last set before they were returned to the distributor for technical inspection and noted the the inner face on both discs was showing signs of bluing - usually a sign of binding brakes.

 

So far there's been no word from the distributor on possible causes.

 

Car is a taxi motor and as I'm an old fart (and a police-trained advanced driver) I don't drive hard on the brakes.

 

Having done some research I discovered the front callipers float, which made me think of a well-known problem with Honda motorcycle front brakes where the callipers tend to seize onto the pins and stop floating. That could force the inner brake pads to remain in contact with the disc face and cause overheating.

 

Any thoughts on causes?

 

I'm assuming the best way to sort things is to obtain a spare set of callipers etc, fettle tham and do a straight replacement.

 

Hubs. Replace hubs and bearings. Measure the run out of the hubs with a dti. Anymore than 0.03mm that's your problem.

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No more than 0.02mm run out on the discs.

Edited 21 July, 201510 yr by FLAPPERJACK7

Do you hold the foot brake on when stopped, or put the handbrake on and take your foot off the brakes? I have heard that it can cause discs to warp/build up uneven pad deposits. I always use the handbrake when stopped and have never had brake judder caused by pad deposits/warped discs.

 

What pads are you using? Decent quality pads (Pagid/Mintex/Brembo etc.) should be cheap for your car so could be worth trying that.

 

Have you tried repeated hard braking? Getting the brakes hot could help clear pad deposits on the discs (or could build them up even more! Try it at your own risk...).

 

I would recommend cleaning or replacing the sliders if one side of the brake disc looks different to the other.

 

Brake judder could also be caused by worn suspension, but that sounds like the least likely cause given that the judder goes away for a while after the discs are replaced.

Hubs. Replace hubs and bearings. Measure the run out of the hubs with a dti. Anymore than 0.03mm that's your problem.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

No more than 0.02mm run out on the discs.

Can this be detected by rocking the wheel when jacked up?

Regards, Mike

Do you hold the foot brake on when stopped, or put the handbrake on and take your foot off the brakes? I have heard that it can cause discs to warp/build up uneven pad deposits. I always use the handbrake when stopped and have never had brake judder caused by pad deposits/warped discs.

What pads are you using? Decent quality pads (Pagid/Mintex/Brembo etc.) should be cheap for your car so could be worth trying that.

Have you tried repeated hard braking? Getting the brakes hot could help clear pad deposits on the discs (or could build them up even more! Try it at your own risk...).

I would recommend cleaning or replacing the sliders if one side of the brake disc looks different to the other.

Brake judder could also be caused by worn suspension, but that sounds like the least likely cause given that the judder goes away for a while after the discs are replaced.

I agree about sitting on the brake, but I use the handbrake as we're supposed to

Pads and discs are Pagid.

Regards, Mike

Can this be detected by rocking the wheel when jacked up?

Regards, Mike

No; you need a dial gauge, and to turn the brake disc through at least one complete turn.

 

If you neither own nor can borrow the gauge, use a different garage to do the measurement!

Hubs and bearings!

Had same on my mk1 Leon, 50k all fine replaced discs and pads and then went through set after set 5/6k every time.

No knocks or curbs hit, but replacing hubs has solved it. Obviously based on mkIV Golf platform which I am led to believe had an issue with hubs.

As mentioned the tolerance is minimal for it to have an impact.

No; you need a dial gauge, and to turn the brake disc through at least one complete turn.

If you neither own nor can borrow the gauge, use a different garage to do the measurement!

I'm assuming that the right hand disc is now warped, judging by the return of the wobbly braking.

Can the hub itself wear, of just the bearing? In either case, how can I check (unless the answer is to fit a new disc and check that :wry grin: )?

Any thoughts on what could cause this problem to appear suddenly (only after replacement discs and pads for last years' MoT)?

Regards, Mike

Hubs and bearings!

Had same on my mk1 Leon, 50k all fine replaced discs and pads and then went through set after set 5/6k every time.

No knocks or curbs hit, but replacing hubs has solved it. Obviously based on mkIV Golf platform which I am led to believe had an issue with hubs.

As mentioned the tolerance is minimal for it to have an impact.

Now that's interesting! Bearings I can understand but what wears on the hub?

Regards, Mike

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=417278

My post from SCN. Saves me typing it all again. Note the wheel refurb

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=417278

My post from SCN. Saves me typing it all again. Note the wheel refurb

tl;dr version being that the issue was contamination where the disc should sit against the hub causing disc runout, yes?

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=417278

My post from SCN. Saves me typing it all again. Note the wheel refurb

Just spent an hour+ reading about warped discs and the causes thereof. Fascinating, but scary!

It did, however, highlight for me another possibility to investigate. When the brakes were done at the start of all this at MoT in April last year I had some nearly-new tyres fitted to two of the wheels and the wheels swapped round. That put the rears on the front for the first time as I swapped over from 15" steelies to 16" alloys some while before that

I need to pull the front wheels and check the mounting faces are clean.

Regards, Mike

Just spent an hour+ reading about warped discs and the causes thereof. Fascinating, but scary!

It did, however, highlight for me another possibility to investigate. When the brakes were done at the start of all this at MoT in April last year I had some nearly-new tyres fitted to two of the wheels and the wheels swapped round. That put the rears on the front for the first time as I swapped over from 15" steelies to 16" alloys some while before that

I need to pull the front wheels and check the mounting faces are clean.

Regards, Mike

Well, I'm actually more uncertain about the cleanness of the disc to hub mounting faces.

Well, I'm actually more uncertain about the cleanness of the disc to hub mounting faces.

I'll check both, plus anything else I can see whilst im there ...