Hi. My stepdaughter has a Fabia 1.9SDI, which is a bit of a banger. It was MOTd in late November, but it seems to have some weird brake problem. I haven't actually experienced this when I've driven it, but apparently the brake pedal sometimes sinks to the floor leaving her with next to no brakes for a short distance. I was wondering if this is a common problem with  Mk1 Fabias. It's booked in for a cambelt change with a local mechanic this week, but I'd prefer it if he didn't have to charge her for going through the entire brake system. 

 

Regards

 

Marge

It needs looking at. Having no brakes is life threatening.

 

If it needs a cambelt as well, then maybe it's time to hold a small ceremony and let it pass on with dignity.

 

However, my bet would be the master cylinder seals. A new MC could be expensive.

It's the MC, luckily they're not expensive but they are a bit fiddly to fit and you'll need to drain all the brake and clutch fluid and replace it which is no bad thing.

Exactly same happened to me on transit van - on way to test centre - brakes suddenly pressed to floor then were fine - master cylinder every time! 

Master cylinder is around £100-130 at the usual places. Plus a couple of hours to fit and bleed. Add the cost of the cam belt and it will still add up. My wife has an SDi and annoyingly it is so old it falls in the higher VED band. Two months younger and we'd be laughing. Still if it's a good car then worth spending out on. I intended keeping the wife (and car) as long as possible.