I have a 2002 octavia rider variant. Had a great job in riding and gives me good efficiency... I recently noticed that my brakes are so deep and little bit hard and also gives very poor braking. Please help me l have poor braking and fear of going beyond 140.

 

I checked the vaccum pump all works fine. Changed the rear drums and brake pads. 

 

Please suggest me. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

1. Check brake servo vacuum pipes for splits. It was a recall on certain Octavias and even though mine was not covered by the recall it had split before the car was 9 years/75k miles old.

2. Front brake pistons/sliders could be sticking.

3. Front brake pads could be rubbish.

 

What do you mean by "so deep"? If you have to push the pedal down quite far before the brakes engage that would suggest there is air in the system and your brake fluid will need bleeding.

@IndianHancock - I'd start by checking the brake fluid for water content. The recommendation that brake fluid is replaced every so often is based on the fluid being hydroscobic (absorbs water), which gives problems with the water boiling when the brakes get hot (like stopping from high speed).

 

Next, when you're there anyway, top up the brake fluid if it's not near the maximum level in the reservoir.

 

Then @vrsTom suggestions (1) and (3) make sense.

 

Finally, yes it could be that the brakes need bleeding. Ideally you need a dealership or VCDS to do this, not least because if someone tried to pressure bleed the brakes they could have pushed air bubbles into the ABS valve block, and it needs a computer bleed to get them out again!