Poor performance from front brakes

[Torque777]

Does anyone think the fabia front brakes are poor?

We have just bought a 2010 1.6 crtdi 90 and I was shocked at how at national speed limits you struggle to slow down, yes it will stop but you have to remember that you need more room to brake... Maybe it's because it has drums on rear instead of discs? 

It certainly feels like the car is too quick for the brakes it's got 

[AMD87]

16 minutes ago, Torque777 said:

Does anyone think the fabia front brakes are poor?

We have just bought a 2010 1.6 crtdi 90 and I was shocked at how at national speed limits you struggle to slow down, yes it will stop but you have to remember that you need more room to brake... Maybe it's because it has drums on rear instead of discs? 

It certainly feels like the car is too quick for the brakes it's got 

Rear brakes do pretty much nothing I’ve had mine on track and never had any issues just make sure you’ve got decent pads and fluid. 

[xman]

Its likely the discs are in poor condition, the inner side is not visible and you may be shocked if you saw its condition. Often the caliper will stick due to lack of maintenance - dealers don't touch them unless you pay them to. A badly sticking caliper can reduce braking effort to 50% straight away. If there is corrosion and ridges you lose even more.

 

Strip clean and replace discs and pads if necessary. £235 at dealers, ~£70 if you do it yourself.

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/finance-and-offers/service-and-maintenance/simply-fixed

[Ootohere]

The car is hardly too quick for the brakes if they are working with decent pads seeing as the NSL is 60 mph unless you are on a 70mph road.

 

Best service the brakes if they are not at the efficiency required for a MOT.

The cars with bigger front discs and rear discs are not exactly great at pulling the car up if you do it without doing a bit of changing down with the gears.

[Torque777]

It's just passed mot, but I suspect discs as pads are showing plenty of meat, but when I run finger on inside it's very rough... I think it's time for new ones 

[Tilt]

If the car has just passed it's mot then i suspect you will not get much better performance with new ones. brake force and balance are tested on the mot i believe.

maybe you need to consider up-rating if possible, if not happy with what you have now...........just a suggestion.

[xman]

Just now, Tilt said:

If the car has just passed it's mot then i suspect you will not get much better performance with new ones. brake force and balance are tested on the mot i believe.

maybe you need to consider up-rating if possible, if not happy with what you have now...........just a suggestion.

 

Not true, the mot criteria is very low, particularly brake force. Based on morris minor levels.

[Torque777]

I will change them anyway, can't do any harm as they look poor, I'm sure I will see when I remove them 

[Mattylad]

I too just got a new to me Fabia and think the braking is poor, as soon as I can afford it I shall be making the braking a bit sharper with new discs, pads and an anchor...

[YS53]

We have an 09 fabia 1.9 tdi and the brakes are quite powerful - we also have rear drum brakes on our car.

Hope you get an improvement when you change the discs and pads

[rum4mo]

17 hours ago, Torque777 said:

Does anyone think the fabia front brakes are poor?

We have just bought a 2010 1.6 crtdi 90 and I was shocked at how at national speed limits you struggle to slow down, yes it will stop but you have to remember that you need more room to brake... Maybe it's because it has drums on rear instead of discs? 

It certainly feels like the car is too quick for the brakes it's got 

 

Have you tried using the brakes quite "firmly" a few times as it could be that the friction surfaces have become glazed/polished with very light use and with salt being thrown down on the roads?

[Ootohere]

& not likely to be the issue if just brakes needing serviced and maintained, but sometimes worth checking as people change things.

There is Brake Assist which can be increased for 'Disability needs' as there is Steering Assist and on some cars the XDS can be adjusted, 

and it may have been done by a previous owner. 

Some people do reduce Brake Assist.

 

(the other thing with Mk2 Fabia is not all have ESP, that was an Optional Extra on some including Monte Carlo until Skoda fitted as standard about when the EU Regulations were about to force them to.)

 

eg

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/428020-brake-assist-cave-vrs-calmstrongstock-off 

Edited 10 February, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[Torque777]

I've tried a few hard brake applications and I've found the brakes at front now judder as if warped, so I definitely will be changing them 

[spartacus68]

Got the same car (1.6TDI on a 10 plate) and have had no end of trouble with brakes. Assuming no one has been tinkering with VCDS, then I'd start with a complete strip and rebuild on the front.

 

New discs and pads. Plenty opinions on what's best, but I've always been happy with Bremo or Pagid parts. With the calipers and carriers off, wire brush down to remove any surface corrosion and use brake cleaner. Pump the brakes two to three times to expose the piston, but not the point it comes out completely. If piston bore surface is clean with no corrosion, then apply a little Lockheed red grease on piston bore surface under rubber dust sleeve. Use G-clamp or brake tool to compress back into caliper. Ensure brake fluid reservoir cap is off. Any tears or splits on rubber dust sleeves, then rebuild completely with Bigg Red kit, or replace caliper.

 

Fit new discs and pads (use copper-ease sparingly) and remember to lube brake slider pins with lithium grease. Use bed in procedure after fitting.

 

Rear drums are a pain to maintain. My rear cylinders were leaking so I renewed a couple of years ago. I also fitted new spring kit.

 

Finally, do a complete brake fluid change. Should be done every 2 years. Start from rear furthest from brake fluid reservoir and use DOT4 fluid.

Edited 10 February, 2018 by spartacus68

[mrgf]

Diff version of Fabia (1.4 Greenline) But I have never had an issue with my stoppers! I usually change the discs every other pad change and run on Bosch for both. I used to use EPC I think it was and many years ago, Mintex were a recommendation on various cars but as I say, I now trust my fabia's front end to Bosch. One of the well known car parts specialists that ALWAYS have a promo code and usually deliver for free, if you are not able to collect are my usual choice of supplier. If you can fit the pads, you can almost certainly fit the discs, too

[Torque777]

So went to tps and bought a set of discs and pads, this was the inside of the discs 

[Torque777]

All done, it's definitely better but I will be having a look at the drums next

[GingerBen]

My new (to me) Vrs has pretty flabby brakes tbh. Just been serviced though so all should be ok but I’ll get it checked as they don’t feel as sharp as I was expecting 

[Ootohere]

?

Do you mean the brakes were serviced or the car?

Nothing gets done at main dealer servicing to brakes other than a look see unless you are paying to have something done.

[GingerBen]

30 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

?

Do you mean the brakes were serviced or the car?

Nothing gets done at main dealer servicing to brakes other than a look see unless you are paying to have something done.

 

Car had full service prior to being sold. 

[Ootohere]

?

What did that consist of?  Is there a list and parts replaced shown?

Oil & Filter, Pollen Filter, Brake Fluid Change, Air Filter Replaced, Spark Plugs replaced. 

Any mention of brake pads replaced, or removed and pins greased, back of pads getting a little copper grease applied?

[2ndskoda]

I am amazed that people say "The car has just been serviced" - and that an assumption is made that all parts are checked and all is well as a result, and that corrective adjustments are made as a matter of course.

This is NOT the case.

Look at the service check list in your book. It is meant to look impressive and comprehensive - but it is just a tick box exercise on mostly trivial items, most of which the owner could do in a quarter of an hour. The charges made for this trivial work is often robbery without violence.

 

Forum members often have the idea that servicing is carried out by experts/experienced personnel. The truth is that servicing is the lowest form of work in the garage, and is mostly  given to the least experienced people.

You will find the experienced people are the ones heavily into engines / transmissions / electronics and diagnostics etc.

 

When in the trade - we might service a car, and several weeks later an angry customer with a gearbox problem would come storming in.

Yes you've guessed - "gearbox failure should not have happened, the car was serviced only X weeks ago". This is just one example that illustrates the customers misguided expectation of what a service actually achieves. 

What do people expect from a service? Main dealers are a pain, you are best off with a good experienced local garage.

 

Sorry Ginger Ben, but the quote "Car had full service prior to being sold" is no guarantee that anything meaningful or corrective has been undertaken.. 

Edited 26 February, 2018 by 2ndskoda

[GingerBen]

Looks like I need to get my brakes looked at then...

 

i know it had all filters and oil done but no mention of further detail

[rum4mo]

I'd hope that a pre-sale service would at the least, include replacing some of the engine oil, overfilling the windscreen washer tank and applying plenty tyre paint?

 

Edit:- looking at that scaly old disc reminds me of how satisfying I used to think it was to chip all that scale/scab away - passed an hour of two when in reality the smart money would have been on replacing them with new ones!

Edited 26 February, 2018 by rum4mo