Brake squeak

[Skodaboy1983]

Hi all,

 

Just posting to see if anyone else has the same problem.

 

My 2018 Fabia has covered 1600 miles since January and from early days I noticed the brake squeaks and i learned to live with it as I thought it might just be a dirt caught between the disc, but the noise persists, i tend to notice it when I get to work, is it just because I am not getting enough heat in to the pads do you think?

 

Davy

[krigl]

Maybe they have started to save money and put in harder and cheaper pads for entry models... I had the same issue with a Renault Clio, when (and the only time) I opted the cheaper route when replacing the pads.

 

For VW Group cars I now stick to ATE manufacturer for discs and pads, the only combination that does not shake the wheel and does not squeak.

[Ootohere]

Pads out and a little copper slip on the rear and see if any difference.

[JXS]

Mine does it too, it's only done 400m since I got it the end of March. 

It's just the last few feet before the car stops completely and it is a bit of an irritant.

I've been doing a lot of short  journeys, less than 3m, in stop/start traffic recently but

yesterday I had a 20m round trip and the brakes were silent even on returning home in the same traffic.

This morning it was back to squeaking again so maybe, as you say, they need to be used more.

[Skodaboy1983]

Going on a longer trip tonight so hopefully will cure it for a bit. Roughly every week the car is doing about 40-50 miles a week, just with commuting and nursery run.

 

Davy

[johnh510]

It's probable your MPI has drum brakes on the back, and it _might_ be them squeaking.

 

It's no consolation to you that both the MPI Fabias we had were prone to squeaking, and the shoes sticking to the drums after the first "inspection".... but that's another story.

The squeaking was less when the cars were used a bit more than usual.

[Pumatron]

My old Fabia S had drums on the rear. The brakes always squeaked from cold on first couple of applications. I had dealer look at it twice, neither times fixed it for long. So I had a look, lubricated the back plates, deglazed the shoes and chamfered and edge to help stop it. Lasted about a month and then normal service resumed and I classed it a “characteristic” after that . 

I have discs all round now and find the brakes shocking if I’m honest. The brake pad material is harder than the discs as the picture of my 300 mile old disc shows with the ridge rings wearing on the disc. I will mention this to dealer on passing as I know shouldn’t be like that after 300 miles. On a plus note it doesn’t squeak at the moment.

The brakes don’t inspire me with confidence if I’m honest.

[lawnmowerman]

7 hours ago, Pumatron said:

 

The brakes don’t inspire me with confidence if I’m honest.

 

 

My wife's Citigo brakes were superb. The Fabia brakes (2,000 miles) are not as good but better than my L&K Yeti (20,000 miles).

 

Bill 

[Skodaboy1983]

Well gave the car a wee run last night and that cured it for the time being.

 

Davy

[aubrey]

On 10/05/2018 at 14:28, Pumatron said:

I will mention this to dealer on passing as I know shouldn’t be like that after 300 miles.

I just changed my Roomster 1.9's front discs after 60,000 miles and they looked similar. No way after 300 miles should the disc be marked at all.

[Shenanigans000]

I'm not sure whether the OP means the front or rear brakes (I'm assuming rear).

 

Mine has the rear discs and the brakes have been noisy since the day I drove it new out of the showroom.

 

At the 15000km first service I mentioned it to the dealer and they gave them a bit of a clean, but the noise returned within a few days.

 

I shall push much harder on the next service to have it properly and permanently sorted under the warranty.

 

I have to say that the (rear) brakes are probably my little Fabio's only real flaw - one that would probably be fixed by decent / better brake pads.

 

As to pedal feel, Skoda have managed the remarkable trick of making the pedal feel both wooden and spongy at the same time!

 

[aubrey]

Are you 100% sure those discs have only been on for 300 miles ? The pads look new but I don't see how the discs can get that worn with a ridge rim at the edge that quick.

The discs look like they need renewing now.

[horkin]

21 minutes ago, aubrey said:

Are you 100% sure those discs have only been on for 300 miles ? The pads look new but I don't see how the discs can get that worn with a ridge rim at the edge that quick.

The discs look like they need renewing now.

It looks awful from the pics after only 300 miles. I would guess though it's not a 'rim' but more of a difference in colour as the pads don't operate on the very outer edge. Personally I wouldn't be worrying about a bit of scoring on the new discs. Any crud that gets onto the pad will mark. In my view it's normal.

 

Harry

 

Harry

[horkin]

Every Fabia I've owned has had some noise when braking if the car has been standing a couple of days or longer. They could also be noisy after only one night if it has been raining heavily.

 

There's lots of threads across the Fabia Mk 1 and 11 areas of the forum about related problems and rusty looking discs.

 

I have always found that after a few miles in traffic and using the brakes, they return to normal.

 

Just like the recent dash rattle problems, I rate these as characteristics and nothing to really worry about though I appreciate it makes some unhappy.

 

Harry.

[Skodaboy1983]

6 hours ago, Shenanigans000 said:

I'm not sure whether the OP means the front or rear brakes (I'm assuming rear).

 

Mine has the rear discs and the brakes have been noisy since the day I drove it new out of the showroom.

 

At the 15000km first service I mentioned it to the dealer and they gave them a bit of a clean, but the noise returned within a few days.

 

I shall push much harder on the next service to have it properly and permanently sorted under the warranty.

 

I have to say that the (rear) brakes are probably my little Fabio's only real flaw - one that would probably be fixed by decent / better brake pads.

 

As to pedal feel, Skoda have managed the remarkable trick of making the pedal feel both wooden and spongy at the same time!

 

 

i would say it’s the front.

 

Totally agree with the pedal feel, it does not inspire me with confidence at times but I have pulled a emergency stop when someone pulled out on me and it stopped ok.

 

Davy

[Rsrob]

I've got a squeak on my o/s front brake on my fabia its only got 300 miles on the clock had a look at it looks all good no mark on disc will give it to 500 miles then if it's still doing it will take it to dealer  

[Pumatron]

5 hours ago, horkin said:

It looks awful from the pics after only 300 miles. I would guess though it's not a 'rim' but more of a difference in colour as the pads don't operate on the very outer edge. Personally I wouldn't be worrying about a bit of scoring on the new discs. Any crud that gets onto the pad will mark. In my view it's normal.

 

Harry

 

Harry

Sorry, but I am disagreeing with you on that one. The pad has scored the disc (which I can run my finger nail in) due to a foreign hard object which is in the brake pad material. What is not to say the hard object isn’t all the way through the thickness of the pad material? If that was the case the disc would be scrap long before the pad wore out. Please bare in mind the damage has occurred after just 300 miles. I am a qualified motor vehicle technician (but now in a different trade), and if that had come into my workshop I would advise they were replaced due to the damage after such low miles. 

The brakes are Poor for a modern day car (in my opinion) and any deficiencies in them is only going to emphasize this.

Sorry to original OP for hijack on this post.

I would definitely swap the brakes from my 2015 S to my colour edition as the brake are definitely not as good on my 2018 car at the moment.  (Even when taking into consideration the running in period of brakes). 

[horkin]

Sorry Pumatron I didn't realise you'd had the pads off and seen the 'hard object' in the pad material.

 

Of course any foreign body manufactured into the pads is good reason to return to the dealer.

 

I was merely referring to the scoring of the discs caused by any amount of road crud/grime/grit which happens from day one and is normal,

 

Harry

[rum4mo]

These "funky/cheaper/ect" front brakes come from a company called Mando, lovely and cheap so you save money - oh, sorry its VW Group that save money, ah well we better get used to that.

 

Edit:- deleted Mango!

Edited 12 May, 2018 by rum4mo

[GeneralPurpose]

Pumatron, I seriously doubt the pad/s came with a foreign object in them. In 33 years as a tech & master tech I never experienced such a thing, which of course doesn't mean it couldn't happen. But the pad manufactures do have processes in place to prevent that type of problem. Your pads are not harder than your discs as you state in your earlier post. Scoring can only be caused by foreign objects/debris. I don't of course know how you have been using your car but the foreign object has for sure been picked up since you took delivery. That's pretty much for certain unless you have evidence to prove otherwise. The scoring/marking on your disc looks fairly normal too even at such low miles. The fact the brakes are not bedded in yet (as you know takes around 1000 miles) makes them vulnerable to scoring, and they won't perform anywhere near peak efficiency until they are bedded in. If you remove the foreign object from the pad the disc will just return to normal with the scoring disappearing quite quickly. No need to do anything else. Once bedded in your brakes will function perfectly. Make no mistake the Fabia brakes are as good as any you will find. Mine stops on a sixpence with good pedal feel. Your brakes will just get better and better as the miles go on. If they don't it means the friction material on the pads has been damaged or seriously glazed by inappropriate or excessively heavy braking before the brakes have had a chance to bed in.

Edited 12 May, 2018 by Estate Man

[Pumatron]

59 minutes ago, Estate Man said:

Pumatron, I seriously doubt the pad/s came with a foreign object in them. In 33 years as a tech & master tech I never experienced such a thing, which of course doesn't mean it couldn't happen. But the pad manufactures do have processes in place to prevent that type of problem. Your pads are not harder than your discs as you state in your earlier post. Scoring can only be caused by foreign objects/debris. I don't of course know how you have been using your car but the foreign object has for sure been picked up since you took delivery. That's pretty much for certain unless you have evidence to prove otherwise. The scoring/marking on your disc looks fairly normal too even at such low miles. The fact the brakes are not bedded in yet (as you know takes around 1000 miles) makes them vulnerable to scoring, and they won't perform anywhere near peak efficiency until they are bedded in. If you remove the foreign object from the pad the disc will just return to normal with the scoring disappearing quite quickly. No need to do anything else. Once bedded in your brakes will function perfectly. Make no mistake the Fabia brakes are as good as any you will find. Mine stops on a sixpence with good pedal feel. Your brakes will just get better and better as the miles go on. If they don't it means the friction material on the pads has been damaged or seriously glazed by inappropriate or excessively heavy braking before the brakes have had a chance to bed in.

Estate man, going to have to agree to disagree with your comments or it will just bat backwards and forwards with need less “brake stories” etc taking up someone else’s post.

I will say though I worked for a mainstream manufacturer for many years and on two occasions had to deal with a brake recall due to the brake pad material being substandard for vehicle type and caused excessive brake disc wear and noise. On those vehicles concerned I saw what mine is experiencing and disc and pads were replaced WITHOUT question.

Clearly after 300 miles (the damaged started appearing at less than 100 miles) the outer pad is faulty and requires changing. In a world of liabilities the risks are too great to not take action with it.

 

[BoxerBoy]

For anyone with low miles and driving like Miss Daisy, the normal problem is simply minor corrosion and dirt building up on the pads and discs. Apologies to anyone still condemned to drums on the back axle.

 

You need to give the brakes a Really Good Work Out occasionally to keep them clean and working properly.

 

My good lady’s Ocatvia Is a prime example because she drives fairly gently. I need to give them a good pounding now and then.

I mean good hard slam from speed. Motorway slip roads are very good places to do this.

 

And try out your ABS too. Wet roads are best for this.

 

Don’t molly coddle machinery too much. It doesn’t appreciate it.

 

Like most thing s in life - Use It or Lose It. Man or Machine.

[GeneralPurpose]

On 12/05/2018 at 20:26, Pumatron said:

Estate man, going to have to agree to disagree with your comments or it will just bat backwards and forwards with need less “brake stories” etc taking up someone else’s post.

I will say though I worked for a mainstream manufacturer for many years and on two occasions had to deal with a brake recall due to the brake pad material being substandard for vehicle type and caused excessive brake disc wear and noise. On those vehicles concerned I saw what mine is experiencing and disc and pads were replaced WITHOUT question.

Clearly after 300 miles (the damaged started appearing at less than 100 miles) the outer pad is faulty and requires changing. In a world of liabilities the risks are too great to not take action with it.

 

 

Indeed, I worked for both Honda & Nissan for decades and like every manufacturer on the planet, they too suffered the odd brake recall. As you will know this was all mostly related to issues concerning new asbestos free friction material, also resulting in new materials being needed for the brake discs. It took manufacturers sometime to get that right. These asbestos free materials and discs are more vulnerable to scoring and your own disc scoring is actually really common at any mileage. Notice you have more than one ring on the disc, typical of debris spreading as the object breaks up. You don't have to take my word for it, just take a look at discs on any make of car even with low miles and you will often see the same.  As you and the OP have noticed squeaky brakes are more common as is disc scoring and corrosion. But we are not talking about any sort of brake recall here, just some fairly normal incidence of scoring by foreign objects, and all self correcting as the debris wears away and the discs wear in normally. By all means bring it to the attention of your dealer. You will indeed have a case if you can prove a foreign object is and has been present in the pad from new. But that's pretty much not going to be the case as I think you know. All I'm saying is don't worry about it, just keep an eye on it. 

[GeneralPurpose]

Just an add on here Pumatron. You can notice a rusty ring running around the outside of the flat surface of the disc in your photo. The brake pads don't cover all the disc right upto the edge. Over time as the disc wears this causes a ring of untouched metal to stand proud around the disc. You will know it can sometime be annoying when coming to fit new pads if the pads are not the OEM pads as you have to grind off the offending part of the disc to get the pads to fit properly. However, that ring is actually helpful as time goes on and helps protect the disc and pads from debris. At the moment your discs don't have that protective ring so debris can get in between the discs and pads very easily (as on all new cars) making disc damage more common at low miles. Just saying. And yes, I did the Mintex technical brake fitters course for cars and commercial vehicles where you learn further stuff like this...although it's common sense really. So just saying, not having a go or anything.

Edited 14 May, 2018 by Estate Man

[BoxerBoy]

ps - my Kodiaq is now booked in for new rear discs & pads due to very uneven scoring after only 1 year and 10,000 miles.

 

Warranty job.

 

They’re made of cheese 

 

Front discs still look ok with an even shine on the operating area.