Hi,

 

Searched the forums without much luck.

I am about to order new brake discs and pads for my 2015 NJ5 1.2TSI 110HP and see that some pads are prepared for wear sensors, some are not.

Also some discs are 280 mm where others are 288 mm..

 

Question goes, do all Nj5 have wear sensors on the pads or do I need to take it apart to have a look before I order.

About the front brake discs, does the last 0,8mm matter ?

 

Thanks in advance

44 minutes ago, vels said:

Hi,

 

Searched the forums without much luck.

I am about to order new brake discs and pads for my 2015 NJ5 1.2TSI 110HP and see that some pads are prepared for wear sensors, some are not.

Also some discs are 280 mm where others are 288 mm..

 

Question goes, do all Nj5 have wear sensors on the pads or do I need to take it apart to have a look before I order.

About the front brake discs, does the last 0,8mm matter ?

 

Thanks in advance

 

My NJ3 2015 90HP has no wear sensors, simply used a pair of cutters to cut the sensor off the pad. I don't believe the NJ5 would be any different.

I'd think that with the 110ps engine, the front discs will be 288mm, my Haynes manual for the slightly earlier 6R Polo, suggests that there are only two front discs sizes, 280mm and 288mm, I'm thinking that from experience of working on same age Ibiza that the front discs will be 256mm or 288m and at the top power end 312mm!

 

My wife's August 2015 6C Polo 1.2TSI 110PS does not have brake wear sensors, which surprised me as her 2002 Polo did!

 

Strangely, when buying some brake pad brakes from certain outlets, the version with the wear indicator on a single pad are cheaper, so buying them and cutting the lead off makes a bit of sense!

 

Edit:- to check if your car has the 256mm or the 288mm front discs, look through the wheel spokes, if you can make out FS 111 then they are 256mm, if there is a vertical anti-rattle spring fitted then they are 288mm.

Edited 1 July, 20196 yr by rum4mo

If you're replacing pads & discs, i'd recommend mintex discs, and order some pads from your local Skoda dealer. It'll cost you way less than half of what they'd charge to do it themselves.

 

I did my front brakes with full mintex pads and discs, and the pads were slightly loose, rattling and making a racket on rough roads.

They also went through a couple of weeks of insanely annoying squealing when driving (and not even braking), only thing that cured that was screaming up and down a quiet back road repeatedly heavy braking until the brakes were really hot and started to fade (I practically overheated them!). Since then haven't had an issue with noise.

 

When i did my rears, i put mintex discs, and VAG pads, these fitted much better, and have not made the slightest bit of noise.

 

I recently got to drive a Fabia Monte Carlo (19 plate) and that had the exact same brakes as my 15 plate SE L. Haven't seen any 288mm ones.

That does not surprise me, I've found that many aftermarket brake pads, even the brands that VW Group fit at factory, come without anti-squeal fitted, probably to cut cost.

 

The transition from 256mm to 288mm front discs tends to happen at or close to 100PS, though I think SEAT can be a bit slow/sloppy about an insignificant thing like that!  I seem to remember that back in 2015, the Ibiza FR with the 1.2TSI 110PS engine had 256mm while the Polo SEL with same engine had 288mm, cost cutting at its best?

2 hours ago, rum4mo said:

That does not surprise me, I've found that many aftermarket brake pads, even the brands that VW Group fit at factory, come without anti-squeal fitted, probably to cut cost.

 

The transition from 256mm to 288mm front discs tends to happen at or close to 100PS, though I think SEAT can be a bit slow/sloppy about an insignificant thing like that!  I seem to remember that back in 2015, the Ibiza FR with the 1.2TSI 110PS engine had 256mm while the Polo SEL with same engine had 288mm, cost cutting at its best?

 

The mintex ones did come with anti-squeal rubber shims on the back, same as what was on the stock pads. I think it's more the runner parts where the pad slides against the caliper where it makes the noise though. I'm considering removing the backing plate next time i do the front brakes (which hopefully won't be too long, the warped disk is getting quite aggravating) as that seems to end up keeping coming into contact with the edge of the disk when going over bumps too... damn i wish they'd come up with some better solution that didn't have every single component make some kind of annoying noise!

Do you know which brand the front brake assemblies are, they might just be Mando which might be why you are getting issues with them, they should be getting made to suit these cars and to fit standard pads - but maybe not good enough yet for the European market.

1 hour ago, rum4mo said:

Do you know which brand the front brake assemblies are, they might just be Mando which might be why you are getting issues with them, they should be getting made to suit these cars and to fit standard pads - but maybe not good enough yet for the European market.

 

I'll have a look if i remember next time i go out. What other makes are they? I thought they were a fairly specific VAG part tbh.

 

I'm hoping my current discs/pads hold out long enough until i can do a whole suspension and wheel-bearing rebuild with coilovers. Fingers crossed next week for its MOT, though the shocks are leaking and will at the very least get an advisory, and left front brake pads are worn 2-3mm more than the right side because of the warped disc...

 

Both my car, 90ps SEL (15 plate), and the 110ps DSG monte carlo (19 plate), had 256mm vented front discs of 22mm thickness, and 230mm solid rear discs of 9mm thickness. The only 288mm discs i've seen were on a 105 bhp TDI monte carlo manual Mk2 (13 plate), which also had 205/35R17 tyres, and was definitely not a smooth ride!

I think that you will find companies like Mando are favoured, (edit) or are becoming more favoured by VAG because of the price to supply these parts, as well as VAG being seen to support "local" companies, which is important when expanding into newer market areas as that might ease added tariffs threats.

 

As usual some of us will be brand "snobs" when it comes to certain items, car braking systems being one of them, but we are where we are, as far as I know, the 288mm brakes are still what we consider "European manufactured" ie TRW and others are ATE otherwise referred to as Teves.  In time these Mando offerings should become just as good as the previous supplier's offerings. Maybe the same with wiper blades MG sounds not to be like a company that we would deliberately chose to buy parts from, but they seem to have added Trico to their portfolio - but that might only mean that they are buying the name to add credibility to their brand and move manufacture to cheaper areas of the world.

Edited 3 July, 20196 yr by rum4mo