Hello all, 

 

My rear brakes have a lot of rust on the outer edges, drivers side is worse than passenger side. Anyone else have the same issue or know what the issue is? MOT in April was passed but I had the brake fluid changed as I was advised from the garage that it was looking scummy. 

 

I've always known VW cars to have a very instant brake pedal but this Skoda is more soft and spongy... small amount of pedal travel until it actually brakes, just wondering if this is the issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Well that is not helping anything, but they must be good enough for the MOT, personally, if I had rear brakes that looked like that AND I was not happy with the feel of the brakes in general, I'd just replace the discs and pads as these discs will never clean up that rot is too well in for that.

 

But you will see many cars with worse looking rear discs in any car park.

I'm by no means an expert, but as far as I understand its pretty normal for a bit of a lip to form on the outer edge of the disc, the brake pads don't make full contact. Wouldn't be surprised if maybe some of the rust on the lip has broken up a little of the pad or something so its causing a bit less contact hence a bit more rust?

 

Isn't the majority of the braking done via the front anyway? So i wouldn't imagine a great deal of noticeable difference from replacing the rears, might help a little though.

I read somewhere that it could be the calliper pins are either seized or sticky, and can be removed - lubed - put back in again, not sure if that's the issue. I know my disks are original at the front, car is on 30k miles so will probably just wait until they need replacing and i'll get all 4 corners done. 

 

Does anyone agree with what I notice? I've had 5 VW cars all ranging from 2002 - 2016, Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda (this car) and the Skoda seems to have a less responsive brake pedal than the others. I'm not worried as MOT is passed but I am curious. 

 

EDIT: not sure if the rear brake callipers have pins though? Might take the wheel off next week and have a look

Edited 5 July, 20196 yr by JAMMYZ

The pads stick in/on the carriers.

 

Photo of one of my rear disks at 3 years and 35 K miles.

But I take the brakes apart clean and regrease every year in the Autumn.

This is what you want to do to keep them working well.

 

Thanks AG Falco 

I always wonder how people end up with brake discs looking like they've been parked in a small lake for 6 months.

 

My rear discs at 4 years and 50k miles, were still very clean and shiney, allbeit very worn, was a PITA to get the calipers off as there was some 1mm high lip round the edge.. the disks are stock 9mm thick, but mine were at 6.5mm!

 

Wouldn't be a bad idea to replace them with Mintex branded discs, they have a protective coating which has prevented rust buildup anywhere on the discs (obviously it doesn't protect the braking face) and it seems to have kept them in good shape so far.

Make sure you lubricate the caliper pins, and ensure that the handbrake cables are free too.

 

The brakes on the fabia do seem kinda spongey when getting older, but I noticed one hell of a difference going from 3mm left on the front brake pads, to having brand new ones!

Yup, cleaning the brakes up works wonders stops things starting to go wrong.

 

I've read about people finding the guides seizing on the rear brakes, but so far, having owned 2 VWs for 13 years and roughly 100K I've never noticed that, you intuitively check the rear guides every time you service the rear brakes, so know if they feel okay or need some cleaning/re-lubing.

 

One comment I will make, every time I've replaced the original discs, the new discs have stayed in better condition for longer than the original discs.

 

On the matter of disc pads not covering the complete disc braking area, this varies from model to model, I'm sure that the brakes at both ends of my S4 get swept right out to or almost to the outer edge, same for the front brakes on my wife's 2015 Polo with the 288mm front discs.

19 minutes ago, FabiaGonzales said:

I always wonder how people end up with brake discs looking like they've been parked in a small lake for 6 months.

 

My rear discs at 4 years and 50k miles, were still very clean and shiney, allbeit very worn, was a PITA to get the calipers off as there was some 1mm high lip round the edge.. the disks are stock 9mm thick, but mine were at 6.5mm!

 

Wouldn't be a bad idea to replace them with Mintex branded discs, they have a protective coating which has prevented rust buildup anywhere on the discs (obviously it doesn't protect the braking face) and it seems to have kept them in good shape so far.

Make sure you lubricate the caliper pins, and ensure that the handbrake cables are free too.

 

The brakes on the fabia do seem kinda spongey when getting older, but I noticed one hell of a difference going from 3mm left on the front brake pads, to having brand new ones!

 

I'm sure that you know that these rear discs should have been replaced at 7mm thickness, the coating that many TMD Friction companies and maybe other use gets referred to as being Geomet in the VW Group parts listing - and yes it does work for a while.

 

Also this rotting of the discs is dependant on geographical location and probably level of use, hard use and little or any rock salt in winter will mean better looking discs for longer.  I've trashed a set of ATE Power Discs as the car was not used frequently enough in winter and the rot spread quickly out from the grooves.

 

Edit:- changed disc thickness minimum from 8mm to 7mm! BTW, I've never hit the minimum thickness before replacing discs, I play safe after "finding" a Ford vented front disc starting to "separate"!

Edited 5 July, 20196 yr by rum4mo

Just now, rum4mo said:

 

I'm sure that you know that these rear discs should have been replaced at 8mm thickness, the coating that many TMD Friction companies and maybe other use gets referred to as being Geomet in the VW Group parts listing - and yes it does work for a while.

 

Also this rotting of the discs is dependant on geographical location and probably level of use, hard use and little or any rock salt in winter will mean better looking discs for longer.  I've trashed a set of ATE Power Discs as the car was not used frequently enough in winter and the rot spread quickly out from the grooves.

 

Yes, the discs were heavily pitted, also with 3mm of pad left! I was quite suprised i wasn't told anything about them, it only came as an advisory on the MOT as they were pitted and pads were low, clearly they did not check them for disc thickness. I suppose they're not quite so critical as compared to the front brakes.

 

Another thing i sometimes do to try help the rear brake stay in good condition, usually if i've not used the car for a week or so and the surface is rusted at all, pull the handbrake fairly hard (do NOT make them lock, you will screw your tyres, and look like an idiot!!), and put your foot down to maintain speed, do not do this for more than a few seconds, as you will overheat the brakes and that will do more harm than good.

 

Brakes are one of those things like many other things with cars, they need a bit of heavy use once in a while to make sure they're clean and in good working condition.

The thing about the issue that I had with the 1991 Fiesta 1.6Si front discs was, at that point in time "British" cars mainly did not need to get their front discs replaced, just the pads, so when that happened, I found that the wear on these discs was varied from the outer edge inwards, the car had no previous brake problems, but we went on holiday for 14 days and used my car, when we returned I grabbed my wife's car and went out and bought milk - when I first braked at over 30MPH there was serious vibration - so when I got back home I checked the front brakes and found that the inner edge/end of the maybe outer surface had cracked for about a quarter of the circumference - bought new discs and pads immediately, lesson learned, ie pay a bit more attention to the disc thickness! Even back then Germanic cars were said to need new discs at every or every other pad change - but not so with "British" cars.

20 hours ago, FabiaGonzales said:

it only came as an advisory on the MOT as they were pitted and pads were low, clearly they did not check them for disc thickness

 

In an MOT the tester, is NOT allowed to remove anything.

So the wheels are not removed and disks are not measured, as well as engine under covers, and baby seats are not moved.

 

If you have wheel trims that prevent sight of the pads then you wont get told that the pads are at 1mm in an MOT even if they are.

 

Thanks AG Falco

 Had a rear disc with a crack in it after just 25K and 2 and a half years. Both were quite badly rusted. Was not impressed and obviously replaced them and the pads.

 

 Would have had a moan to Skoda UK about the crack but as it was not long after having been seriously ill I just couldn't be bothered.

Edited 14 July, 20196 yr by Silverbirch

All VAG rear discs are garbage, always have been.  No significant advantage to having rear discs on a small car, and certainly none on a sub-100hp supermini.  Lots of disadvantages - rusting up as they barely get any use, and never get any heat in them to wear/burn off the rust.   I'd even question their usefulness on a bigger car like an Octavia, I see lots of those with rusted up lumps of corrosion inside rear wheels.

Your correct that they are nor essential to help stop these cars, but I rather servicing them yearly than messing about with drums.  We currently run 2 VW Group cars, bigger one 8.5 years old with only 25K miles and smaller one almost 4 years old and 28K miles, neither of them has horrible looking rear discs yet.

 

As I said in any earlier post, I have had to replace horrid looking rear discs, maybe at 5 years and 40K miles and the non VW Group replacement discs lasted the rest of at least the 2002 Polo's life in our hands, traded in at 13 years and 105K miles - just!

 

So that means 5 years and 40K for original discs and 8 years and 65K miles for Pagid discs.

 

Edit:- and that is in an area of UK that does get a lot of ice and snow and so a lot of salt in winter.

Edited 29 July, 20196 yr by rum4mo

Fair point, depends on the use case a lot of the time.  

 

On the other hand, previous company cars of mine had rear drums (back when rear discs were only on the likes of BMWs, Mercs or big fast saloons like Vauxhal Carltons), and on car had 130K on the clock and the rear drums had never been touched and still worked fine.  Other car had close to 200K on it and only needed one piston done for a slight leak, otherwise the shoes were still less than half worn.  Both were Renaults (a Mk2 Clio and a Mk1 Laguna respectively).  None of my old Vauxhalls ever needed anything done to rear drums either, and they were all elderly and high miles by the time I sold them.

2 minutes ago, ShazzenFrazzen said:

All VAG rear discs are garbage, always have been.  No significant advantage to having rear discs on a small car, and certainly none on a sub-100hp supermini.  Lots of disadvantages - rusting up as they barely get any use, and never get any heat in them to wear/burn off the rust.   I'd even question their usefulness on a bigger car like an Octavia, I see lots of those with rusted up lumps of corrosion inside rear wheels.

 

Personally i by far prefer the feel of discs to drum brakes, to me drum brakes feel spongey and almost feel like theyre not going to hold the car. So long as you give the rear brakes a workout every now and then i've found they seem to stay in decent condition, babying them constantly is what makes them rust and corrode and fail early.