2017 1.2 petrol Fabia estate. 55000 miles.

MOT fail as front brakes were apparently pulling left and after checking all cheaper possible fixes, garage says the hydraulic feeding that wheel is failing. This is a part that I have been told cannot be replaced on its own on this particular model of Skoda. So needs full ABS, pump sensors at a very high cost.

I hadn't noticed the brakes pulling much but I think it is doing it. I cannot fathom why I need to replace and program the entire unit. Is this a thing? I am not necessarily questioning the honesty of the garage as they are a local family business that has an excellent reputation and we have used for years, as do most of the village. They have saved us money in the past by solving issues without going to the most expensive option so this is a bit of a shock.

I have a 2016 1.2 TSI Fabia at 95K miles and I am on original brake all round.

Have you got the brake figures from the MOT test?

Is one brake sticking on or is it not working? ( which one? )

Is the ABS light on?

Have they checked / replaced the flexi brake hose?

Thanks. AG Falco

I don't have the figures - we had to collect the car as we were travelling the next day and it's in an airport car park right now until we get back at the end of the week.

The brakes aren't sticking. They are all working although apparently one of the front ones isn't getting enough (or much) fluid when brakes are applied, so pulling left. They checked pads/discs for sticking, then hoses for leaks, etc and nothing was wrong. Finally went all the way thru until the only thing left was the hydfraulic pump.

No ABS light as that doesn't have a problem in itself. The ABS functions. But it has to be replaced on this model as part of the entire unit and they can't get a single hydraulic pump. It's all one piece.

You seem to think your garage has made a misdiagnosis(?).

Is it that you are new to 2017 cars and/or the likes of VW/ VWŠkoda cars?

I do actually trust that the garage are being straight with me. I am more concerned that such a relatively simple fault is so expensive to fix and am asking if anyone else has had something similar having only covered 55K miles. Or if there could be any other possibility that maybe they have overlooked.

Had the car since 2020 and is the second Fabia in a row so not at all new to the marque, or their owner.

Personally, I'd suggest getting a second opinion from a brake specialist.

I don't think it is a simple fault because it involves a lot of complicated part(s) and programming, the cause might be simple but the resolve isn't. There are some mechanics on the site that will know more about specific faults, parts, diagnosis and resolves, some or one might see your thread and give you more information.

A 2015 Fabia will be different to a 2017, 2019, (2020) 2021-on, a Mk3 different to a Mk2, a Mk2 to a Mk1, generally they get more complicated and less reliable as they get newer.

3 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Personally, I'd suggest getting a second opinion from a brake specialist.

That is going to be difficult if the part was fitted to pass the MoT to get the car to the airport car park, others can only give perhaps possible alternatives, if there are any, but no certainty.

All garages (people) do make mistakes but to find and have a decent garage is nowadays is gold, one that looks to save you expense too, rather than looking for unnecessary expensive work and/or treat you like something nasty smelling they have just trod in,like many Dealerships including VWŠkoda, wow, how lucky.

I'm glad Pal62v knows of VW products or you can guess what I was thinking about with the car parked up at the airport for two weeks.

I did not see any reference in any of @Pal62v s post to say that the reported faulty unit had been replaced - just that the car was picked up and was now at the airport, I read it that the work had not been completed yet.

2 hours ago, Pal62v said:

we had to collect the car as we were travelling the next day and it's in an airport car park right now until we get back at the end of the week.

Perhaps you're right but this confuses me, along with other stuff, failed MoT and it's in an airport car park - but then I'm easily confused.

Just to clarify. The MOT is up at the end of the month, but we needed the car to get to the airport last week. It was yet to be taken apart and was waiting on our say so. As it is still just in MOT, we took it and are returning it to the garage for the work to be completed on the 20th. Garage were happy for us to take the car with the warning to be wary, but to be honest I haven't noticed the braking being noticeably poor.

I think my confidence in the garage is good. I am not keen to take it to a Skoda/VW garage as I suspect their diagnosis is annoyingly accurate. They are very fussy about their MOTs, but that's not a bad thing. And if the problem went innoticed, the last thing we want is for the brakes to suddenly fail and the car to swerve into something hard as it tries to stop.

My annoyance is more that after 55K miles, I don't think this sort of part should fail - or be so damned expensive to replace due to not being able to split the different parts.

13 minutes ago, Pal62v said:

My annoyance is more that after 55K miles, I don't think this sort of part should fail - or be so damned expensive to replace due to not being able to split the different parts.

Totally, totally agree about the annoyance.

Good that you took the car in so early, many/most leave it to the last minute on MoTs.

You know the brakes wont totally fail on this. The complexities also add to safety (in real emergencies, hopefully not caused by drivers' reliance on them). Most people want the benefits of these systems and the likes of VW will see "revenue streams" from them. A fail at 55k-miles/8-years I think is just bad luck based on what I've not seen about this on here, I do give VW their due when they deserve it and unless others know better I think the part failure particularly at this point is an exception.

I would change the front flexi hoses first. Its not unknown for them to collapse internally especially if someone has used a brake hose clamp at some time. It will cause brake fluid restriction as there could be an internal bulge. Fairly cheap and easy to do. If it doesn't improve then take it further. Maybe second hand abs/hydraulic unit

Alasdair

4 hours ago, Alasdair1 said:

I would change the front flexi hoses first. Its not unknown for them to collapse internally especially if someone has used a brake hose clamp at some time. It will cause brake fluid restriction as there could be an internal bulge. Fairly cheap and easy to do. If it doesn't improve then take it further. Maybe second hand abs/hydraulic unit

Alasdair

Absolutley agree firt hoses then the rest,

Get the p/n of the abs unit and look online for second hand unit but be aware that before swapping the module you will need to save the long coding of the original module, make sure that the garage does that otherwise you will lose it and is quite hard to deduce the long coding, (is a nuber who summarize all the option in the car like brake discs sike part of the vin number and many other things).

38 minutes ago, Jack25 said:

Absolutley agree firt hoses then the rest,

Get the p/n of the abs unit and look online for second hand unit but be aware that before swapping the module you will need to save the long coding of the original module, make sure that the garage does that otherwise you will lose it and is quite hard to deduce the long coding, (is a nuber who summarize all the option in the car like brake discs sike part of the vin number and many other things).

I will mention the flex hoses to them - I think they may already have looked at that as part of their initial analysis as they seem to have gone thru all the cheaper options but worth asking.

As far as the whole unit goes, I have had more than one source advise me that a used one is a problem due to the part needing to be programmed specifically for the vehicle, which is I think what you are referring to above. In fact the garage are having to bring in someone who does this coding for a new one. And I am told by them and others that a used unit may not be able to be properly programmed, leading to further issues.

Now this could be a way of not wanting to get into having to source and fit a used unit. But I am no expert, that's for sure.

I will mention the flex hoses to them - I think they may already have looked at that as part of their initial analysis as they seem to have gone thru all the cheaper options but worth asking.

As far as the whole unit goes, I have had more than one source advise me that a used one is a problem due to the part needing to be programmed specifically for the vehicle, which is I think what you are referring to above. In fact the garage are having to bring in someone who does this coding for a new one. And I am told by them and others that a used unit may not be able to be properly programmed, leading to further issues.

Now this could be a way of not wanting to get into having to source and fit a used unit. But I am no expert, that's for sure.

As far as I know, in my Fabia 5J (mk2) after connecting a different cluster and turning the ignition on I’ve lost the abs module long coding, opened vcds founded the old code and after writing it it was working again, for this operation I’ve used vcds. I recon that if “you” (the garage o who for you) save the old coding and write it back in the second hand unit with the exact same part number it will be ok.

The garage will have looked at flexi hoses for perishing and leaks/kinks but as far as I know there is no way of checking if internal is slightly blocked apart from replacing. Get them to check also any metal brake lines that may have been damaged by something hitting them on the road . Folks put there old car off the road in winter and had to be winched out. I checked underneath once they got it home and one of the front metal pipes was slightly dented which caused slight uneven braking. It doesnt take much to cause an imbalance.

Alasdair

A good garage will have ways of checking for possible flexi-hose issues, most would just change them as a parts cannon and revenue and profit procedure.

When it's brakes -THE most important part of any vehicle - then I'm not sure I would want to use s/h parts unless I fully knew the source and history of the part and even then you only really know if you owned the source car - but others seem happy to use s/h parts with no issues. Then again I've known someone use s/h seatbelts (not from modern VWs) from a crashed vehicle, we joked thery might be red to save cleaning the blood off.

I wouldnt use second hand flexi etc but have been using second hand calipers/abs units etc for years. They can fail yes but so can any original ones fitted. I always fit new brake master cylinders and as for flexi hoses for all the cost its cheaper to replace them instead of paying £80/hour or more for someone to remove them and check them and then tell you they need replaced anyway. Last pair I bought cost £30

Alasdair

Edited 17 March17 Mar by Alasdair1

11 minutes ago, Alasdair1 said:

wouldnt use second hand flexi etc

Thank gawd for that. 😁 That thought never entered my head but one that has seeing that comment (and one for the oldies "Will yer noo be having a sale?"

A few years ago, for the previous about 15-20 years anything rubber parts for "classics" were very iffy, brake hose, fuel hose, bushes, etc., etc., some of that bleed into modern car parts too. Merc and others Dealerships (allegedly, of course) having counterfeit parts and so on.

30 minutes ago, nta16 said:

A few years ago, for the previous about 15-20 years anything rubber parts for "classics" were very iffy, brake hose, fuel hose, bushes

I agree even the branded ones were poor . First line etc bushes used to last about 6 months if you were lucky and anything rubber perished real quick. Local garage used to say fine for an MOT if your selling it afterwards. When it comes to older vehicles. Decent manufacturers stopped making parts probably as they weren't selling enough so unless you got new old stock you were getting c**p made in india or china. Saying that the quality seems to be improving with aftermarket parts or maybe I have been lucky

1 hour ago, Alasdair1 said:

Local garage used to say fine for an MOT if your selling it afterwards.

Typical attitude, very nice to know, lets hope they meet the car coming the other way when they failed and recognised the car. Fantasy island I know. What an attitude for them to have and promote, even otherwise decent people in the motor trade get corrupted to this type of attitude.

I ran "classic2 cars as dailies for 30+ years so I saw the cycle of parts quality. I actually spoke with a Manager (who used to work on the line) at First Line about an incorrect thread shown in their catalogue which he instantly knew was wrong because he'd been hands-on but the error remained in their catalogue. I used to know aa little of who owned and manufactured what from the original names but I've forgotten now. I do remember First Line was also Borg & Beck and no better quality but many used to say they bought Bork & Beck and they were good, obviously these weren't owners that actually drove the cars that often. I've had failures from modern day English specialist and motorsport suppliers even though thousands of others didn't. If it wasn't for back luck I'd have very little luck with cars I've owned. God job they're only really totally worthless lumps of metal (and lots of plastic now) and nothing really important in life. 😁

UPDATE:

So, we finally got the car back this morning. It went in over two weeks ago once we knew the hydraulic/ABS system had a fault. Garage contacted VW for the part only to be told that it is on back order with no idea when (or even if) it would be available.

Garage then started to make further enquiries and found a small company that said they could actually repair the "ABS pump module" (as I now know it is called) and actually managed to do it! So part was returned, refitted with no callout for a programmer to recode a new one. Entire job originally expected to be between £2 and £2.5 ended up being £980. Including all the original testing and determining the fault.

As far as I am concerned, that's a win. As someone said upthread, it's great to have a good local garage.