To be fair the factory pads are not half bad.

Pagid Black IIRC.

We've a serious number of Octavias in the fleet at work, and there's not often complaints about brakes. It's usually the Vectras that end up stuck in the back of something because the brakes crapped out.

yea most of the Octy's that I've driven don't suffer with this problem so hence why I think it is fixable

Interesting to hear of someone else with the same issue. What year is your car. I have mainly found no feel when braking in addition to the lack of initial bite. There was definitely a big improvement after fluid change and pad sanding but it has got worse again.

If you do go can you please keep me updated on whats found

So, just heard back from the dealer and they can't find anything wrong. They checked the brakes, compared to another car and went to MOT station to check on their brake testing machine - all came back OK.

TBH I'm still not 100% convinced but service is due in November so will get the brake fluid changed then. While if you give it a hard press the car definitley slows down v quickly, it's still that instant retardation on the first bit of pressing the pedal that seems to be missing. Maybe it's just me?!

Cheers,

Balham

So, just heard back from the dealer and they can't find anything wrong. They checked the brakes, compared to another car and went to MOT station to check on their brake testing machine - all came back OK.

TBH I'm still not 100% convinced but service is due in November so will get the brake fluid changed then. While if you give it a hard press the car definitley slows down v quickly, it's still that instant retardation on the first bit of pressing the pedal that seems to be missing. Maybe it's just me?!

Cheers,

Balham

Sounds exactly the way mine are. Have you driven other cars? You said they checked other cars, did you drive the one they used?

i have no problems with the pads, its the fluid that goes spongy and then another day it can be rock hard. probably get the fluid done on the next service no matter what.

Any news on this one? I have a similar issue with my brakes (recent post) which I think maybe down to uneven pad wear (originally thought to be fluid issues). Not much of the pad is actually next to the disk, a large portion appear to taper away from it. The following link describes pedal feel similar to mine. which maybe what your getting?

Brake Pad Wear (see the "What happens when they do" section).

Correction: Had the wheel off tonight, the top edge of the pad has tapered away but the rest appears ok. However, the brakes are still weak with too much pedal travel. :(

Edited 26 August, 200817 yr by kprida77

No, I haven't had a chance to bring car in for pad change yet. I did put a picture up here before showing mine tapering aswell (IIRC the guys on here said that was normal).

see here http://briskoda.net/ask-tech/brake-pads-normal/78869/

Ta. Was hoping to get my calipers off this weekend to see whats going on but rain stopped play. You can see some movement in the caliper when applying the brakes, but only in the "no pedel feel" bit. Feeling the caliper as the pedal is applied, nearest the hub, no discernable movement. Nearest disk edge, movement. Also running my finger up the disk the inner feels more worn than the outer like wear has not been even. If I find out anything useful about this annoying "feature" I'll let you know.

If I find out anything useful about this annoying "feature" I'll let you know.

mine were fine up to when i topped them up with VAG brake fluid (after they had reached the minimuim mark on the reservoir, topped it up to maximuim and they havent felt sharp since, but should hopefully be sorted out this coming weekend when its in for a service. Otherwise the brakes were the best ive ever had on a car including some uprated pads etc.

GAFF, FWIW My pads were not tapered like that when I took them off.

I had a look tonight, I didn't manage to get the calipers off (no trolley jack to hand and it nearly fell off the boot jack!) but I did have a good look at the nearside. The inner pad looks like it has worn slightly tapered (only a mil or so). I assume this is causing the visible caliper movement and pedal feel as the gap is taken up. One for the dealer me thinks, unless its supposed to be like that?!

Said I'd report back anything, so here it goes...

Having pulled pads out and found they were ok (all bar a rust band on one disk). I returned to the possibility that air could be in the system.

Having had my brake fluid changed by one dealer and beld three times (and being told there was nothing wrong with it ). I went to another dealer today. They spent an hour and half bleeding the abs unit via diagnostics and jacking the car up to ensure any air was out. Still got a little bit of travel where the pedal is a bit soft feeling, but its defo a load better than was. Now if you push a bit harder on the pedal it doesnt drop below the accelerator all spongy feeling. Looks like I can go back to practising heel toe again. Best of all it only cost me 60 quid as that was what they quoted.

Now to sort out those uprated pads and discs...

How about using the brakes from a RS4

Bah. All was ok. Now back to how it was, posted in another thread as slighty diff question now. Considering the Awesome GTI discounts on tarox pads and discs as a possible way forward to try and get to the bottom of why the travel/feel.

Not a good day, popped out to the car and now the exhaust gas light has lit up :(

I know this is dragging this one up from the past but I came across this article which sounded remarkable like the issue in this thread (and what i seem to be getting). 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI: Pedal to the Metal? Pretty Much | Long-Term Road Tests Blog on Edmunds' Inside Line

The comments point to it being a MkV platform "feature".

Various things have been replaced to date, Pads & Fluid.

I have found that the issue seems to be with the rears, using the handbrake which car in motion provides a much better bite when the brakes are applied. During routine parking/stopping I wouldn't have pulled the handbrake too much. So for the last few days I have started applying more pressure to it when stopped. There's a definite improvement in the bite when using the pedal.

Any ideas why this is, is it to do with Rear pads getting less pressure on discs compared to fronts and taking longer to bed in?

R32 brakes woud sort you out,

I wander who has a set of them for sale:O

Various things have been replaced to date, Pads & Fluid.

I have found that the issue seems to be with the rears, using the handbrake which car in motion provides a much better bite when the brakes are applied. During routine parking/stopping I wouldn't have pulled the handbrake too much. So for the last few days I have started applying more pressure to it when stopped. There's a definite improvement in the bite when using the pedal.

Any ideas why this is, is it to do with Rear pads getting less pressure on discs compared to fronts and taking longer to bed in?

Interesting comments as I had similar experiences on Fabia Is; but these have drum brakes at the rear.

If braking response was poor an adjustment to the rear drums/handbrake, or perhaps replacement of the rear brake shoes, would bring pedal response back to best.

Seems strange though that this might occur on an Octy II with rear discs, but perhaps it is related to handbrake adjustment.

Various things have been replaced to date, Pads & Fluid.

I have found that the issue seems to be with the rears, using the handbrake which car in motion provides a much better bite when the brakes are applied. During routine parking/stopping I wouldn't have pulled the handbrake too much. So for the last few days I have started applying more pressure to it when stopped. There's a definite improvement in the bite when using the pedal.

Any ideas why this is, is it to do with Rear pads getting less pressure on discs compared to fronts and taking longer to bed in?

This definitely doesn't sound right. A couple of things spring to mind - it the handbrake correctly adjusted up? The rear brakes are self-adjusting and if the clearance between the handbrake levers and the stops is incorrect then there could be excessive travel of the rear caliper pistons. You only want about 0.5-1.0mm gap between the levers and the stops.

Secondly, the rear brake pressure is proportioned via the ABS/ESP hydraulic unit - its possible that there is a fault with that and the rear brakes are receiving incorrect (too low) hydraulic pressure.

I have had this in my Bora too - It is the rears not self adjusting enough off the handbrake. What I tend to do when sitting at lights etc is put as much force as you can on the brake peddle then pull the handbrake up as far as you can....this seems to adjust it up and makes it bite a whole world better. I do it a few times a week now to keep them sharp.