Brakes or lack off

[Andyrg]

Hi Guys.

Had a bloody Frighting experience tonight i had to do a emergancy stop then after the brake pedal wen tto the floor and wounld stop the car very well. Just wondered if any one else has had this or could help me out, the car was served just a week ago and every thing was reported that the breaks were great

[chrisvrscrx]

I've never heard it happening about a passat. It sounds like you have a leak in the system, when the pedal goes straight to the floor its because all the pressure is lost. When the car went in for a service did they do a brake fluid change? If they have left a bleed nipple lose, this could explain the sudden pressure drop. It happened to my mate who had an Alfa. If you go and turn the engine on and punp your brakes and see if there is any fluid on the floor, bear in mind you might not see any leaks because of the engine under tray if there coming from the brake lines. Good luck.

[ini]

Could be master cylinder seal.

It is recommended to bleed the brakes with a pressure type system, rather than pumping the pedal, as this can damage the seals on the master cylinder.

It could even be a very old flexible hose ballooning.

[Andyrg]

Thanks for the replays guys.


They did the fluid and i aksed how they did it they replyed we use a Pressure system as it takes about 20 minutes to do the full job that way. All the brake nippes are closed i took each wheel off!!

I wonder if i over heated them, Ive come from a 2004 Subaru Impreza with 6 pot calipers on, i did norice that they will also fir the passat ;-)

[chrisvrscrx]

You would have to be hard braking alot to get them to overheat, mine over heated once on my fabia vrs an they went crap but the pedal never went all the way down to the floor. I would take it back to the garage and get them to check.

[stevegrass777]

Are you shore this is not just ABS kicking in if the roads are greasy the tyre's have very little grip and ABS takes the peddle from you.

[Andyrg]

Are you shore this is not just ABS kicking in if the roads are greasy the tyre's have very little grip and ABS takes the peddle from you.

I defo know that this isnt the reason.

Just a update for thoses who replyed, the rear discs look very very worn and the garage did advice on a change in the next 1000 miles, looking at the front discs both are Bright Blue, this fade happened again yesterday, heavy breaking on the motor way then the breaks didnt work well at all for around 20 minutes. Ordered my self some new Discs and Pads and will replace them tonight, will see how i get on

[amfindo]

Blu discs? u drivin that motor hard mate! expect brake fade! i just bought the V6 syncro on a 99 plate, low mile, full VSH, all looks good. Then after 20 minutes of playtime i too find myself havin to jump on the brakes like a madman just to slow it down a little! pedal didnt go all the way down though, just faded. V dissapointing volkswagon. 1.8 3 series bmw have larger brakes on the front than i do.

[Eshrules]

just to add to this briefly....

a recent trip to chesterfield (80 mile round trip, via woodhead pass), on the way back i experienced a fair bit of brake fade (115 gt tdi) although, that was after travelling downhill for around 20 miles and slowing the car to approx 40 mph most of the way, so when it came to an emergency stop, things got a little hairy....

aside from that though, i've never once had my brake pedal travel all the way to the floor, id suggest if this is a common occurrence and your discs/pads are fine, there is definitely something more serious going on underneath.

[stevegrass777]

If the back brakes aren't up to much then this will overheat the front discs.
Also seized load sensing valve can give reduced performance and if you have had very very hot brakes some new brake fluid wouldn't go a miss.
Some garage's just put the cheapest disc's and pad's on they can find.
Have every wheel off and if it needs disc's and pad's all round then get some good one's on this should sort it...