Rear brake pads
 

What sort of degradation would you expect in 6 months use , its a xsara vts not a Scooby if this makes difference

They were supposed to be new , with discs in March

Now 5 mm one side ,no obvious degradation to disc


Other side down to metal , I think/hope the disc can be saved - handbrake doesn't seem to be binding much if at all

Last time I did the pads on one of them (106GTi) the caliper was so full of rusty crud that I had to chisel out the wedge that holds the pads in.

Crap design, prone to pad sticking. If they weren't cleaned out and free'd up when the pads were replaced they'd get stuck again and will wear very very fast.

If the car is parked near the coast or over grass it won't help, nor if its been stood for a period of weeks with little use. If the discs are rusty (especially on the inner surface), this will be a clue - rusty discs will act like sandpaper and just rub the pads down to nothing very quickly.

Damn it , I had exactly Same on mondeo , except that was handbrake not letting go .

I live 100 yards from sea but use it everyday .

I don't see anybody else having similar problems though .

Imside both discs seem shiny bright



I'm pretty embarrassed cos now I think about it iv felt air in the pedal at tīmes

Could it mean having to renew all brake pipes due to rust inside :wonder:

Thanks Ali

Pipes is a entirely separate issue. They go rusty, they fail MOT (or burst), then need replacing. Up to the point they fail and leak, they have no affect on brake performance or pad wear.

Basically, how many miles have you done in 6months? If its more than 10K; Fair game wear and tear.

If its less than 5K, there's an issue with pads/calipers sticking which needs to be fixed before new pads are fitted.

If its somewhere in-between 5K and 10K, its a grey area where the caliper/pads may have stuck, but aren't stuck now. What can happen is piston or pads can stick in one position but not in another so it may wear or bind when pads are new, but stop binding when they are worn. This is normally due to corrosion and crud; new pads may bind intermittently as the caliper piston and pads are in a position where they can't move freely from the corrosion and crud where old/worn pad may not. Of course, there is the remote possibility the wrong pads are fitted and simply don't fit properly, doubtful, but I've had it happen (for example a BMW Mini with outer pads mixed up with inner pads).

In short; the whole lot needs to be stripped, cleaned with wire brush and scraper ensuring pads can move freely in their guides and caliper pistons inspected for corrosion along with the dust seals for tears that can allow moisture ingress.

Iv just checked , its done 3304

The rear left hand disc looks pretty much shiny new out and inside , the other has lightish grooving I guess

I do wonder if they did actually change the pads with the discs , they did bill me for both.

And that I haven't noticed , brake dust

This was all the same time as swapping out the axle hubs and all ,

And trying to get it through emissions on MOT

Is it true emissions will be even tighter next year ?

He's adamant it wont go through again

Not that I've heard of; MOT emissions can't be made tighter on old cars; They were made to comply with emission limits set at the time of manufacture, they can't be applied retrospectively (but the limits they were made to can be more strictly enforced)

What's probably happening is your car is failing the BETS test (Basic Emissions Test) where there is strict limit (0.2% CO, 200ppm HC), so instead it has to go through the much longer extended test with the limits set at what is applicable to the make/model/engine variant of your car.....

....Those limits for your specific car will be as listed on page 46 of here: https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...k-complete.pdf

In your case, its slightly relaxed 0.3%CO fast idle, 0.5%CO idle; It doesn't seem that much but the latter helps a fair bit

So it could be the garage is doing you favours by doing a Italian tune up before testing or turning a blind eye and you'll need to get it sorted properly next time (plugs, leads, o2 sensor, cat, engine etc.), or they are pulling your leg.

Very kind you Ali , ill digest that and see what can be done :thumb:


He actually told me , they kind of put another car through at same time........
Cos it still wasn't doing it after several attempts .

They changed one lambda and three months later or less the anti pollutant light came on - you wouldn't know from driving it much was wrong though

I don't know why he's telling me its worse this time round at that rate :Suspiciou

Anti-pollution/de-pollution. French for "fault code stored". What that code is will give an idea of what needs looking at.

Ah right , I kind of assumed it would be other lambda

Or incorrect lambda he put in .

I do get the feeling he doesn't like working on the car :lol1: :(

Maybe, maybe not. If it has two sensors, it can be the other. Or the cat. The rear sensor can't check if the cat is working properly without the first one, and vice-versa. It all depends on the codes stored

That said, non-branded sensors have given me headaches. Too much unreliable crap out there these days, so I only insist genuine or branded (Bosch/NTK)