Brakes Smoking and Shuddering
 

Had the front discs on my 99 wagon changed by a dealership a month ago. Two weeks later, they started shuddering when braking. This got worse and worse until the car shook badly when braking from 30 mph. Took it back to dealership, they changed nearside brake disc which turned out to be faulty without question. Went for a play tonight (one week after the replacement disc was fitted) and when I parked up noticed the new brake disc was smoking thick blue smoke accompanied by a plastic-melting kind of smell. The brakes have also stared to shudder again, 200 miles after new disc being fitted. All four brakes seem to squeek and squeal when driving slowly i.e. below 15mph with the brakes off, which is really p me off.

Any comments? should I ask the dealer to replace the discs again and investigate the general squeeking noises? My car's done 60K with full main dealer service history. It's under warranty and I've had it for 10 months. the car's been great apart from this and a split hose, and the dealership staff are fantastic.

The brakes have never really been too clever. I'm wondering whether I should accept that maybe the brakes are crap on this model and upgrade the discs and pads or something. I'm not a heavy user of the brakes, after all, where the fun in that pedal? Is there something wrong with the braking system or is this standard my99 behavior?

would suggest you potentially have a seized (partially??) caliper or some other fault leading to issues with the brakes..............how hard do you drive and do you let the car/brakes cool before parking up??

alyn

where the fun in that pedal?...

Get yourself some big discs, then you'll see. Its my favourite!

Agree with both Alyn and Daz. If it's a Scoob dealer, this might be an opportunity to get a good deal on a set of Prodrive front stoppers - you want the big discs and calipers, not just the Prodrive disc upgrade. Oh, and you'll need 17in wheels.

Richard.

Well, I drive as fast as humanly possible out in the stix (conditions visibilty and taffic permitting obviously - not taking any silly risks) and like a pansy on the A roads. I always let my car warm up for about 3 miles and cool down for about 3 - 5 minutes having driven the last mile gently. I try not to use the handbrake i.e. park it in first gear when I know I've given the brakes a good battering as I've read that handbrake+hot discs = problems. To be honest, I only use the brakes as a last resort and never to the extent that they fade on me.

The brakes did squeak when rolling at low speeds when I first bought the car 10 months ago, but I didn't really pay it much attention, being too carried away with just loving the car to bits.

Is the Prodrive disc upgrade a bit pants then? I've always found black diamond X-drilled discs made a massive improvement over the OEM ones on my other cars (MKII GTi 8v, 200SX and 306GTi6). Wouldn't Prodrive discs give a similar improvement? Not sure funds will stretch to new callipers. hmmm...