Hi,

Is it just me or do you think the Panda's brakes are poor?

- I know that the brake master cylinder is on the left handside and the brake bar might have some play in it which in turn increases pedal effort.

- I did press the brake pedal with my left foot just to see if they were effective and the car came to a sudden halt.

But I find for everyday driving, I'll press my foot down on the brake to a level I think is appropriate to find that nothing has changed, so I increase my foot travel further and it'll start slowing down but my foot needs to be virtually on the floor to get good brakes.

I had the brake fluid replaced back in August 2016 (brake fluid is on max)

Any help is appreciated,

Matt.

When was the brakes last serviced (not the fluids, you already srote that)?

But to answer if other people find them poor, I added a climbing 4x4 panda to the driveway to get bigger discs in front and discs in the back..

Matthew Kirk said:

Is it just me or do you think the Panda's brakes are poor?

Click to expand...

They're absolutely fine if kept in good condition.

Have a read of this thread.

I think it's brake pedal excess travel your worried about
When stationary put hand brake on then press the brake pedal down a few times (engine running )do you find the pedal then does not go down so far before it gets hard

Brakes on the Panda are more than adequate.


Pressing slightly harder than normal should be enough to make the ABS kick in or wheels lock up if you haven't got ABS.


You need to address this ASAP. Most local garage should be able to test the brakes on their rollers for a small fee.


Not quite sure if you are trying to describe a spongy pedal ??? Or too much travel ??? Or have to press the pedal too hard.

notsmartcars said:

I think it's brake pedal excess travel your worried about
When stationary put hand brake on then press the brake pedal down a few times (engine running )do you find the pedal then does not go down so far before it gets hard

Click to expand...

If the problem is excessive pedal travel and hydraulics have been ruled out, the most likely culprit is a seized rear brake self adjuster. Probably just a question of dismantling, cleaning and lubricating.

Note that the handbrake cable must be adjusted properly if the self adjusters are to work correctly. Some garages have been known to leave them excessively tight.

if the OP told us what version of panda they were worrying about.. we'd be better able to offer advice.

as others have said - there could well be basic service items that would improve perceived performance.

as I drive a variety of FIAT cars from 1987 to 2013.. I have to make some "adaptations" to braking pressure / stopping distance.

biggest thing for me is keeping the rear shoes in adjustment..
not something 100HP owners need to worry about..

I've found over the years of Panda ownership that pad wear can cause a bit of extra pedal travel.

I noticed the Mrs Lounges pedal had a bit of extra travel last month.
It'd not long been for a service, but she didn't receive the usual check list with pad and tyre wear printed out.
When I checked them they were on their arse!
(along with two tyres with chunks missing out of the side walls that didn't get picked up)

Fitted new ones and they were right again.

Not sure why this happens, perhaps a bit of pad knock or disc run out pushes the pistons back a bit.

I also started to notice the servo wasn't as strong on the Lounge as it was on the Pop or 4x4, but couldn't find a leak anywhere.

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies.

I have a 2009 Panda 1.2 Eleganza. I adjusted the rear brake shoes myself on the drums and they have a nice grab to them when rotating the drum. The front brake pads and discs were replaced by myself back in 2015 along with the brake fluid change.

Non of the seals are leaking as I have checked and the fluid in the master cylinder hasn't dropped.

Matt

Matthew Kirk said:

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies.

I have a 2009 Panda 1.2 Eleganza. I adjusted the rear brake shoes myself on the drums and they have a nice grab to them when rotating the drum. The front brake pads and discs were replaced by myself back in 2015 along with the brake fluid change.

Non of the seals are leaking as I have checked and the fluid in the master cylinder hasn't dropped.

Matt

Click to expand...

How exactly did you adjust the rear brakes. They have a self-adjusting mechanism. If you have just adjusted the handbrake cables tighter, you will cause the problem you are experiencing. If the handbrake is too tight, the slef-adjusters will not operate as they need some travel to work. You may have held the shoes away from the cylinders, so the pedal has to travel a long way to take up the play.

portland_bill said:

How exactly did you adjust the rear brakes. They have a self-adjusting mechanism. If you have just adjusted the handbrake cables tighter, you will cause the problem you are experiencing. If the handbrake is too tight, the slef-adjusters will not operate as they need some travel to work. You may have held the shoes away from the cylinders, so the pedal has to travel a long way to take up the play.

Click to expand...

its quite easy to self adjust the rear shoes up on the panda then go on to adjust the handbrake cable
on the wifes panda i often find the brakes poor and this is because she is a gentle user of them so they tend to glaze
i always clean this off with a bit of left foot braking or a longer brake up to a junction,she gets the car back and says its no different but it is
of course a seized caliper pin would cause exactly the same problem so once a year a clean and inspection never goes amiss because with the new mot standards being no higher than useless a stuck pin will not cause an mot failure if overall the front effort meets the criteria for a pass
hth

Hi,

This all started in august 2016 when I had my MOT. The handbrake worked fine upon arrival but I had it serviced prior to the MOT at the garage and they tightened up the handbrake at the handbrake and not the individual rear wheels.

This meant the handbrake had one click of travel, which was even marked down on the MOT certificate as limited travel.

I decided to sort it out myself - I slacked off the nut by the handbrake as it was far too tight, the handbrake only pulled up one click and the rear wheels were virtually seized! Once the handbrake nut was slacked off, I took the rear drums off each rear wheel and adjusted them correctly ensuring the shoes rubbed against the drum with minimal friction. Once the drums were back on, the handbrake had 5 clicks.

Matt

Hi guys,

I had another look at the handbrake the other day and spend more time adjusting the rear brakes so that they work more effectively.

Upon rotating the drums with the rear wheels removed I found them to be rather loose with no drag at all. This I assume is the main reason as to why the brakes are shockingly poor.

I tightened up the drums with a nice drag on them. However, this tightening took the slack on the handbrake leading it to the lovely ''one click'' occurring again. So I slacked the handbrake cable a bit further, and the wheels still had a nice drag - I checked before refitting.

To sum up - the handbrake has a nice 4 clicks and holds the car on any incline perfectly. The brakes are the biggest surprise. The car no longer nose dips when braking and the pedal is much more effective. Safety wise - I have four working brakes rather than just the front.

Matt.

A JR said the back brakes are self adjusting. Pulling the handbrake cables too tight stops the brakes adjusting. Make sure the rear cylinders are good and adjusters are free to move (replace if necessary) and adjust the hand brake to four clicks.

That's all there is to do.

As above.

I get total confused with the adjusting the rear brakes.

Just done two recently. All I do is clean the adjuster in solvent with a toothbrush. Wind it full in. Put the drums back on and keep pressing the peddle and lifting the handbrake until they stop clicking and readjust the handbrake.


Here is a YouTube video were he keeps fitting the drums until there is some drag. Why would you install your brake binding ???

With the old Mini brakes we used to wind back the adjusters fit the new shoes then fit the drums. Next move was pump the pedal a few times to settle the shoes. Finally tighten the adjusters.

I used to then pull on the hand brake and reverse the car. The wheel which turned needed a bit more adjustment.

With auto adjusters, wind them back as discussed and probably slacken the hand brake cables as well. Fit the new shoes and drums then press the brake pedal to centralise the shoes. The auto adjusters should do the rest. Finally adjust the handbrake to four clicks.