I just had new front discs and pads fitted on my 2000 1.2 8V by a local garage. Now the braking is noticeably worse with much longer stopping distance. Is this to be expected and should it improve after breaking in the new discs and pads?
Also, they overfilled the brake fluid reservoir, is this a problem? Or maybe more likely, pushing the pistons back in to fit the new pads probably pushed the fluid level up?

Level up.. yes.. but OVERFILLED is bad.

The friction areas may need time to bed in fully.

Have you used identical brand and compound..?

Yes it will get better after a few brakes.Be carrefull till they do.
The fluid is high in the reservoir due to the pistons pushed back .

I will remove some from the reservoir. Is the main problem with overfilling excessive pressure when braking?
Not sure what brand was fitted before but now they should have used bosch components

varesecrazy said:

Level up.. yes.. but OVERFILLED is bad.

The friction areas may need time to bed in fully.

Have you used identical brand and compound..?

Click to expand...

PuntoEnthusiast said:

I will remove some from the reservoir. Is the main problem with overfilling excessive pressure when braking?
Not sure what brand was fitted before but now they should have used bosch components

Click to expand...

Hi,

Fluid -
your braking system is like 2 x syringes with a tube joining them.

fluid flows from reservoir - filling wheel cylinders.. when new pads are fitted, pistons are wound back, pushing fluid back to the reservoir.

there should be NO EXCESS fluid..
(unless the fluid has been topped-up at some point).. :chin:
it SHOULD be a "sealed system"

I've seen some advice saying you should NOT squeeze fluid back into the reservoir.. just Bleed off pressurised fluid at each caliper as you return pistons. ( so you eliminate risk of backflushing debris into ABS unit,etc)

THEN restore reservoir level with NEW fluid

Stopping -

your new discs and pads will currently just be making contact on high spots..

it will take a little use to get FULL CONTACT area.
just remember to use little and often initially.. to avoid hot spots.

Charlie

In less than ~100 KM braking should be normal, if not, go back, something is VERY wrong.

Never had an issue when fitting new pads and the brakes been worse....

Take it back
Could be the brakes have been got air in them causing poor application effort....


Ziggy

Had a sudden thought.... i hope to god then cleaned the protective oil off the discs when the fitted em....that wont disappear as the pads will already be ****ed....

Ziggy

Ziggy122 said:

Had a sudden thought.... i hope to god then cleaned the protective oil off the discs when the fitted em....that wont disappear as the pads will already be ****ed....

Ziggy

Click to expand...

Is there any way to check this?

It will dissapear, don't worry.
There would be no braking at all at first with this film on, but after a while it'll burn off....

If the discs are coated with a film of oil to stop them corroding before being fitted then that oil should defiantly be cleaned off prior to use.
Some discs are painted to stop corrosion, the paint coating doesn't have to be cleaned off prior to use.

jackwhoo said:

If the discs are coated with a film of oil to stop them corroding before being fitted then that oil should defiantly be cleaned off prior to use.
Some discs are painted to stop corrosion, the paint coating doesn't have to be cleaned off prior to use.

Click to expand...

I'm sure we all agree it SHOULD be removed.. but there is no guarantee..

( remembering the Panda owner who experienced a terrible ride quality..:chin:

only to discover the new tyres had pressures @ 180% of recommended..!!)

varesecrazy said:

I'm sure we all agree it SHOULD be removed.. but there is no guarantee..

( remembering the Panda owner who experienced a terrible ride quality..:chin:

only to discover the new tyres had pressures @ 180% of recommended..!!)

Click to expand...

Braking seems to be getting better. I wonder if they bled the brakes though. The only way to be sure it is done properly seems to be by doing it yourself.. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter, they would have failed it for the mot. And of course they charged list prices for the pads and discs...

They take a while to bed in. Just as a comparison, my 94 Land Rover got new brakes a few months back (including calipers), they were so bad the pads fell through the calipers (a known LR issue) and burnt the surface off one side in about 60 miles. With new brakes, it actually felt very little different to when it had only old, broken and worn out brakes, they would squeak horribly when cold etc until i got about 50 miles on them, they suddenly "switched on", have never squeaked since and just got better and better over another 50 miles.

If the garage did a particularly bad job though, they might not have cleared the protection oil off them or not lubed up the caliper sliders.