Technical Brakes sluggish and sound raw, only if going forwards?

[HLA91]

Hi all

I have been having some problems on my punto active, the brakes have been sounding raw for a couple of weeks and braking has been quite poor taking a good bit of effort to "bite" and leading to a couple of hairy roundabouts where my nose is sticking out a bit more than usual.

I got my brother in law to pick up some pads for me when he went to pick up some oil for his bike and today my father in law and I set about replacing my brakes. Only to find that the pads are fine only a few mm off them.

He jumped in the car drove forwards and braked and agreed that its sounding rough and not quite as good braking as he would have liked, he backed it up to test them again but when he braked after reversing they worked fine, but forwards they are rough and poor. Any ideas what could be causing this?

Also when searching the forum for "brakes" keyword I came across this post >here< and my brake pedal does the same it depresses when I apply the handbrake, could the 2 be connected?

Many thanks

HLA91

 

[benny279]

I had this problem once, so straight to the point I noticed you said your pads were very low in that case I would be checking if both front discs are okay no groves or unleveled also check the diameter of the discs to make sure they are roadworthy still. If discs are okay then replace the pads and bleed the brakes, always start from the rear like start from O/S rear then O/S front then N/S rear then N/S front.

Make sure you keep an eye on the fluid level don't let it get empty or you will have to start again! Just keep topping it up when it gets low, also be careful of the bleed nipples on a MK2 if they've never been replaced they could easily shear off when opening.

I followed all that when I had the problem and it solved it and my brakes today are still as good

Hope that helps...

EDIT: Also check behind the discs for the rusty plate make sure it's not touching the discs, this can cause a scratching noise if they are touching pull them back gently.

 

[HLA91]

Sorry I miss worded my original post, the pads are fine only a few mm is gone from them compared to the new ones I picked up. But you think bleeding might solve it?

 

[benny279]

Yeah give it a try it helped me when I had this problem, so yeah report back when you've done it

 

[HLA91]

OK, why the difference between braking going backwards and forwards though that's got me puzzled?

 

[mattjohndavies]

To expand on my problem -

When I originally posted, brake performance was great, it was just the pedal depressed when I pulled the handbrake on.

Now though, brake performance is way down, the pedal feels spongy and rougher than usual.

My pads (new about a month ago) and discs are fine.

I need to bleed the brakes which should solve at least the sponginess. However my rear brakes only just passed the MOT last week (54% the limit is 50%) and it did and still does feel like these are applying first. I'm stripping them down at some point over the next few days so will see what the issue/s are (probably worn shoes maybe drum

Matt

 

[fingers99]

I suspect the issue is with the rear brakes, not the front.

 

[mattjohndavies]

Benny - Should the brakes not be bled diagonally as the brakes are set up in diagonally opposite pairs? I.e. O/S rear, N/S front, N/S rear, O/S front?

Matt

 

[Ziggy122]

You bleed first from furthest away from master cylinder to the closest

So iirc its
N/s/r
O/s/r
N/s/f
O/s/f

Ill check on haynes later

Ziggy

 

[benny279]

Yes sorry.

 

[s and b]

To put this in context
The brakes wont need bleeding unless there is an issue
Ones already been raised on the mot
I would go with fingers but further and suggest car not used until rear drums removed and looking for worn shoes stuck cables and of course consequential leaking brake cylinders

Of interest to some its being discussed at european level that your local mot station is to be issued with the powers in the future with the equivalent of a gv9 for cars at their discretion
I find this only a good thing

Gv9= vehicle not allowed to be moved until appropiate repairs carried out