Octavia Disc wear problems

[springlea]

I've just had a 40k service on my Octavia SLXi TD 110 which I have owned from new (October '99). Previously I have had warranty claims on the front discs and have had them replaced at 18k when I complained about juddering whilst braking at low speeds, at 24k they were replaced for the same juddering problem. The car is now out of warranty by 2 years and at 38k when the car was mot'd the dealer informed me the discs were at fault again as the juddering had returned and consequently failed the car.

Has anyone else had similar problems with discs on the Octavia such as this, Skoda UK has put the problem down to hard braking when the discs are overheated (I find this almost amusing as I am now 67 years of age and rarely brake hard anyway! [in my day we were taught to use the gearbox to slow down])

Cheers,

Springlea

[stopan1j]

Not experienced the problem myself but a 70 year old friend had the problem on his Octavia 2000 disks were changed under warranty, like you he said he always uses the gear rather than brakes.

Just a thought do you hold the foot brake on at traffic lights after slowing and stopping? holding the brake on after braking and held can cause teh pad contact area to be colder than the rest of the disk causing distortion - I doubt its your problem but just a thought

john

[Mavrik]

have you tried leathering the car and then slamming the brakes on HARD a few times see if it clears it ???

just a thought, but no one else seems to have this problem, and one thing you can gaurentee on here is the majority do not drive slowly its all or nothing, consequently the brakes get a fair bit more use than yours

[springlea]

Not experienced the problem myself but a 70 year old friend had the problem on his Octavia 2000 disks were changed under warranty' date=' like you he said he always uses the gear rather than brakes.

Just a thought do you hold the foot brake on at traffic lights after slowing and stopping? holding the brake on after braking and held can cause teh pad contact area to be colder than the rest of the disk causing distortion - I doubt its your problem but just a thought

john[/quote'] Hi John Thanks for your reply Since posting the letter The Main dealer i purched the car from phoned and i have got to take it in on Monday. will keep you informed.

springlea.

[springlea]

have you tried leathering the car and then slamming the brakes on HARD a few times see if it clears it ???

just a thought' date=' but no one else seems to have this problem, and one thing you can gaurentee on here is the majority do not drive slowly its all or nothing, consequently the brakes get a fair bit more use than yours[/quote']

Hi Marvik.

Thanks for your reply, Main dealer has phoned since my letter have got to take the car in on Monday They want to check it over again will let you know.

springlea.

[Gwilo]

I have this problem as well. The first set where changed in order for me to buy the car, as at 14K mileage, the judder was clear. Front discs warped. I had to take it back for the same thing just about a year later, and the dealer said it was down to a bad batch of discs they'd been given.

The last set to go was rear, just over a year ago now, but the front's are starting to exhibit the judder again coming down from high-speeds.

I'll try and clear it using that tip though.......

Sooo.........

If we have any law enforcement representatives on the forum, I'll be the dark blue skoda ripping past the Trafford Centre at hlaf six next sunday morning......catch me if you can......but I might brake suddenly for no apparent reason.....

[Dr Zoidberg]

I had a similar thing on a Citroen AX where the disks were changed under warranty because of vibration under braking.

That didn't cure it , and after a couple of unsuccessful trips back to the dealers , I had pretty much given up on it when just on the offchance I had the wheels balanced and that cured it completely.

[springlea]

Thanks for all your replys the main dealer had the car for 2 days stipped down to the hubs and checked every thing and found nothing wrong.fitted the 4th set of new discs and pads all free of charge. SKODA UK. did not want to know and sent me an insulting letter.

Springlea

[spangelaregreat]

I had the same problem with my 2.0 Octavia at 36000 miles and it failed the MOT.

I now have a 110 TDi and so far at 16000 the discs are still fine.

Regards

[logiclee]

Just had a new set of front brake discs and pads at 13000miles.

If they go out of warranty I'll be looking at replacing them with a decent aftermarket brand.

Looks like there are a few problems with the VAG setup.

Cheers

Lee

[Fabpreza]

I had new front discs (under warranty) on my Octavia at 34,000m due to warping.

I've never been a hard braker or had discs replaced for warping and I've owned a fairly large number of cars.

I put my situation down to a lot of rock salt and dirt being on the road during a drive during the worst bit of the winter snow. The car then stood for 3 days and a couple of weeks later I noticed it. Could also be related to the ESP being on for part of the time (lots of frantic wheel braking).

That aside, I think that the Octavia is definitely not under-braked

[Richard Beston]

My TDI 110 needed new discs and pads at 35000 miles and the dealer said it was normal wear and tear so would not do it under warranty, I have never had a car or bike that needed a new set of discs before the first pads were not even half worn !.I have currently taken this up with Skoda and it has put me off buying another especially since I reported the problem when the car went in for an end of warranty check and the dealer said the brakes were fine and then when I took it back 3 days after the warranty had expired stating to the dealer that the problem remained. they and Skoda did not want to know. This surprised me as I thought Skoda was loyal to its customers so I will see what Skoda customer services have to say. but as it stands I will never recommend Skoda to anyone ( which I have done to many in the past).

[Pythix]

Fronts discs changed just before 40k and then at 50k, the first set due to wear and the second set due to juddering under braking.....all out of my own pocket!!! I think there may have been a bad batch, but of cause can't prove it for a fact. I sourced my own discs at the 50k change and everything has been fine with the brakes. Dare I say it, being one of those that heartly endorsed Skodas, but I'm loosing my faith in Skoda....I don't particularly like the replacement RS, so will have to look elsewhere I feel.

[SkodiRS]

For anyone out of warranty surely it would be better to go the uprated disc/pads route?

Not sure how much standard discs are though, so I can understand if costs are prohibitive though.

[Stuart_J]

We had a set under warranty on our Octy 110, They started to go again about a year later & we resorted to the several very hard brakings from high speed in quick succesion & I mean really hard so that the ABS works overtime. Problem cured

I will try & post the link later but basically its pad deposit on the disc

[Stuart_J]

Have a read of this

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml#

[SkodiRS]

We had a set under warranty on our Octy 110' date=' They started to go again about a year later & we resorted to the several very hard brakings from high speed in quick succesion & I mean really hard so that the ABS works overtime. Problem cured

I will try & post the link later but basically its pad deposit on the disc[/quote']

When Stuart posted this up originally I was having some vibrations with my uprated discs/pads...tried it out and it works.

Had a couple more incidence of vibration...did the hard braking and all sorted again.

Good tip/suggestion Stu.

Now can you cure the squeeling when braking lightly?