Brake Shudder - Car Not Used In 6 Months

[Apw_debug]

Hi,

Unfortunately father in law has had to surrender his license at 88.

It’s taken some acceptance but today he agreed to give the car to my daughter for her 18th.

Car - 2012 Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo

Been sat on drive for 6 months.

Some judder under breaking. I have corrected the tyre pressures; next port of call will be wheel balancing, but I wonder what other obvious checks I should do?

It will be due a service, so I will get it checked properly at that point.

All clues/advice gratefully received.

Thanks
Andy

[ARHarh]

Have a look through the wheels and check the disks aren't pitted or rusty. May take a few miles to settle down and remove the rust from the disks if its been left that long. Check tyres as well as they may have flat spotted if left flat for any length of time. Most likely just contamination that will clear with use though. If it continues get it checked out as brakes are quite useful at times

[Apw_debug]

Thanks. Will do that as soon as it stops lashing down…

[liner33]

Once the roads are dry , try some heavy braking , suspect rust build up on discs

[pingu393]

I tried some Itallian tune-up and braking techniques, but I had to take the discs off anf clean them by hand.

There was actually material bonded to the disc. The pads were a bit glazed. but they cleaned up ok.

[Apw_debug]

Once again thanks. There are a few quiet country roads where I can apply the anchors heavily without causing anyone any grief.

The judder aside, I am quite impressed with drive etc. I am used to a large car/suv…I sort of forgot what a small car feels like.

[Bobupndown]

I'd be inclined to take the pads out and make sure the pistons in the calipers aren't seized, also the slide pins. While you're at it, assuming rear drum brakes, check the condition of the wheel cylinders.

[Scrump]

Unlikely to be wheel balance if it only occurs under braking.
Corrosion on the discs would be my guess.

[LunarOne]

I put new front rotors and pads on my Boxster in September last year and then in October put it to bed for the winter. This year I got the car out in April and there was quite a bit of brake shudder that repeated heavy braking did nothing to improve. This summer I took the car on a long road trip and it took driving from Windsor to southern Portugal before the shudder was completely eliminated. Moral of the story is that you might need much more heavy brake action than you think to clean up your rotors and pads!

[sunbeam alpine]

Bobupndown said:

I'd be inclined to take the pads out and make sure the pistons in the calipers aren't seized, also the slide pins. While you're at it, assuming rear drum brakes, check the condition of the wheel cylinders.

This sounds most likely. One simple test is to drive the car for 10 minutes or so, then get out and feel the wheels. If one (or more) feels hotter than the others, the caliper is sticking.

[E-bmw]

TBH for the price of them I would just change discs/pads/fluid then you know they are all good & will serve your Daughter well.

[aterribleusername]

My 2013 Fabia had the same issue after being laid up for a month while waiting to be repaired after an accident back in March. It was the discs having rusted but not where the pads had covered them up. They got better with use but never completely judder-free so I just put some new discs and pads on.

As it's for your daughter I'd just replace them and do a fluid change, they cost bugger all and it's one less thing to worry about.

[MustangGT]

sunbeam alpine said:

Bobupndown said:

I'd be inclined to take the pads out and make sure the pistons in the calipers aren't seized, also the slide pins. While you're at it, assuming rear drum brakes, check the condition of the wheel cylinders.

This sounds most likely. One simple test is to drive the car for 10 minutes or so, then get out and feel the wheels. If one (or more) feels hotter than the others, the caliper is sticking.

That is more likely to cause brake failure, rather than brake judder. The seized piston will either be 'on' or 'off'.

[Pica-Pica]

liner33 said:

Once the roads are dry , try some heavy braking , suspect rust build up on discs

This happened to me (F30 335d), after a period of non-use and a gritter passing by, my roadside discs were heavily corroded. I tried the heavy braking, but that did not resolve the issue. I replaced the front discs and pads, as they would be due that in a year or so. Judder still there, but reduced, so I changed the rears. Resolved the problem completely.

[PositronicRay]

Pica-Pica said:

liner33 said:

Once the roads are dry , try some heavy braking , suspect rust build up on discs

This happened to me (F30 335d), after a period of non-use and a gritter passing by, my roadside discs were heavily corroded. I tried the heavy braking, but that did not resolve the issue. I replaced the front discs and pads, as they would be due that in a year or so. Judder still there, but reduced, so I changed the rears. Resolved the problem completely.

Often the inside face is worse.

[Apw_debug]

Thanks to everyone for their help. The breaking seems to help a bit. Passenger side far warmer than drivers side. (It did seem like something was stuck a little when first dropping handbrake to reverse off the drive.)

After several runs down the dual carriageway hitting brakes hard… there is no judder at low speeds <30.

Will get it booked in for local mechanic to give it a butchers.

[Pickled Piper]

It will be pad material bonded to the discs due to lack of use. I've had this on a couple of cars. In both cases it required new pads and discs to fix. You may be lucky.

[Robertb]

To fix some vibration under braking I had the brake discs on my CLS skimmed in situ by a garage with a Pro Cut brake lathe. Cost £90 per axle (though I only had the front set done), so much cheaper in my case than new discs/pads, and only took half an hour.

[Apw_debug]

Car been in garage since Monday. Still awaiting the verdict and a price. Chased twice.