Am I being petty? Brake rattle/clonk
Discussion
In April/May I treated my 2016 Octavia vRS to new discs and pads all round, fitted by a local independent garage. I asked them to quote me for Brembo parts, which they did, and that was agreeable so I got it booked in and done.
When I collected the car, the brakes rattled over minor imperfections in the road, and clonked loudly on more severe bumps.
I took it back but we couldn't reproduce the issue due to the smooth roads near the garage.
So I gave it a week or two then, having established this was a very annoying and persistent problem, stopped at the garage while I was in the area and they spent an hour looking at it and trying to sort it.
I took it away but the problem was still there, so I booked it in to leave it with them for a day.
No improvement, so I booked it in again.
They've replaced all of the pads, still Brembos on the front but now Delphis on the back. The pedal feels a lot better now, good bite near the top. The rattling is improved, and doesn't occur on the small imperfections now. However, on bigger bumps something still doesn't feel right. What was a loud and discernible clonk, which could be felt through the steering wheel, is now more of a muffled 'thunk'. A few days ago I was thinking I'd put up with it, but while I was out yesterday I drove down a pockmarked bit of road and it was thunking away multiple times within a few seconds as the wheels vibrated.
In an ideal world I would give it back to them again in a bid to get it sorted for good. Perhaps try Pagid pads at the front instead, which some owners have reported are a good fit. Not sure why the Brembos are proving so problematic.
What would you do? Am I being overly picky? I am quite fed up of this now.
Cheers
When I collected the car, the brakes rattled over minor imperfections in the road, and clonked loudly on more severe bumps.
I took it back but we couldn't reproduce the issue due to the smooth roads near the garage.
So I gave it a week or two then, having established this was a very annoying and persistent problem, stopped at the garage while I was in the area and they spent an hour looking at it and trying to sort it.
I took it away but the problem was still there, so I booked it in to leave it with them for a day.
No improvement, so I booked it in again.
They've replaced all of the pads, still Brembos on the front but now Delphis on the back. The pedal feels a lot better now, good bite near the top. The rattling is improved, and doesn't occur on the small imperfections now. However, on bigger bumps something still doesn't feel right. What was a loud and discernible clonk, which could be felt through the steering wheel, is now more of a muffled 'thunk'. A few days ago I was thinking I'd put up with it, but while I was out yesterday I drove down a pockmarked bit of road and it was thunking away multiple times within a few seconds as the wheels vibrated.
In an ideal world I would give it back to them again in a bid to get it sorted for good. Perhaps try Pagid pads at the front instead, which some owners have reported are a good fit. Not sure why the Brembos are proving so problematic.
What would you do? Am I being overly picky? I am quite fed up of this now.
Cheers
It wasn't making any noises before it went in. Very well looked after car. Suspension is peachy.
The noise doesn't occur when pressure is applied to the brakes over bumps, suggesting loose pads.
The garage have a really good rep so it's odd that it's taking this long to sort. I'm hoping a different pad at the front might be the answer.
The noise doesn't occur when pressure is applied to the brakes over bumps, suggesting loose pads.
The garage have a really good rep so it's odd that it's taking this long to sort. I'm hoping a different pad at the front might be the answer.
Fuzzarr said:
The noise doesn't occur when pressure is applied to the brakes over bumps, suggesting loose pads.
To me that suggests the braking takes up play in the suspension and stops it rattling/clonking.I stand by my earlier suggestion of spending £50 (or whatever) at a competent MOT station.
So, I had very similar on my Evo 9. It plagued me for almost a year. My car would clonk all the time, it sounded like a set of spanners rattling around.
I had so many garages try to diagnose it, to no avail. I had one garage suspect it was my suspension, I had that rebuilt at a tidy sum.
After almost a year, I came to the conclusion it was 100% the brakes, more so, it was the pad deposit on the disks, it was really uneven.
Some days they would be silent, some days they would be clonk over everything. The one thing I noticed was the way the brakes felt, when they were silent, there was no noise.
In January I eventually had the disks skimmed, since then, its never clonked.
Since yours are new, maybe try bedding them in?
I had so many garages try to diagnose it, to no avail. I had one garage suspect it was my suspension, I had that rebuilt at a tidy sum.
After almost a year, I came to the conclusion it was 100% the brakes, more so, it was the pad deposit on the disks, it was really uneven.
Some days they would be silent, some days they would be clonk over everything. The one thing I noticed was the way the brakes felt, when they were silent, there was no noise.
In January I eventually had the disks skimmed, since then, its never clonked.
Since yours are new, maybe try bedding them in?
A mate of mine recently bought a BMW 320D F30 that had the exact same problem with a clunk from the front end that could be felt through the steering wheel that stopped when the brakes were applied. It too had a recent front disc and pad change before it was sold. I took the pads out, applied some Brembo B-Quiet to the ears where they sit on the carrier and on the backs of the pads and refitted and the noise was gone and has stayed gone for the last few thousand miles he's done in it.
lancer778544 said:
A mate of mine recently bought a BMW 320D F30 that had the exact same problem with a clunk from the front end that could be felt through the steering wheel that stopped when the brakes were applied. It too had a recent front disc and pad change before it was sold. I took the pads out, applied some Brembo B-Quiet to the ears where they sit on the carrier and on the backs of the pads and refitted and the noise was gone and has stayed gone for the last few thousand miles he's done in it.
Interesting. Can you do mine? HahaKamSandhu44 said:
So, I had very similar on my Evo 9. It plagued me for almost a year. My car would clonk all the time, it sounded like a set of spanners rattling around.
I had so many garages try to diagnose it, to no avail. I had one garage suspect it was my suspension, I had that rebuilt at a tidy sum.
After almost a year, I came to the conclusion it was 100% the brakes, more so, it was the pad deposit on the disks, it was really uneven.
Some days they would be silent, some days they would be clonk over everything. The one thing I noticed was the way the brakes felt, when they were silent, there was no noise.
In January I eventually had the disks skimmed, since then, its never clonked.
Since yours are new, maybe try bedding them in?
The discs have done at least 500 miles, gentle use. The new pads are on 120 miles, so 1-200 more of gentle use before I'll start asking more of them.I had so many garages try to diagnose it, to no avail. I had one garage suspect it was my suspension, I had that rebuilt at a tidy sum.
After almost a year, I came to the conclusion it was 100% the brakes, more so, it was the pad deposit on the disks, it was really uneven.
Some days they would be silent, some days they would be clonk over everything. The one thing I noticed was the way the brakes felt, when they were silent, there was no noise.
In January I eventually had the disks skimmed, since then, its never clonked.
Since yours are new, maybe try bedding them in?
I occasionally wonder if they've fitted the wrong size pads. My car's a '230' edition which has 340mm discs up front, which I believe are +20mm over a standard 220 model.
But surely they'll have noticed this by now.
Edit: That sounds like quite an unpleasant year troubleshooting with the Evo 9. After three months or so I feel like I'm starting to lose some sanity.
Fuzzarr said:
I occasionally wonder if they've fitted the wrong size pads. My car's a '230' edition which has 340mm discs up front, which I believe are +20mm over a standard 220 model.
But surely they'll have noticed this by now.
.
That was my first thought, i always compare the old with new back to back and front to front to be absolutely sure the pads or shoes are correct, same with discs, hopefully the garage did this.But surely they'll have noticed this by now.
.
Can't say as i've ever had pads that loose they rattle around, the odd squeal yes.
One other thought, i assume you have self adjusting rear calipers which also serve as park brakes using the same rear pads? you mention another make of pad offering a better pedal, is the self adjusting mechanism doing what it should...i know very little about VAG stuff does one have to operate the handbrake repeatedly for the self adjusters to do their thing or does operation of the footbrake trigger the adjuster...just wondering if the car needs multiple applications of the park brake to bring the adjusters fully up (i have an idea some other makes operate like this)...this might be a load of old cobblers because as i said i'm not au fait with the marque, indeed have so far managed to avoid cars which use the rear pads for park brake.
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