brakes rubbish first few times of use...

tequilan

mk4 ibiza FR pd 130
Sep 24, 2007
112
0
somerset
the last couple of times ive driven my car the brakes have been absolutely rubbish the first few times ive used them after starting the car.
the pedal feels fine with plenty of resistance, but im not really slowing down much at all lol. if i pump them it gets better fairly quickly, and i know the road conditions are awful atm with all the snow/water/salt ect, but ive never felt anything quite so bad as this in any of my other cars....has anybody else been experiencing this? any ideas?
ps. ive got standard setup which is due for replacement soon....
thanks ben
 
Jan 11, 2005
680
0
Barnsley
It's just down to frozen pads, I had a shock the other day when the same happened to me about 3 miles from my house (I have the Seat Sport AP calipers as well). I realised it was the first time I'd applied the brakes and all was fine after that.
All cars will be the same in these conditions. I suppose the advise to give is the same as when you've driven through deep water and that's to test your brakes gently to give them enough heat to melt/condense all trapped ice/water
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
I think that you will find that the friction surfaces get a salt glaze on them in winter - happens every year up here. Slightly grooved discs tends to sort the pads - though the discs might end up still needing a frequent scrub down with something abrasive to keep them in top condition - I don't bother touching the discs but as they are Powerdiscs they look after the pads and keep themselves a bit drier - on the B5 Passat that last bit is kind of important to avoid exciting and/or trouser messing situations!
 

tequilan

mk4 ibiza FR pd 130
Sep 24, 2007
112
0
somerset
lol well i went out and just kept stomping on the brakes until they performed as they should and have had no further problems, so thanks for ur help :)
 

tdi sport

Active Member
Apr 13, 2008
68
0
same thing happened to me yesterday just pulling out from work on to a main road pressed the brakes
and nothing happened trousers were nearly full but its good to no that its just the salt and cold.
 

krussel

Active Member
Oct 31, 2008
1,713
2
Hertforshire
I had this after not using the car for 4 days due to the snow. Even if i do not use the car over the weekend and it rains come monday morning there is surface rust on the discs :blink:
 

RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,784
983
South Scotland
I had this after not using the car for 4 days due to the snow. Even if i do not use the car over the weekend and it rains come monday morning there is surface rust on the discs :blink:

Surface rust from water and salt etc usually only forces the brakes to make a rubbing noise and probably improve the bite initially - I think, its the salt glaze etc with the low temperatures that causes the loss of braking effort initially. VAG once told me that this phenominum (sp!) is industry wide since the mandate to remove asbestos from friction materials. In an ideal world there is said to be two distinct grades or options for friction materials, those that are classed as normal use, and those classed as "optimised for cold weather use" - that info came from VAG to me.
 
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