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ritch_b

Active Member
Jul 27, 2012
131
1
Oop north
Over the last week, the FreeTrack has developed a delightful tendency to lose any brake assistance from the servo. It's pretty much the same scenario as mentioned in a post by Wimbledonian in his post http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=313870&highlight=servo last year, with the following symptoms:

  • No pressure present in the servo when the car has been stood for several hours
  • Pressure from the servo depleted after a couple of applications of the brakes
  • Takes a short while for the servo to come back up to pressure, once depleted
  • Brake pedal makes a whooshing noise when pressed

As you'd expect, once depleted, there's no assistance and braking takes, shall we say, some effort until the system re-pressurises; it's worse in stop-start traffic. There's no resistance on the pedal until halfway down, when it's suddenly like there's a brick under it. Once re-pressurised, the brakes work fine for a couple of uses, with braking kicking in right at the top of the pedal.

Brake fluid levels are fine; no leaks present. Servo pipes are fine also; no cracking or damage. There are no audible leaks under the bonnet. Discs and pads are fine also.

The whooshing from the servo pretty much shows where the problem lies, but I'm surprised, or rather amazed, that it's failed at 27,000 miles. Has anyone else had to replace the servo on their Altea at all? I'm struggling to find someone who has. It's a huge disappointment and also looks like a bit of a dog to replace; access doesn't look great.

R.
 
Last edited:
There is a check valve (one way valve) on the servo pipe. Maybe that is faulty?

Hi Nath,

I get round to replying eventually! I wasn't aware of the valve, so that's got to be worth a punt in preference to going straight for the servo; I may leave it until the weather perks up a little though! Ta muchly for the heads up on the valve.

R.