Weekend In Review

[kingandy]

Yesterday was great - ajon and richc's wedding went off without a hitch (in a good way), save for a smattering of rain and a slightly perculiar organist.  Oh, and some small confusion regarding exactly who was invited to the meal part of the reception, but bacony and spodula allegedly had a cracking time anyway, wherever it was they went.

Today - not so good.  Drove down to Coventry to catch up with some old friends, which in and of itself was good good fun.  However, on the way down I managed to get myself flashed by speed cameras again (despite being scornful of anne_l_davies's advice to be careful through the roadworks, because I very rarely speed through roadworks - but when it came to it I was still slowing down from entering them, and the man behind was very close, and oh bugger.)  That makes 9 points on the license in the last 3 years, which I gather is the point at which bad things happen.  At least, the letter on the last one said something about "If you've collected 9 or more..." but stsquad seemed adamant that it meant that it was only bad if you already had 9 and this took you over...

(ETA: The DVLA site has it that "A person whose penalty points reach 12 or more in a period of 3 years is liable to be disqualified". Phew. I guess I'll just have to be a good boy from now on...)

Then on the way back, driving through Didsbury (which was a little out of my way, I decided to take the scenic route after coming the wrong way off the M56 - you'd expect the left lane to turn you left, wouldn't you?  But no) my brakes stopped working.  It may have been somewhat irresponsible of me to continue the drive home but I was going slowly and used my gears and handbrake to stop and I didn't crash at all.  (Plus the brakes still worked a little if I pushed it all the way down.  Does that suggest the brake pads fell off or something?)

Car is under warranty (which was a little odd and involved filling out a form for some insurance - I'm not sure if that means I have to contact the insurers or the salesman).  So I guess I'll spend tomorrow ringing people and/or visiting garages, or something.  So, overall, I am not best pleased with today.  Feeling down and a little bit edgy.

Comments

[spodula.livejournal.com]

I have had the brakes stop working on my old Scoda.
This was on a trip back from London with Mikey and Piers in tow. I seem to remember it was when i was still living in Liverpool, so it must have been quite a long time ago, and when the car was still my mums.

This ended up being due to the front pads being worn down. However, they did still work a little, and the handbrake slowed me down.

This was about a month after a supposed "Full service" so we let my granded go to the garage (The main Scoda dealer in Liverpool) and have some fun. (He is a bit of an argumentative old b*stard)

Basically, if the pads are worn down, you can expect to have to change the disks (Because they will now be all scratched and warped) and possibly the Calipers as well depending on the type. Either way you will be looking at quite a bill.

[kingandy]

" they did still work a little, and the handbrake slowed me down."

This does sound like my current status.

icklejo has opined that it is likely due to a lack of fluid (since various warning lights came on - the manual does say that it's a general "brake system" warning light though so there could be pad issues). Regardless, I am going to take it in somewhere to look at tomorrow - it is still under warranty after all.

[pax-draconis.livejournal.com]

Fluid by the sound of it. Do not drive it. Get them to sort it under warranty.

[ammos.livejournal.com]

Hugs for the day not ending as well as you were hoping. Heres to the garage sorting out everything under the warantee without arguements.
Hope the rest of the week goes well and glad the wedding was fun.

[kingandy]

Problem is, I sort of need it done ASAP, and I'm not particularly confident about the salesman being very helpful, operating as he does out of a unit in a self-storage complex. I am reasonably sure he would say "What do you expect me to do about it? Talk to the insurers."

[pax-draconis.livejournal.com]

1) Get Jo to show you where the brake fluid goes. Check the fluid level, and if it's low, fill it up. It may be this simple.

2) If this does not improve the problem, check under the car to see if there is a pool of brake fluid. if so, you have a blown seal in your brake cylinder, broken or something equivalent. This is not a major job to fix.

Irrespective of how much hassle it will be to resolve, do not drive a car with failed brakes. There is no "except" in this sentence.

Were I you, I would return the car and demand my money back.

If you can describe the warning lights that came on I may be able to be a bit more help.

[kingandy]

I can probably get the location of the brake fluid intake from the manual, but I don't have any brake fluid. Maybe I'll ring the AA, get their man to have a look at it and tow me to a garage if required...

"I would return the car and demand my money back."

The thought did occur to me. But I do like the car. And I need a car for work. And I'd have to get it back over there to him.

The warning lights were firstly the handbrake light (which, according to the manual, also means "something wrong with the brakes" - could be anything from the fluid to the lights to missing brake pads) and after a few minutes the ABS light.

[pax-draconis.livejournal.com]

Missing pads would be accompanied by a loud squealing and grinding noise, sparks, and a tremendous amount of vibration back through the pedal. Plus, pads shouldn't just "fall out". If you still have some braking effect at the end of the pedal's travel, then you still have your pads.

If you have home AA cover, ring them and get a first-hand opinion.

Handbrake light sounds like a fluid problem, tbh - there's not a lot else that can go wrong with brakes that will cause that light to illuminate. If it was pad wear, the light would flicker for about 500 miles before illuminating. The ABS light coming on doesn't sound good, though.

Back to the dealer, stern face. Even if you like the car, if it doesn't go it's nothing but expensive modern art.

[kingandy]

I freely admit to an ignorance regarding car-parts, though "fall off" was somewhat hyperbolic. Jo was confident the ABS light would be a knock-on effect of the low fluid, being another part of the brake system; the manual says stern yet nebulous things about its meaning.

The AA will be summoned forthwith, thank you sir.

[renniek.livejournal.com]

I'd have expected a horrible scraping noise on braking if it's the pads (just coz that's what I got when it happened on my old micra). Based on prices from then, I expect it'll set you back about £150 if it's brake pads + discs).

[spodula.livejournal.com]

Good point, forgot about the horrible high pitched scraping noise.

[jacob-xiii.livejournal.com]

Did all the resistance in the break pedal disappear? If you repeatedly press the brake pedal, does the reistance increase? That would indicate that there was an actual problem with the break fluid, rather than something else. A leak could cause that, as could the brakes 'sticking' slightly which would cause the fluid to boil from the heat generated by friction. Definitly get them fixed/looked at before using the car again!

[kingandy]

I don't know about repeatedly pressing it. It's possible, I'm not sure. General consensus is that, yes, it's likely the fluid. Cheers!

[marcushill.livejournal.com]

The brake warning light will come on if the fluid level is low. There are not, to my knowledge, any sensors which detect problems with your pads or discs. You can purchase brake fluid at most petrol stations - check the manual to see what sort you need and where to fill it. You may also need to bleed the system through to remove any airlocks if it's been completely drained. I'd check all the bits of the brake hydraulic system you can get at to see if there are any obvious leaks before starting, there's no point putting fluid in if there's a split pipe or the like.

[kingandy]

Apparently there is a broken pipe. But thanks for playing!

[kingandy]

When the man came, he asked me to repeatedly pump the pedal while he, I don't know, held on or something. I'm not sure if he was actually doing anything, but when I pumped it then, it did get firmer. Er. You know what I mean.

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

Some brake pads have wires embedded into them that short out when the brakes get suitably low. I believe even my old Metro had such a detection system.

[(Anonymous)]

I've never had a car that had that system (that I'm aware of). But then, I've never felt pads need a warning because of the aforementioned horrible scraping noises you get if you brake when the pads have got too worn.