Polo Brakes locked

qhe0i9zvfgdou8

Hi, this is probably a stupid question but i'm not mechanical minded so here goes. My nephew bought a VW polo about two months ago. Yesterday evening he came up to a junction and when he braked the car skidded right through the junction. luckily it was quiet and he ended up in the grass with no damage done.

He says he wasn't going fast and he thinks the brakes locked when he braked. The question is, is it possible the brakes stuck on, and also if a mechanic examined the car now could he tell if this is what happened. I dont suppose the seller has any responsibility two months down the road as I dont think there was a warrenty.

Sorry for been so longwinded and hope this makes sense.

El Guapo!

TBH I think he's tellin porkies because if he skidded right through the lights and up onto a grass verge then he was speeding.

david

Unlikely tbh if they are working fine now.

I don't understand how he didn't stop in time for the junction even if he locked the wheels unless he was really flaking it. Safe braking distance and all that.

TestTransmission

Ha,what age is your nephew?

mickdw

They could have locked alright but it would have been because he was going too fast and he pressed them too hard to try to stop then lost all control. Is the car fine now?
Small tyres and overly aggressive on the brake pedal will snatch the brakes even though they arent a power brake setup.
Tell him to do a few emergency stops to see what the car can do in wet & dry conditions. Then drive well within it capabilities.

Webmonkey

Your nephew was more than likely going too fast even if he says he wasn't. If he wasn't going fast and braking normally and if the brakes locked, he should still have stopped and not ended up across the junction.

Unless the road was oilly which it could be after the fine weather we had. Never know I guess.

qhe0i9zvfgdou8

He's 27 and I said exactly what ye're all saying or else thought there was something on the surface of the road but his father checked that out.

He's adamant he wasn't speeding so just said I'd ask on here.

Mr Benevolent

Doesn't make sense for the car to skid so far if he was coming up to the lights at a reasonable speed. Locked wheels are a good bit less efficient in terms of braking but shouldn't be that bad. It could be an ABS fault but more likely he either a) left it too late to brake or b) was going too fast.

Edit: OP, was the road wet when the brakes locked? If so the car could have been aquaplaning, which reduces braking efficiency almost to zero.

qhe0i9zvfgdou8

mickdw wrote: »

They could have locked alright but it would have been because he was going too fast and he pressed them too hard to try to stop then lost all control. Is the car fine now?
Small tyres and overly aggressive on the brake pedal will snatch the brakes even though they arent a power brake setup.
Tell him to do a few emergency stops to see what the car can do in wet & dry conditions. Then drive well within it capabilities.

The brakes seem to be ok now far as he can tell. Is there any intermittant problem that would cause them to lock or is it a case of they either lock every time or not at all.

Webmonkey

If they working again, it is doubtful anything went wrong, like a piston or caliper getting stuck. More than likely the problem here was your nephew. If everything is ok now, more than likely it was just human error.

It is possible that the road surface was slippy and the wheels just locked and then glided out. But more likely if it was that bad, others would have similar problems and be few incidents.

qhe0i9zvfgdou8

Confab wrote: »

Doesn't make sense for the car to skid so far if he was coming up to the lights at a reasonable speed. Locked wheels are a good bit less efficient in terms of braking but shouldn't be that bad. It could be an ABS fault but more likely he either a) left it too late to brake or b) was going too fast.

Edit: OP, was the road wet when the brakes locked? If so the car could have been aquaplaning, which reduces braking efficiency almost to zero.

It would have been wet as it rained heavy earlier but dont think there would have been surface water. Dont think the car has ABS.

Solitaire

sudsandsurf: Did he get any pressure on the brake pedal or did it suddenly go straight down to the floor? If the latter you might want to get the master cylinder checked out, if the internal seals fail then you're liable to have no problems slamming on the brakes hard but otherwise get intermittant (and disasterous!) brake failures that really show when trying to brake moderately (as in coming up to traffic or a junction). Ages ago I had that problem and the first time I found out the full extent of the problem was when I was trying to turn at a T-junction. Very, very nasty stuff :eek:

If he had pressure but the car just kept on going then there's every chance he aquaplaned if the surface was still waterlogged with that greasy stuff that's been falling over the last few days, especially if he has worn tires (still legal (over 1.6mm treads) but probably under 3mm, which is the legal limit in many other countries for a reason!) If it was an older-model Polo with no ABS (or the ABS was borked) he might have locked them, but he'd have to be going at a fair pace to need that amount of braking going into a junction of any sort!

qhe0i9zvfgdou8

Solitaire wrote: »

sudsandsurf: Did he get any pressure on the brake pedal or did it suddenly go straight down to the floor? If the latter you might want to get the master cylinder checked out, if the internal seals fail then you're liable to have no problems slamming on the brakes hard but otherwise get intermittant (and disasterous!) brake failures that really show when trying to brake moderately (as in coming up to traffic or a junction). Ages ago I had that problem and the first time I found out the full extent of the problem was when I was trying to turn at a T-junction. Very, very nasty stuff :eek:

If he had pressure but the car just kept on going then there's every chance he aquaplaned if the surface was still waterlogged with that greasy stuff that's been falling over the last few days, especially if he has worn tires (still legal (over 1.6mm treads) but probably under 3mm, which is the legal limit in many other countries for a reason!) If it was an older-model Polo with no ABS (or the ABS was borked) he might have locked them, but he'd have to be going at a fair pace to need that amount of braking going into a junction of any sort!

He made no mention of the pedal going to the floor so I'm guessing he had pressure. Again hes adamant he wasn't speeding and didn't brake hard. He will be getting the brakes checked on Tuesday so that may throw some light on it.