Bora brake pedal halfway to the floor

extra-ordinary_

Nearside rear caliper was sticking/dragging so I left it in with a mechanic and he freed it up and replaced the pads and told me I need discs as well but he didn't fit any. When I arrived to collect the car he was under the bonnet "having a look around the reservoir". I asked him had he bled the system fully and he said he had. He told me the brakes would be a bit spongy because I needed new discs and the new pads needed to bed in. This didn't make too much sense to me so I confirmed with him again that he's fully bled the system and he says he has so him being the mechanic I take him at his word and I drive off down the road and I'm noticing that the brake pedal is going halfway to the floor before any sort of bite. Surely this has to be air in the system and can't be explained by new pads having to bed into worn discs??

biko

It can take a little while before the system settles but usually a few pumps on the pedal will be enough.
Can you open the brake fluid reservoir and check the level is ok?

sundodger5

If the discs are that bad the pedal will be a bit spongy. Your new flat surfaced bads are only touching a percentage of the discs.
Until the pads bed into the discs you will have this.
Change the discs if i was you

Teddington Cuddlesworth

What do the discs look like?

Neilw

He probably didn't bleed the master cylinder, there's a bleed nipple on it.
Happened to me before, the mechanic bled the calipers but didn't know about the master cylinder bleed nipple.

extra-ordinary_

thanks for the replies, I'll try and have a proper look at the discs tomorrow although I don't think they're too badly scored but below the service limit. I'm picking up new discs tomorrow - hopefully it will be a straightforward fit, just worried about seized bolts but will have to see.


I thought new pads on worn/scored discs would lead to ineffective brakes until the new pads bed into the discs but i wasn't expecting the brake lever having a much lower point of activation.

GTE

Doesn't the MKIV Golf/Bora have a special or unusual brake system which confuses some mechanics? It has to be done using air pressure into the fluid reservoir?

I had the same happen to me with a mechanic. Since that happened, years ago, I bought the bleeder kit which uses the spare wheel as a pressure source and DIYed it. I never had a problem. I'd only have bought it under advice and I seem to remember that this is a quirk of the car.

mickdw

badly scored discs with new pads will give a terrible pedal for a while.
I would have to query what kind of a clown fits new pads to old discs if the discs are coming off soon.
I wouldn't refit the now scored pads when new discs go on.

shietpilot

mickdw wrote: »

badly scored discs with new pads will give a terrible pedal for a while.
I would have to query what kind of a clown fits new pads to old discs if the discs are coming off soon.
I wouldn't refit the now scored pads when new discs go on.

This. You will want new pads again for the new discs

Leonard Hofstadter

mickdw wrote: »

badly scored discs with new pads will give a terrible pedal for a while.
I would have to query what kind of a clown fits new pads to old discs if the discs are coming off soon.
I wouldn't refit the now scored pads when new discs go on.

QFT. Can't understand why someone would change the pads without doing the discs as well.

biko

It's a bit of a jump from a mech saying new discs will be needed to assuming they are scored and in bits.
They may be fine but worn.

That said, have another mech give opinion and maybe change both pads and discs and also change the brake fluid.

tossy

Neilw wrote: »

He probably didn't bleed the master cylinder, there's a bleed nipple on it.
Happened to me before, the mechanic bled the calipers but didn't know about the master cylinder bleed nipple.

This ^

Neilw

tossy wrote: »

This ^

And George Dalton was the man to fix it

mickdw

biko wrote: »

It's a bit of a jump from a mech saying new discs will be needed to assuming they are scored and in bits.
They may be fine but worn.

That said, have another mech give opinion and maybe change both pads and discs and also change the brake fluid.

The description of the pedal travel and the mechanic saying that he had a bad pedal due to needing to bed in would suggest the discs were far from flat.

dooroy

As said above - check master cylinder has been bled.
Got caught by this once - very poor pedal.
Once master cylinder was bled - had 2 bleed nipples - all was well.
Putting new pads on to discs with a big wear lip can also cause a similar problem - the new pads sit on the lip and when pedal is pressed they are forced in to meet the disc ; the increased travel lets the pedal go down much further

pablo128

captainspeed wrote: »

QFT. Can't understand why someone would change the pads without doing the discs as well.

In my experience the customer is usually given the option. The OP hasn't said whether he declined new discs or not.