Shaking when Braking - Someone please help!!

[Dalek995 0]

Where to begin:-

 

For about 6 months now, my 1992 VR6 C has been shaking volently when I brake (and this is not at a specific speed - yes the speed increases the vibration but even at an abismal 30mph she judders).

 

I have have just spent the best part of £2,500 on some SERIOUS repairs including skimming the head, replacing the heater matrix and generally anything that involves the cooling system (radiator & pump included here!!). While the front end was non existent - it was possible to kill two birds with one stone and change the CV joint bushes (I think I got this right - please correct me if I appear to be talking pap).

 

The rear near side break caliper was also seized and was replaced as too was the handbreak cable.

 

I have had the pads/discs checked and they are within legal thickness.

 

The car is STILL to this day shaking like mad and I am now getting to the end of my checklist as to things that could be wrong.

 

The only other two things left that I can think of are that the wheel bearings could be shot and the discs may be warpped - I presume that one or a combination of could assist in making the steering wheel shake so much that my passengers think I have parkinson's! :mad:

 

Please can anyone help me on this one - its all thats left to bring my car up to standard so I can then start to modify her.

 

Thanks in advance :cry:

[G60Jet 1]

Well its gonna be suspension related

 

Get your tyres ckecked for unevan wear, and balance, you may also have a alignment problem.

 

Could be your shocks, bushes plus the things you mentioned.

 

How old are your disks, I had some new tyres last week and my C brakes far better now.!!!

[GazzaG60 0]

sounds like a warped disc or damaged pad.

 

i had issues like this with green stuff pads a while back. i changed discs n pads to green and new discs n warped the discs in no time.

i put turbo grooves on and the wobbled in about 3 months. i changed the pads to std ate while i evaluated the sitch n it was fine ever since.

 

thing that cause or to avoid.

 

green stuff pads-the retain too much heat after use and warp.

holding down brake pedal after a thrash

 

the discs i use are EBC turbo groove. v v expensive, seem quite good but couldn't justify cost again.

 

what happens is the pad takes up lots of heat and retains it for a while. when you stop the heat from the pads heats one area and warps the disc. holding pedal down after thrash makes the heating worse.

[biggrim 0]

Try taking the disc off and cleaning the mounting surface. Lots of people forget to do this when changing discs and it can lead to debris on the mounting surface causing the disc to sit slightly off and cause the car to judder. Check this first before you spend ANY MONEY! Had the same problem after I got my G60 and first thing I did was get the wheels balanced (£10). That didn't work so I got the alighment checked (£40). That also didn't help, so I finally got new discs and pads (£180) and finally the problem was solved. When the mechanic was fitting them he asked if I'd tried to clean the mounting surface as debris can cause braking judder. If I'd known about it I would have done that first to see if that helped. Not sure if the left front disc was warped or not now cause of this idea he had but it is worth a try. The discs and pads I took off and replaced were Zimmerman X-drilled and EBC Greenstuff pads. Changed to Zimmerman X-drilled and pagid fast road pads (and a clean mounting surface). No complaints apart from lots of brake dust!

[Mike Edwards 0]

Worn suspension bushes are another thing to consider. They're rubber and perish over time...

[andycowuk 0]

I have just taken all the calipers of my g60 on sunday, and they were ALL shot. All of the seals were good but the pots starting to seize up.

I just bought the car knowing there was a brake prob, I drove it to my flat slowly because it aint taxed or insured, even then the brakes were really hot, like it had been driven hard! They also rattled like hell when I was braking.

The reason for my rattle is the brakes got hot when driven, then when it stops the pad binds to the disc, then when it was next driven the surface of the pad is torn off leaving it on the disc. All of the pads and discs were goosed, even though they were all reletively new (6 months).

VAG have dropped prices:

Front calipers £35

Rear Caliper £55

Handbrake cable £8

Be sure to do handbrake cable too!

 

Andrew

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

Dalek995, I had the exact same problem.

 

Turned out to be warped front hubs (what your discs and wheels bolt onto).

Total bill was around £800 when both sides were repaired by VW. Luckily, done under warranty so didn't cost me a thing.

 

You can pick up some front hubs second hand for under £100 the pair... VW was about £175 each plus a lot of labour!

 

Best thing you can do is get the car jacked up - preferably on a lift - a lot easier to work with then - and inspect the rotation of the wheels (hubs), see if there's any wobble (bearings), rubbing (warped discs)...

 

Good luck.

Dropping into a ATS Euromaster on a quiet day and slipping then a tenner normally gives you some time on the ramps plus a monkey to help you inspect.

 

If you do need new discs, I can recommend ATE Powerdiscs. Cheap as chips from Eurocarparts, and actually rather good. They're grooved too. Personally I would avoid drilled discs like the plague - seen far too many cracked discs for my liking!

[steveh 0]

Had similar last year.

 

Replaced front disks due to warping (new pads too), problem cured.

 

Disks and pad would still show legal even though the disk is warped!

[Dalek995 0]

Thanks to you all for putting my mind at rest with this shaking issue. I have now decided that the first step is to get the discs & pads replaced to see where that takes me. Only snag is - although I have changed discs before - never on a Corrado. Are there any torque settings or anything else I need to consider when I am doing this?

 

Its one thing to change the discs on a 1.3 polo - its another thing to mess about with a C!!

 

Cheers again everyone :D

[dazzyvr6 0]

pretty straight forward,just undo the caliper bolts,slide the caliper off and undo the screw on the disc if its got one,both mine have snapped

[Dalek995 0]

Well there we go - have ordered some disks & pads - to be collected and fitted this Saturday (I hope with minnimal problems!!).

 

Couple of queries/worries which I hope can be solved as cheaply as possible (yeah - like THAT'S gonna happen with a C!).

 

There does seem to be a relatively large ammount of play in the susspension when I go on back roads - bit of a clunky noise also.

 

When I brake, the car feels like it wants to skate from side to side

 

In short - I felt safer taking corners in my old 1.3 Polo than I do now in a performance car.

 

Can this ALL be placed on warpped disks? Or have I got some issues - Mechanically that is - not mentally!!

 

Cheers in advance everyone. :)

[dazzyvr6 0]

well your c is like 11 years old and could still be on its original suspension,bushes etc

[h100vw 0]

Dalek, before you spend hundreds on suspension bushes. Check all your tyres are blown up to the right pressure. Also confirm both rear brakes are working. The state of the disc should tell you.

I had severe pull to the right on my G60 Golf. It turned out to be the left rear disc covered in rust, not doing it's job. Mainly down to where the car gets parked and the prevailing weather. The rain always got on that wheel. Not so much a problem for the fronts as they work harder. Plus I use it more often now.

Gavin

[Dalek995 0]

Thanks H100VW - I'll check the rear disks out while the front being done. Just a query while I am at it - Is there a need to lock off the brake fluid to enable the calipers to open easily and if so, where would I do this on a C (Oh its amature night in here innit!!). I.e. is there a valve/tap near the caliper itself or do I need to go under the bonnet to find this?

 

In addition - there is a soket hanging loose under the front wing - I presume that this is the connector for the break level indicator and that the dude who had it before me decided to fit non-indicator pads and so had nowhere to connect the socket to. Could this be a logical assumption?

 

Going on a bit here now aint I - just want to iron out all the potentials before I start - GOD - Please make a Haynes mannual for the Corrado!!

[Supercharged 2]

May find this helpful...

[Dalek995 0]

SUPERB!!!! - thanks supercharged - could not have asked for anything better. All that's left now is for me to change the buggers and all shall be well.

 

Thanks again to everyone who posted for my little brake strop!! Will post note of sucess (I hope!!) :D

[Kevin Bacon 5]

From what I've read about your car Dalek, I think you're going to have to budget for a full suspension overhaul. Mine did exactly as you describe on back roads and even now, after replacing the dampers, bushes, springs, top mounts etc, it still does it a little.

 

Golfs/Corrados just generally clonk about and feel sloppy over bumps. I bet there's not one Corrado owner that hasn't heard a knock from their suspension!

 

I once had a MK2 16V and changed every single suspension component possible, including the upper and lower steering column bearings, steering rack bushes, steering rack itself, ball joits, tie rod ends, you name and it STILL clonked and felt sloppy. You just can't win, get it as best you can and just drive the car and not worry about it.

 

Kev

[Dalek995 0]

I did think that the suspension could do with a good seing to - was also looking at some strut braces but not sure on the advantage along with type/cost etc.

[ClassicStorm 0]

Guys,

I have a similar problem as has been described in this thread but mine only seems to occur on light breaking from about 40/30 mph???I had this problem with the stock disks & pads to a much larger extent so replaced all with :-

Zimmerman Crossed Drilled Discs - Front & Rear

Pagid Fast Road Pads - Front & Rear

Full Brake Fluid change

Also Rear Wheel Bearing change

 

Problem has now come back as described above,any other advice from anyone?Shudder is through the Steering Wheel I guess...wheels have been balanced,tyres changed and car tracked in the last 2 months all to no avail...ahhhhh!

 

Cheers

 

John

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I did think that the suspension could do with a good seing to - was also looking at some strut braces but not sure on the advantage along with type/cost etc.

 

Do you need a strut brace is the question and here is the answer:-

 

Tie a piece of cotton across the two front suspension towers (use the damper threads or something) and leave it slightly saggy in the middle.

 

Now go out and give the car death round the corners.

 

Back at home, lift the bonnet and if the cotton is snapped, you need a strut brace. If not, you don't.

 

Kev

[dr_mat 0]

Got any buckled/dented wheels? Have you had them balanced recently?

This can also make nasty nasty things happen when you're braking, including causing uneven wear to your brake disks, resulting in even more excessive vibration.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

That's a good point. Ovalised or dented wheels are often over looked as potential culprits.

 

Might be worth swapping the rear wheels with the fronts and see if that helps.

 

Kev

[h100vw 0]

Classic, even after balancing the wheels you can get a shimmy from them. If there is a flat spot from a skid, you can balance the wheel and tyre but the flat spot remains and you will always feel it.

It might be worth swapping the wfront wheels onto the back one at a time to see if that moves or removes the problem.

 

Also mate do you have a habit of sitting with your foot on the brakes at lights and stuff? You need to read GazzaG60s comment above. Keeping your foot on the brakes can and will warp your disks. Especially after getting loads of heat in them.

Gavin

[dr_mat 0]

Reason I mention it is I have a dented wheel, which was killing the high speed handling (it's only a tiny tiny dent- the rim deflects by less than 3mm when you spin the wheel!!). I'm waiting for Rams to flog me his spare speedline!!!

[Dalek995 0]

Well - the Disc issue has been resolved and I am none the weiser as to what the hell is going on with my C!

 

Took the Pads off and saw that thy were ALL above the legal limit as were the disks. Checked for warrpage using a DTI etc etc - Difference was about 2 thou of an inch from both disks.

 

Took the disks back and got a full refund (thank god!!).

 

I am wondering now if there could be a problem with the ABS. I say this because I recently (about Jan/Feb) had a new ABS unit fitted as my old one got sodden due to a leaking gromet. I think the car has vibrated since this point.

 

I know I will get my answer if I dissconnect the unit - My question is - is it a straightforward "re-plug" opperation to re-fit the unit or am I opning a whole can of worms in doing this??

 

Cheers everyone