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Ok last night (Sat night) I was picking up my m8s to go out and they live out in the country. Anyways I was coming to the end of the roadand pressed the brakes....one problem....brakes werent as sharp as they normally are and I had to push them right into the end to get the car stopped....i thought this was a 1 one of thing but it wasnt. From then on the brakes have been crap to say the least and if it werent for me braking with the gears I would have had her crasheda couple of times the night. Does anyone know anything that could solve this? It came out of no were as they were fine the rest of the day (sat afternoon) so I was thinking that it could be something to do with braking fluid as the Handbrake seems to be working fine and theres no screetching or anything coming from the brakes when I do apply them just when I apply them hard sometimes theres a knocking noise but I think thats just the ABS. One thing tho is that I decreased my tyre pressure to 30 as she was sitting at 40 odd before hand and now my steering is ALOT heavier. Could me lowering the pressure cause the bad brakes?

Need help A.S.A.P !!

Cheers

Couple of questions

1. Were you having brake problems only when you had passengers in the car?

2. What tyre pressure should you be running? It should tell you inside the fuel filler flap what pressure to put in.

I thought that was the reason why the brakes were bad but im afraid its not. I have to press they in 3/4 of the way in to get any gd braking. I tested them yesterday on my way home and what i did was at 30mph I held the throttle with my right foot and then pressed the brakes with my left. There was nothing there at all. I know you wouldnt feel much when u do this normally but the brakes are normally super sharp and would put u through the window.

Tyres Pressure I have at 30 psi

I would try bleeding the brakes; sounds like you may have air in the system. Is the level in the master cylinder OK?

or you could have washed your car beforehand and water got near the pads

i have the EXACT same problem, when i bought mine they seemed fine but i didnt drive it for a few months as i hadnt passed, anyways, since then theyve been shot to ribbons.
i checked the brake fluid n stuff but im new to all this so just plan on gettin it serviced which should fix the problem. its due for a service AND an MOT too so its not the safest of cars at the moment.
i had to use my handbrake the other day, saved my life!

Ok was told the day that I could have boiled the oil in the brake pipes but this happened on Sat and today is a monday. It is gettin a little better but not much. The brake oil is clean and plenty of it.....Would it still be worth putting new stuff into her because of possible air?

Also how long does it take your polo to cool down? Went to tech the day and wasnt giving the car anything this morning and when I came out for brake 2 hours after having been parked the engine was STILL warm and it was a cold day !! Is this normal?

Cheers

I'd still change the fluid; the symptoms you describe sound like air in the system somewhere.
My engine can take hours to get properly cool - I think it must be quite normal & nothing to worry about.

i've had breaking problems in the past
normally just after i've washed the car, because the brake discs and pads get damp.

-Ben-

Have u checked ur discs? Mine had worn pretty bad when i got em changed last year. Had similar problems when they were worn.

Chris

Both discs and pads are like new m8 on all four of them.