The standard brakes on a Scirocco are actually pretty good. They are often snubbed by the owners as being sub-standard
when compared to todays braking systems. The biggest problem with Scirocco's brakes is poor maintenance, not many owners choose to
replace the brake fluid annually, or use good quality materials.
In this guide I've split the braking problems into different types, hopefully I've covered them all, if not then use the mail me button
elsewhere on this site and let me know.
The biggest problem is with a soggy pedal that sinks far too close to the bulkhead giving the feeling that if you need to press the pedal in an emergency you aren't going to get any extra braking force.
The excessive travel can be attributed to several things, but the bite lower down the travel usually rules out air in the hydraulic system. Most of the time this is due to incorrect (or lack of!) adjustment in the rear drums, it can also be some extra slack in the brake cross linkage across the bulkhead.
Rear brake adjustment is best carried out by jacking the car up, removing the rear road wheel and brake drum. Make sure the car is well chocked and release the handbrake. With the shoes exposed it is possible to see the little wedge that drives down between the shoes pushing them apart (see photo). All that means is that if the shoes are closer to the drum before pressing the brake pedal, they have less distance to travel before meeting the drum. Hence less brake fluid needs to used and less pedal travel.
The springs that pull the wedge down can get tired, also the amount of dust that is generated in the drums can be counter-productive! Using a small paint brush, remove the worst of the dust (minding the greased stub axle) and inspect the quality of the springs. If the springs look particularly old then consider getting a rebuild kit from an auto factors. Using a pair of long nosed pliers, grip the wedge. Tap the pliers with a small hammer to move the wedge downwards slightly. Refit the drum. What you are aiming for is a tight clearance between shoe and drum so that when the handbrake is activated by two clicks it is impossible to rotate the drum by hand. I try to aim for about one and a half clicks so the handbrake is nice and tight. Don't worry if the wedge is pulled down by too much, just tap it back up slightly, this is a bit of a trial and error method, but by the time you get on to the other side you'll be a dab hand at it! The braking cross linkage under the bonnet. The pull rod has threaded ends, one of which is a reverse thread. It has a 13mm locking nut at either end. Slacken both locking nuts, you will probably need to lock the rod with locking pliers to stop it from spinning. As this rod pulls, to reduce the action it needs to be shortened. Screw it in until the rod cannot be pushed by hand and tighten the lock nuts. That is the mechanical adjustments carried out. Now the pedal should be firm much higher up in it's travel and give much more confidence in braking.
A weak pedal with no bite from the brakes can be a few things; old brake fluid, air in the hydraulic system or glazed pads. Old brake fluid first. Brake fluid should be changed annually as a matter of course, always use new fluid as once opened the fluid absorbs water and loses it ability to compress under high temperatures. The easiest way to change fluid is to use a pressure bleeder. They can be bought fairly cheaply from normal motor factors. Be careful not to let the fluid in the reservoir drop too low otherwise you'll be starting again! Different fluids have different characteristics, so if you use a cheap fluid it may absorb water quicker, have less feel from the brake pedal straight away and have a much lower boiling point, all of which leads to very scary situations. Get the best fluid you can find, there is no need to spend loads on racing fluid, which isn't necessarily suitable for the road anyway as some of them need to be changed more often (like after every race!). Air in the hydraulics. Assuming that everything has been fine leading up to the problem and no work has been carried out on the braking system you need to find where the air has got into the system. Search for wet brake lines and drips of brake fluid under the car. Has the fluid in the reservoir run low? Pay particular attention to the lines running under the car (may have been punctured by a stone), the flexible brake lines (they get old and can crack) and the solid lines near the rear brakes (these are prone to rusting). The chances are that some of the lines will need to be replaced. If you are competent then you can do this yourself with DIY kits, again the pipe and ends can be bought from auto factors. Otherwise book it into a garage. If a flexi hose has gone then pay special attention to the solid pipe joint, these can seize and be very difficult to undo. If you damage the solid line then you'll be in the above position of replacing solid lines. If you are replacing the rear flexi hoses don't bother trying to get your fingers and spanners over the rear beam. Put a trolley jack under the beam and undo the 4 17mm mounting nuts to lower it down enough to get at the hoses. Don't drop it down too much as you can end up with undue strain on the hoses.
Another, slightly more unusual problem with brakes is a hard pedal with little braking forces. This is caused by glazing on the brake pads. If you are using pads that are too soft for your style of driving it is easy to over heat them, this glazes the pads. Drilled and grooved disks are designed to stop this by allowing more cooling and having a slightly abrasive action in the scraper grooves. Once pads are glazed it is said that they will never work properly again.
It is common for pads to get glazed in the first few minutes of being fitted. If you are too aggressive with the bedding in they will overheat. When bedding in new pads follow this procedure. From about 30mph use medium braking pressure to bring the car to an almost stop (DO NOT STOP!) about 5 or 6 times. Repeat from 50mph, do not stop as this can overheat a portion of the disk and leave an imprint of the pad which will lead to juddery brakes and in some instances destroy the disks. Drive for a number of miles trying to use the brakes as little as possible. Park up in gear without the handbrake and let the brakes cool completely. After that there should be good bite from the brakes, if you feel it is necessary this procedure can be repeated. But if possible avoid any hard braking for the first 100 miles or so.
This one is easy to diagnose. If you are driving in a spirited manner, or down a long hill and you find that the brake pedal is travelling further than before, and that braking efficiency is reduced this is brake fade. You may also notice a rather pungent smell!
Overheating brakes is usually caused by the brake disks being too thin due to wear. The spec of most brake disks is 2mm wear. For example, new disks are 20mm thick new, the minimum thickness is 18mm, whereupon they should be replaced. If the brake disks are within spec. then the fade will be to do with driving style and the type of brake pad used. Try a hotter pad more suited to track use, or if the overheating occurs on track use a harder pad for race use. Just remember that harder pads can squeal more and need to be heated up before they work fully.
The last thing to consider is that the friction materials on the car are sub-standard. As brakes are so important (up there with tyres!) it is worth spending a little more to get good quality items. At the very least use OEM type parts.
© Scirocco UK 2007