Has anybody else had the feeling that the pads fitted to some new cars make a phenomenal amount of dust and don't last very long? Almost as if they are designed to create an opportunity for the dealers for some extra service revenue in the warranty period.
A couple of people I know have had this experience with new Audis, although it doesn't seem to afflict our Skoda Popemobile.
The original pads on the Outlander were low at 25,000 miles, produced clouds of dust, and wore 2mm off the discs which (officially at least) required them to be replaced.
Last week the rear pads and discs were replaced because the discs were rusty with only a 20mm wide uncorroded strip in the swept area on both sides. I put this down to the assumption that they don't do much, but the pads were actually quite well worn at 43,000 so that's a puzzle.
I have always, since I grew up, been very light on brakes and the pads on my CRV still had 4-5mm on them at 75,000.
I thought it might be something to do with very active "ESP", but the Outlander now has Pagid discs and pads all round and the fronts produce far less dust than they did, and the discs are not lipped after 16,000 miles.
I don't usually bother with conspiracy theories but I'm wondering...
Maybe the originals were winter pads.
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First set of front pads on the Merc lasted 93,000. Still on second set at 160,000. Rears were changed for the first time at about 130,000. Not bad for a big heavy automatic I think.
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That's good going, even for a high mileage driver. Honest dealer too by the sound of it, it must have grieved them to leave them so long!
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>> A couple of people I know have had this experience with new Audis
I know washing the large quantities of brake dust off the A3's front alloys is the most onerous part of cleaning the car. However, Mrs F does drive it the most.
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The LEC got new pads (and front discs) last year somewhere in the 70,000s; only half that distance was with us. I'm not expecting to have to change them again.
Cars don't wear out brakes; drivers do. Audi drivers more than most? Who knows!
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>> Cars don't wear out brakes; drivers do.
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Well, if you don't use them they go rusty. Fronts on my MB changed at 40K due to deep pitting - at first the dealer didn't want to do them as the pads were so unworn (noted at 10%) they thought they'd been recently changed!
Front and rear just changed at 80K due to rust spreading across the discs - they seemed to work OK but were attracting comments about their appearance.
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>> Cars don't wear out brakes; drivers do. Audi drivers more than most? Who knows!
Up to a point, and maybe more so for Audi drivers:) Cars now apply their own brakes wheel by wheel according to whatever algorithms are in use. Some more than others no doubt.
ISTR seeing something, probably on HJ, about some Mondeos wearing out rear pads faster than fronts.
Last edited by: Manatee on Wed 6 Apr 16 at 13:44
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The Merc is kind to brakes. Tyres too, the front ones I've just had changed had done nigh on 50,000 and the back ones which have done 10,000 still have 7mm of their original 8mm of tread left.
Maybe I won't die after all.
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As with any such report from HJ, I wonder how much is left once you've applied the muppet filter. Yes, modern cars can brake individual wheels, but how much does it actually happen outside an incipient emergency? Similarly, some cars use a gentle automatic application to wipe water off the discs, but it seems unlikely that that contributes significantly to pad wear.
HJ is a trader, not a technician, and he gets questions from those who know less than he does. How much weight do his technical answers carry?
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>>HJ is a trader, not a technician
Exactly. In fact *was* a trader, and quite a long time ago.
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Maybe Mondeo drivers do more handbrake turns? While ploughing through stacks of cardboard boxes on industrial estates, calling their boss 'Guv' and their customers 'Slags'.
Never know, might be that.
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>> >>HJ is a trader, not a technician
>> Exactly. In fact *was* a trader, and quite a long time ago.
An approachable cat though, pleasant with it I seem to remember. I always liked his column in the comic, and he's still there answering some of the questions.
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>>An approachable cat though, pleasant with it I seem to remember.
Indeed, and quite a laugh when he relaxes.
Doesn't make him an auto technician of any description, or a driving expert - lets not even get started on his justification for left foot braking.
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He's given some very spurious advice in the last couple of weeks in paper.... First up was a turbo failure on a 1.6 HDi where he waffled on about letting turbo cool off at idle - not bad advice, but nothing to do with why they fail on that engine. Then this week someone was complaining about dust build up causing pads to squeal. They had been cleaned by the dealer, who apparently suggested pressure washing them; HJs response was to blow the dust out with the air line at the garage - which is exactly what is cautioned against when working on brakes as the dust is not nice!!
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>>HJs response was to blow the dust out with the air line at the garage - which is exactly what is cautioned against when working on brakes as the dust is not nice!!
Why's that? Decades since they contained asbestos.
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>> Why's that? Decades since they contained asbestos.
Fine steel, iron or bronze filings, and whatever they use instead of asbestos to stick it all together, aren't good to breathe either, or to get in your eyes.
I'm sure HJ expects people to know they should wear plastic goggles and a face mask while doing that stuff though. If it doesn't seem justified to you, just try it and look at the face mask insert afterwards. Surprising how dirty they can get in quite a short time.
Brake dust isn't the worst thing in the world but it's silly to breathe more of it than you do just driving about in town...
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Wed 6 Apr 16 at 16:55
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>> HJ is a trader, not a technician, and he gets questions from those who know
>> less than he does. How much weight do his technical answers carry?
>>
Mondeo 1998
" Difficult to replace headlamp bulbs "
Plus he expanded on that point.
I emailed him saying it does not take that amount of time to do the job.
He would not accept my comments were true ...Blah. Blah Blah ..He had same model for X years.
Well I had mine longer, I timed me doing a gentle rate of accessing the bulbs - 5 minutes max.
( It is easier to remove the whole headlamp unit for access.)
One large screwdriver and one Posi is all that is needed
I wish the X type bulbs were that easy to access. Some folks remove the front bumper
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>> Yes, modern cars can brake individual wheels, but how much does
>> it actually happen outside an incipient emergency?
>>
fairly frequently for some cars with adaptive cruise control, my car tends to brake sometimes where I might normally just lift off if ACC was not in use.
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>> Cars now apply their
>> own brakes wheel by wheel according to whatever algorithms are in use. Some more than
>> others no doubt.
>>
>> ISTR seeing something, probably on HJ, about some Mondeos wearing out rear pads faster than
>> fronts.
>>
Later 5 Series BMWs are noted for doing that. It uses the rear brakes to aid cornering even in normal driving.
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For the nth time, I once hammered my Singer Vogue estate along the South Bank with the Fat Controller - a 20 stone cat no kidding - in the passenger seat. There are several tight little roundabouts en route.
I can't remember what the hurry was. Perhaps there wasn't one really. But I can remember the stench of burning brake and clutch linings a couple of times along there.
The Fat Controller didn't say a word, not even to apologize for his colossal weight which made everything more fraught. They were pretty cool those south London minicab men.
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When I got my skoda it had just had new pads all round, at 48000 miles. The front wheels where black with dust for about 6 months, but they settled down. At 78000 miles, 6 years later, there is still plenty of wear in them.
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Makes of pads certainly feel different. I have put Pagid pads not he Lancer before, this time it was Brembo. They certainly have less initial bite, feeling a little softer. They still brake as well in brown trouser moments.
No idea what was on the Fester, but put Brembos on, and that again feels a little softer.
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Some time ago I started a thread about the amount of brake dust which accumulates on my front alloy wheels compared to the rears.
The front pads were subsequently replaced by my indie and I immediately noticed a reduction of the brake dust.
I've just returned from said indie with a new MOT (no advisories) for my 9 year old Forester and I asked the gaffer what brand of brake pads he uses = Bendix.
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Soft brake pads on new cars - Runfer D'Hills
