juddering when braking

[bigsteworld]

I have an issue where it feels like my ABS is stuck on. Whatever speed I’m doing, whenever I touch the brakes I get that stuttering up the steering column like when your ABS kicks in. No lights come on to say it is ABS just that mechanical judder. Seems to be quite strong around 20-30 mph, but does it al higher speeds too.

I had the brakes checked and apparently they’re fine but it makes for a very uncomfortable ride.

It’s a 2016 Avant, and I don’t have an appetite for randomly changing parts until I find out what it is.

Any ideas?

[audia4b5kev]

warped disc   or brake hanging on   but more to be warped disc  

[bigsteworld]

I thought that too, but I took it to the garage and they reckoned they’d checked them and they were fine.

It seems better initially but gets worse as after a bit of use, like when they’ve warmed up. Does that sound like discs?

[JMKC82]

Hi Steve,

you've mentioned the steering column, but how does the brake pedal feel?

From my experience, when the ABS kicks in, the brake pedal judders really hard, not the steering wheel / column.  I could be wrong??

Thanks, Joe

[bigsteworld]

yes, the brake pedal does judder a lot but it rattles up the handlebars too.

I was going to try to actually make the ABS kick by skidding on a dirt patch of something. Find out if it is ABS or if that is even worse (and the light comes on).

I had to do a 300 mile drive yesterday and it was awful, maybe a bit dangerous on the motorway.

 

[Magnet]

Hello Steve,

’I’ve had the brakes checked and apparently they are fine’. 
By who Steve, and with what equipment? 
To me, this sounds just like a (severe) brake issue associated with the discs, pads or caliper/s, and I would want to eliminate all of these before getting into the more involved suspected ABS problems. 

Has any work been carried out on the brakes on this car in recent times? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[bigsteworld]

I’ve had them checked at two places now; National Tyres and Kwik Fit (only because they offer a free brake check).

Both said the same, there’s nothing to see but definitely something is wrong.

At high speed I’ve noticed it’s worse when braking lighly than hard!

And I’ve had a go at forcing the ABS to come on by skidding on a gravelly driveway but I couldn’t make it do it. Even at speed I couldn’t force a skid.

[Magnet]

Thanks Steve,

So to me, National Tyres ( Halfords) and Kwick Fit have done a free visual check and cannot find anything wrong. That doesn’t in any way attempt to explain what is actually wrong, and fair play, they are unlikely to do that for nothing. 
First port of call would be to get all brake disc  ‘run out’ carefully measured with an accurately set up dial gauge. This will tell you whether the discs are running true or are warped/ not correctly seated. 
If they are running true, then the calipers have to be carefully examined … and so on. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

 

[bigsteworld]

Update - I got a bloke off a mate who goes about in a van and does car jobs on your drive. Nice lad, very polite and knowledgable. We went out for a spin and he said "that'll be warped discs". I was fed up with it so just agreed to have him change them (and the pads) £300. It took him an hour or so with his trolley jack and pneumatic wrench. All good! Thanks very much to young Ryan from Middlewich  🙂

But WTF are National and Kwik Fit doing? Total timewasters!! I could have had this fixed weeks ago.

[Steve Q]

Glad you got sorted 🙂

[Magnet]

Thanks Cheshire Steve,

I don’t think you can really criticise National Tyres and Kwik Fit too much in this situation, where I guess they were conducting these inspections free of charge. 
Sounds you have found a reasonable fitter, and let’s hope and trust that the issue is now resolved and doesn’t return. 
What brand of discs did he fit as a matter of interest? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[bigsteworld]

I think he said Delphi, I’d never heard of them and was hoping for Bosch as I have heard of them (I’ve got two Bosch drills). He said Delphi or Brembo were alright. They were just over £100 each.

Don’t know about the pads.