Spongy Brake Pedal

[mgrays]

To check Servo..

Without engine running pump the brakes.. they will get hard. Now how at the bottom and feel how they feel.. that will give a pedal feel .. if you run out of travel like this (ie it goes clank or hits a metal hard stop) then you have air.

Now start engine with pedal down .. it should feel as if your foot is falling again and the pedal will get all light again. The hose must just be between hose and pump (diesel) or inlet manifold (petrol)... just look for a hose coming out of the servo and track it .. checking for damage along it's length.

 

[mexicorich]

A spit in the servo pipe is just likely to make the pedal go "hard aand heavy" needing a lot of pressure the same as when the engine is not running, not the same as going spongy.
Curious that it has returned.
You might have a problem with sticking/siezing calipers.
Rears have typically been problematic on disc braked cars once a few years old
Your location is aslo noted as Aberdeen. Years ago when when a friend of mine had a Golf Gti in Aberdeen the rear calipers would regularly sieze up in the winter.
I've possibly got a problem developing with mine. the last week or so have got out of the car thinking I could smell burning brake pads. Rear offside wheel has felt hot......
Had the car jacked up yesterday, wheel spun freely so I thougth no problem, but discovered there was maybe 10mm of movement in the caliper lever/handbrake cable that hadn't returned back to the rest position with the handbrake released. Waggled it about and made mental note to do something about it in futre....erm!
Pleasantly surprised today to find less travel on handbrake lever and slightly less travel on foot brake suggesting that some aspect of stiction had caused the caaliper to not properly self adjust.
Need to monitor it now on my car

Don't go to KwikFit though.........
I'm sure there will be the odd individual good and fair mechanics dotted around the country working for them but everyone I've known of who has been to branches have had rubbish quoted to them about wear tolerances and ended up having every part in sight replaced......I suspect its a company policy to replace as many parts as possible, or at least in my town

One lady friend (not as intimate as I'd like or she'd have phoned me at the time) found they "couldn't allow her to take posession of her car back" until they had replaced all sorts of parts on it!

 

[MrWill]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Mexi - my location says Weston-super-Mare, not Aberdeen! lol.

What you said about the sticky calipers - I noticed that the pedal is more 'sticky' than 'spongy', and the resistance of the pedal is not consistent - sometimes it will feel really hard like a block of rubber is underneath the pedal, but other times it goes down to easily and far too quickly.

Might take it to an independent local garage today seeing as i have the day off and see what they say. I agree about Kwik fit - they're rip off merchants. There was something about them on Watchdog the other week and they said that loads of things were wrong with the car when only a couple of minor things needed doing!

Hope I wont have to replace a caliper - it's quite pricey isnt it?

Thanks again.