Do these disks need replacing right now?...

[bs101508]

Hi all, first post here, just got myself an A3 1.8T.

It's a bit of a dog but the engine runs and it goes somewhere, for the price I paid for it thats all I care about at the moment!

However the brakes look pretty knackered to me, the corrosion looks pretty bad but as this is my first car I have no other point of reference... Can you guys tell me if these need replacing right away? Would they fail an MOT? Fronts have some scoring about 0.5mm deep and rears have a lip of about 0.5-1.0mm... First 2 are front right and 2nd 2 are rear right.



There is a sale on at eurocarparts atm so a quick response would be great! Not worried about doing the work myself, would just love it to be that bit cheaper before the sale ends

I predict people screaming at me saying they should have been changed decades ago but please be nice... Only get her yesterday!

Also what do you think about this oil colour... drain and change with a new filter?

Thanks for any help in advance!


Ben

 

[S3quatt]

I would say they have the look of a car that has been sitting a while between uses.
If you feel that the brakes are poor then go ahead & swap them.

Personally, I've run with worse in the past. It might be worth running them for a couple of weeks & see how they clean up.
As a cheap alternative, take them off & give them a clean up with a flap disk on a grinder.

It wont fain an MOT as long as it doesn't pull to the side.

My rears were worse than that for a while until I got an advisory on the MOT stating badly pitted disks.
Not a big deal to change them, but my reason for not doing them was simply down to working away for weeks & the disks end up the same after a few months.
If you swap them all out they will defo feel better, & probably less noise too.
If you do go ahead, it could benefit from a brake fluid change too.

If the car hasn't been serviced, its probably worth doing for peace of mind.
Personally, that oil doesn't look too bad either.

 

[chris99]

just run like this for a couple of days and see how it breaks when the discs are clean. discs doesn't need changing yet, judging by the thickness..

 

[bs101508]

Thanks very much guys, will run around for a few days and see how that affects them.

Also bought a full set of disks and pads from eurocarparts while they are cheap, gonna need them eventually anyway!

Cheers again,


Ben

 

[S3quatt]

Well, if you have them anyway... Might as well put them on.
Nice & new & you'll feel better about it anyway.

They'll likely last the time you have the car, so might as well be on there

 

[Lewis583]

They're f**ked, change them. You can see the outer face is breaking up, so short of having them heavily skimmed with a brake lathe they won't "clean up".

In regards to the MOT, they won't technically fail so long as they aren't seriously weakened and don't cause an obvious lack of braking effort or create an uneven application of the brakes. Bare in mind though, just because they would probably pass the MOT, it doesn't mean they aren't knackered. The standards for an MOT are very low.

 

[bs101508]

Great, thanks everyone, I'll put them on as soon as I get them then.

I can see I have a steep learning curve ahead of me with my first car... Time to start buying 2nd hand tools, haynes manuals and honing my engineering common sense!

Next up is an advisory about a slight movement in the macpherson strut... The fun has only just begun!

Cheers again,


Ben

 

[vfr800]

Don't worry about catching the sale, you'd be unlucky to not get a discount on ECP's website. There are a few 25% off codes floating around that work when they don't have a sale on.

For your peace of mind, get the oil, oil-filter, air-filter, pollen-filter, brake fluid, coolant changed - all easy to DIY.

Those brakes do look a bit manky, are they the fronts? if so I'd change them yesterday. Calipers could probably do with some TLC, clean them and then grease them with the Pagid Ceratec stuff that ECP flog.

You probably find the general consensus of opinion on here is to go to TPS and get OEM stuff. Yes it will cost a few quid more than generic stuff from ECP but cheap quality parts is a false economy on these cars. (however brake discs form ECP should be fine - which ever you get - just spend a bit more on pads)

Liam

 

[bs101508]

Great, all sounds good. Changing the filters and fluids you mentioned, is that an easy job with a Haynes manual and some common sense? What about changing pads and disks?

 

[vfr800]

Air and pollen filters are easy.

Oil and filter are pretty simple, just don't over tighten the the sump plug or filter. You only need ramp or a jack/axle stands and drain pan.

Brake fluid - just an eezibleed, small spanner and a jack/axle stands.

Coolant - hosepipe and a container for the old fluid - which needs to be recycled. If you change the thermostat at the same time, a variety of 1/4 inch sockets, extensions/wobble bars help get to the bolts on the .stat housing.

All the info you need is on this forum somewhere.

Liam