Brake woes and headaches

[clockwork.satan]

Hey guys,

I don't really post in here all that often as my mechanic is pretty good at solving all of the issues (which are few and far between) that I have with my A4 B7, but as you might have guessed, I'm having a niggling problem that just keeps returning and is starting to drive me around the bend.

About four months ago, my car (a 2.0TDi 140 S-Line) started feeling horrible - it felt like I basically had no suspension as the ride was so harsh, the steering felt laggy and horrible and it felt like I was driving with the brakes on. When I braked gently, and hard it felt like the car was braking unevenly. After a good test drive, my mechanic thought that the issue was down to the front calipers, so I got new calipers, discs and pads on the front.

All seemed fine until recently - about three weeks ago - the issue returned, but not quite as bad as it was before. The ride became harsh again, the steering started to feel laggy again and it felt like the brakes were always on gently. I had a small 'eureka' moment after I had to brake hard to avoid an HGV that wobbled in front of me, and then realised that the car felt normal again for a short while. My mechanic has been unable to find anything obvious wrong with it, so I just thought I'd post this here to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar?

 

[Sidrick]

It could be that the flexi-hoses have broken down inside.

 

[Mike B]

Unusual for both calipers to go at the same time so maybe the original problem is still there.You can easily test for sticking by checking if the car rolls easily and after a brief drive using the brakes gently seeing how hot they feel.Any sticking will give off a lot of heat.No idea why this should relate to the steering or suspension being strange unless its simply due to wrong tyre pressures

 

[Baka]

Brakes don't usually effect your steering or ride quality, perhaps a suspension or tyre issue?

 

[clockwork.satan]

Unusual for both calipers to go at the same time so maybe the original problem is still there.You can easily test for sticking by checking if the car rolls easily and after a brief drive using the brakes gently seeing how hot they feel.Any sticking will give off a lot of heat.No idea why this should relate to the steering or suspension being strange unless its simply due to wrong tyre pressures

That's my theory too, but the front calipers were replaced because my mechanic noticed after a motorway drive that the front pads were rubbing so bad that they were literally smoking, which is something that hasn't happened since. I forgot to mention that before this started happening and ever since, I noticed a rumbling noise from the rear - so my train of thought at the moment is that it's either down to a caliper or possibly even a handbrake issue, which is that's stuck slightly on might explain the jittery ride quality?

Another odd thing is that the car actually feels better after my other half has driven it, so it could be happening because I'm pulling the handbrake on too tight or sitting with my foot on the brake at traffic lights, etc. I know that's not a solution as the car shouldn't be doing this anyway, but it might give some clues as to the origin of the fault.

It's definitely not a suspension or tyre/wheel issue as when the car feels 'loose' and normal, the ride quality and steering is fine.

 

[Mike B]

Could be the handbrake sticking or rear caliper not freeing.Just try letting it roll on a slight slope any hesitancy will show and again you can try the heat test