Brake Servo Defect

[vwsp]

Thanks for sharing - that is very interesting! Exactly the same symptoms as me (since posting, I get the warning every few weeks, no chime) - although luckily my speedo is fine, for now (4200kms).

Please post once you get a response/action from the dealer (if any!). I discussed it several times with my dealer (Essendon Volkswagen) and beyond doing a visual inspection, they had nothing to say.

Basically I'm just comforting myself with the conclusion that all symptoms make it very very likely to be "just" an electronic glitch, and not actually a problem with the hardware. Of course if my brakes fail, I suddenly won't be so blissfully ignorant.

I will certainly post when this finally sorts but, hey, my current dealer (who I bought the car from and who has serviced it so far) is also yours ... Need I say more? If I don't hear back from the service manager on mon I will then start taking it to camberwell where I had my old Golf V serviced (with
much better service).

Btw I also think we will find out that it is a pure software glitch because I have not had any noticeable braking problems. But, VW has these warnings in their cars for a reason and a VW dealer should take our reports seriously.

[vwsp]

If it is a timing thing, then pressing the brake pedal several times before starting the engine (to use up all the vaccum in the servo) might make the warning message appear more frequently, thus confirming the problem is the timing of the check at startup.

Thanks for the tip. I will check that out and see if it happens more frequently.

[RW1]

Did this on mine at around the time it occurred. Had no effect by pressing the brake pedal/depleting the brake vacumm. Had it 5 times when the Scirocco was under 1,000 miles from new. All random and no obvious reason why. Cold starts first thing in the morning and car only left for 5 minutes. Not seen an occurance since and now at 2,200 miles.

C.

[clip]

The only other thing is the brakes do make a noticable noise at very low speed - the last 5km/h -> 0km/h I can hear them make a ssshhhhh noise,

Don't know if this is the same problem that I'm having on my Tig, but I'm about to have my 3rd servo/booster put in!

Although I'm not getting the MFD warning, I noticed the shhhh noise. I couldn't work out what was going on then I touched the brake pedal and it went away. Pulled over and stuck my head down near the pedals and sure enough there it was. Just touching the brake pedal it disappears. Anyway, had it replaced. But bugger me, 3 months later and it's doing it again. Back to the dealer and another new one on the way!

I should add that I didn't notice any diminished braking abilty, they still work fine.

[prise]

2) The reason it appears is ECU software timing. The Brake Servo Vacuum sensor is checked on start up before the engine has had time to fully build up the brake vacuum assistance circuit. If the vacuum hasn't dissapated enough since shutting down the engine the last time, the check passes and no indication is seen by the owner. Hence why on start-up it only appears randomly.C.

There's an easy way to create the right conditions to trigger this condition. With the engine off, pump the brake pedal until you feel the pedal go hard (at this stage all the vacumn in the booster will have used up. Start the engine and see if you get the light. If you do, wait for it to go off, let the engine idle for a few seconds, turn the engine off and restart it without touching the brake. The light should stay off for the second restart.

It is normal for brake boosters to loose vacumn slowly when the car is turned off, but if its losing vacumn over a few minutes without the brake being activated, then it would indicate a slow air leak in the brake servo that needs to be looked at. Most cars will hold vacumn in the brake booster overnight.

[Ozram]

Well, back from first service and they said that they couldn't replicate the problem. They have also "heard" the supercharger chirp and consider it to be a normal operation. To fix the rear windscreen washer leaking intermittently they blew the washer hoses out.

None of the problems overly concern me at this stage. I guess I'll wait for VW to implement some field fixes for these issues and then (hopefully) the dealer will have had the appropriate technical service bulletin.

Sorry I couldn't relay more promising news guys.

[vwsp]

Thanks ozram. I don't think VW knows what it's doing re: defect brake servo. I spoke to VW Australia and they could not offer any advice and said all problems must be dealt with through dealer network. They finally got my selling dealer to call me and they said they wld need car for 3 days to check!! Their wait for loan cars and their distance from me has made me decide to try a dealer closer. Just the other day my 'ESP fault' text warning has also come up. See separate thread. Will book in with another dealer and see what happens.

[TEMPTN]

Bump on this thread . Anyone get a solution or result with this matter .

[misterrob]

Hi everyone,
First post, so here goes:

I currently own a 2012 VW Golf 118TSI Comfortline (variant) which I've owned for the last 5.5 years. I will cop a lot of stick for this - I love my car, 1.4L twincharged CTHD engine, very fuel efficient and just over 90,000km. I have looked after my car with a lot of care and I haven't had any issues with it - until now.

Over the last couple of months, a brake servo defect notification was displayed on the dashboard and the fault goes away after that. When I brake I don't notice anything different, so I thought - surely it must be a fault and that the issue wasn't happening at all.
And it wasn't until three weeks ago that the brake servo defect notification became quite persistent.

This morning I took it to VolkService in Braeside for a diagnosis check and they found a fault somewhere within the vacuum/pressure sensor. It turns out that it wasn't the sensor itself but it was the brake booster pipe/hose line - and it had a hole in it. Thankfully it was small, and it could have been a lot worse.

Got it replaced - $180 all up inc labour. No more faults!!

Hopefully this will help other VW owners experiencing the brake servo defect.


Rob.