Intermittent brake shudder

[parraeel]

As the title suggests, the brakes have started to shudder on occasion, at other times they are perfectly smooth. The shudder is not speed dependant. Would the discs be the problem or should I look at other components?

[Sydneykid]

Best to look for common denominators, does it shudder when they are stone cold, warmed up a little bit, normal operating temperature or when they are super hot? Any brake smell? Road surfaces, smooth, bumpy, rippled, wet, dry, up hill, down hill, in a straight line or curved. What is the frequency of the shudder, is it fast or slow, does it change with speed? A gentle press on the pedal or it needs good push? The more info the better.

Cheers
Gary

[parraeel]

Best to look for common denominators, does it shudder when they are stone cold, warmed up a little bit, normal operating temperature or when they are super hot? Any brake smell? Road surfaces, smooth, bumpy, rippled, wet, dry, up hill, down hill, in a straight line or curved. What is the frequency of the shudder, is it fast or slow, does it change with speed? A gentle press on the pedal or it needs good push? The more info the better.

Cheers
Gary

The shudder happens after driving for a while, dry roads and in a straight line. Some days it will shudder sometimes and some days not at all. There is no brake smell and the shudder can happen with a gentle push of the pedal, easing into a stop.

[Guest001]

how mnay k's has it done and do you do mainly city or country driving

[Sydneykid]

Does the shudder stop when you push harder on the brake pedal?

Cheers
Gary

[parraeel]

how mnay k's has it done and do you do mainly city or country driving

Getting up towards 60,000km, mainly city driving

Does the shudder stop when you push harder on the brake pedal?

It seems to

[Mitchh]

This is most likely your issue:

YouTube

You can warp rotors from over heating due to heavy braking (emergency stops) or constant loading(hills). Take it to a brake mechanic, get them to check the rotors runout, most likely will find they are out and remove them and machine them down so the high spot is now the same as the low spot.

It's also possible your caliper may be sticking which can cause warped rotors. Or you left the hand brake on.

[Guest001]

This is most likely your issue:

YouTube

You can warp rotors from over heating due to heavy braking (emergency stops) or constant loading(hills). Take it to a brake mechanic, get them to check the rotors runout, most likely will find they are out and remove them and machine them down so the high spot is now the same as the low spot.

It's also possible your caliper may be sticking which can cause warped rotors. Or you left the hand brake on.

Havent seen rears warp as most braking force is on fronts. If you left the handbrake on it would be immediately apparent I would think

[Umai Naa!!]

The low-end models are known for warping discs, which is actually really unusual for OEM VW discs.

They may have a revised disc for these now, if not, you might need to venture away to a different brand.

[Sydneykid]

Getting up towards 60,000km, mainly city driving
It seems to

I'll go with the consensus, good chance its warped front brake rotors. If they are not too badly warped they can be refaced (machined), which seems likely as the shudder deminishs with pressure.

Cheers
Gary

[Umai Naa!!]

At 60K, they'll be too worn to machine.

VW gives almost zero scope for machining OEM discs.

[Sydneykid]

At 60K, they'll be too worn to machine.
VW gives almost zero scope for machining OEM discs.

I can't say that I've seen every model of VW disc rotor but the many that I have seen all have the same wear limits as any other disc rotor, usually 2 mm. Which is more than enough to machine out mild warpage.

Cheers
Gary

[Umai Naa!!]

That's assuming the discs are like new.

[parraeel]

Thanks all for your replies. I wasn't sure if it was normal for a warped disc to present itself intermittently. The car feels safe to drive but I will certainly change the rotors at the next chance. And should I change the pads, in August they had 9mm left.

[Sydneykid]

Thanks all for your replies. I wasn't sure if it was normal for a warped disc to present itself intermittently. The car feels safe to drive but I will certainly change the rotors at the next chance. And should I change the pads, in August they had 9mm left.

It's more likely to be a combination of hot spots and warpage of the disc, they go hand in hand. When we machine the discs it gets rid of both of those as long as the warp isn't more than the allowed machining limit. Also as the pads get thinner they can move slightly in the brake caliper. All 3 then manifest themselves differently in shake/shudder depending on the brake temperature and pedal pressure. New pads alone might get rid of it, but I'd always check the rotors for warp and hot spots.

Cheers
Gary