my brake pedal travels a fair bit, any way of removing this travel?

cheers

brake fluid change or/and braided hoses mate

will topping up the brake fluid help? havnt checked it yet

nah bleed it out and and out fresh stuff in use dot 5 special stuff better braking aswell. but braided hoses will make a big difference. thats what i want on my 900mph 1.6 ridiculous topic lol

Wear some platform shoes?

new shoes on the rear may help

try fluid change first is that does it it job done. if not try hoses if that does it job done lol if not then try the shoes if that dont do it then i dont know lol new discs and pads up front shoes and cylinder on rear eand fluid change with hoses. money = OUCH!

dot 4 or 5.1. Not dot 5, which is very different.

if your fluid is low and you have alot of travel its usualy the pads/shoes are low and need changing

^^ Thats what i was gonna say, most likely pads need replacing. If you do so, bleed the fluid and use the recomended Dot.

definately get your brakes bled, you may have air in your fluid system, which compresses therefore making your pedal travel more.....

braided hose's, bigger master cylinder, decent pads

mk3's are pretty crap for travel

Braided hoses are good as they dont scrunch up, the bigger master cylinder is the best thing you can do. You have to press it harder but when you do it pulls your face off.

If the backs are low then that will make a huge difference. You can adjust them through a wheel bolt hole.

Those are all upgrades though..

Excessive travel:

Air in fluid / lines

Faulty master cylinder

Faulty servo

rear brake self adjuster mechanism..

mk3's are common for it tho....there all like it

Spose ar, just things that need updating in time..

start at the cheap basic things

if fluid level low dont top it up its low for a reason

check your pads / replce if need be

if still no joy remove the drums adjust the shoes/ replace them

then blead the brakes all round (starting at the wheel furthest away from the master cylider)

if all else fails replace the master cylinder and blead away again

Those are all upgrades though..

Excessive travel:

Air in fluid / lines

Faulty master cylinder

Faulty servo

rear brake self adjuster mechanism..

There upgrades but isn't that what he was asking? My pedal has minimul travel with the Golf gti MC, the normal polo one seems to have more which is the idea of upgrading it.

Like Niel said there all like it so if you want to get rid of it you need to upgrade the parts.

Edited 3 October, 200817 yr by carver

manualy adjust the rear brakes and it will fix it

as above, easiest way to check if it's the rear shoes which is most likely is, is try the pedal and get a feel of the travel then apply the handbrake and see if the travel has decreased? if so then shoes and possibly drums need doing.

also a common issue is if the rear wheel bearings have play, whilst driving it will back the shoes away from the drum so requiring greater pedal travel to pump them back out towards the drum before they start to work.

manualy adjust the rear brakes and it will fix it

that's usually the case yeah. Although the things most other people have been mentioning are good ideas too. Especially renewing the fluid if it's a few years old.

Replace the brake fluid and possibly may need to replace handbrake cables too, made a surprising difference on MrP's old car. New rear brakes may help, and bleeding the system properly along with fitting a 22mm master cyliner should help a fair bit.

i think i've got a 22mm lying about, i'll bring it round later if you want it FOC?

Brake fluid will absorb moisture over time it should be changed every 2 years regardless of miles. Just buy a litre of cheap stuff and bleed it though a corner at a time till you see the new fluid come through unless your really unlucky the new stuff will be slightly different and nice and clear. Once you have done each corner like this go round each one again, just a few pumps each then you'll know you've got all the air out. Don't bother with dot 5.1 fluid as with standard brakes I doubt if you'll ever get them hot enough to boil dot 4.

There upgrades but isn't that what he was asking? My pedal has minimul travel with the Golf gti MC, the normal polo one seems to have more which is the idea of upgrading it.

Like Niel said there all like it so if you want to get rid of it you need to upgrade the parts.

Yeah but what i meant is it might be fixable by adjustments, rather than upgrading to better hoses, bigger master cylinder etc..

Like if those things are 'gone' so to speak, replacing with standard parts would fix it, but the again on a Mk3 its alot better to upgrade.