Xantia Brake fade

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 09 Jun 2008, 10:12

hi all, had this yesterday.. a little suprised, as none of my previous xantias ever seemed to suffer..

Happened twice, after mildly spirited driving.. also got a nice brake smell

I will do a hydroflush in the near future..

Anyone else had this with LHM ?

thanks
John

Mandrake · Post by **Mandrake** » 09 Jun 2008, 11:02

Hi John,

The way you ask the question makes me think you're not expecting brake fade to be possible on a high pressure LHM based brake system such as the Xantia?

Vapor lock type fade from boiling the brake fluid cannot happen with the LHM system, no.

Even a bit of air in the brake lines will not cause brake fade - only a slight delay to operation.

On the other hand pad surfaces can fade like any other car with extreme heat. So either the pads are poor quality material, are not contacting over the whole surface of the pad (thus causing hot spots) which can be either pads or discs, or you are simply overheating the brakes.

Bear in mind that different models of Xantia's have different diameter and thickness discs at the front, and different size pads - and in my opinion the smallest size ones found on some models such as the 2.0i automatic are a little bit under rated for the job, the ones on the Activa/V6/2.1TD are significantly bigger and more robust, so maybe you are just expecting too much of them under hard driving.

Burning brake smell is definitely overheating of the pads...

Regards,
Simon

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 09 Jun 2008, 11:13

Simon many thanks

Yep I wasn't really expecting fluid-based fade, although I dont really know why I wasn't..

Will check pads/discs later anyway and replace etc

John

evilally · Post by **evilally** » 09 Jun 2008, 23:55

What brand of pads do you have? On my Clio I found that the standard pads were great but tended to fade when pushed hard. I swapped them out with a set of ferrodo ds2500 pads and now I can beat on them much longer. If you enjoy the odd "spirited drive" then uprated pads might be a good investment

Also adjusting your driving style can give the brakes an easier time. Brake earlier and more progressively. This means that the suspension is more settled going into the corner and you can corner more quickly. Don't "punch" at the brakes as this causes the car to wobble. The added benefit is that the brakes won't fade as much.

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 10 Jun 2008, 08:25

The brakes on my Xantia are pretty pants at the moment but I think the last discs it had were cheapo ones (garage did it) and the pads are EBC. They're ok for town driving but if you want to stop a bit quick from high speed then as soon as they heat up it doesn't matter how hard you press you won't be stopping any quicker. I thought I might try some Black Diamond ones when they need changing, but not sure if it's worth the extra expense.

jgra1 · Post by **jgra1** » 10 Jun 2008, 10:26

thanks chaps..

just would have thought I would have noticed it in the last 8 months of driving... saying that, there is a first time for everything..

will check pads and discs when I can

Post by **myglaren** » 10 Jun 2008, 10:48

Could it be that over the eight months you have been driving it in an "enthusiastic" fashion (and why not!) that the discs have worn down and are now less able to dissipate the heat, increasing the likelihood of brake fade?

If you are going to replace the pads, check the disc thickness. You might even be able to fit a heavier duty disc - but that might require different calipers of course.

Use the engine/gears to reduce your speed, rather than or as well as the brakes. Less chance of fade then.

addo · Post by **addo** » 06 Jan 2009, 01:40

OK, can't find an excuse to start a new thread, so I've got out the nails and tacked onto this one...

Anyone used the "blind slotted" EBC dics/rotors?

Thanks, Adam.

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 06 Jan 2009, 08:10

Yes, they were c**p.

addo · Post by **addo** » 06 Jan 2009, 09:22

What happened - wear issues or poor performance?

Post by **Peter.N.** » 06 Jan 2009, 11:40

Brake fade used to be very common with drum brakes, the surface of the linings would take on a glass like appearance. In my younger days it was a constant problem, I must say though I have never had it with disc brakes, admittedly I dont drive anything like as fast now. I think that must have been a bit of very spirited driving!

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 06 Jan 2009, 17:27

addo wrote:What happened - wear issues or poor performance?

Performance was no better than standard, they were noisy and the matching pads I had with them went down to the metal in 5000 miles and knackered the lot, sent them back and got a full refund.

XantiaMan · Post by **XantiaMan** » 06 Jan 2009, 18:49

Dont buy anything EBC. Brembo all the way.

Post by **CitroJim** » 06 Jan 2009, 18:50

XantiaMan583 wrote:Dont buy anything EBC. Brembo all the way.

Yep, completely agreed or stick with OEM Bendix. Awesome.