Warped discs on a Peugeot 206

Ladamaha

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The title almost rhymes. Anyway...when the internet fails, turn to FG they say!

Help me out now.

I'm suspecting that front brake discs on my gf's Peugeot 206 are warped. The car vibrates heavily when slowing down from highway speeds. The car had the same problem just over a year ago, but it was fixed by replacing the discs (this heard by her mom, no idea if anything else was changed because I wasn't around then).

I'm not an expert, but it doesn't sound normal to replace discs every year (or under 15k or so), or is it a Peugeot thing? The garage the car has gone to, says that it's a common problem with 206s because the brakes heat up and get splashed with water and then warp..which sounds a bit strange to me. Someone on the internet said it's because braking to a stop and holding the brakes that warps them? Or has it just been shoddy workmanship?

Also, can old pads ruin the new disc? Is it recommended to change the whole set when you are on it like with everything else on cars? I'm suspecting this was not done the last time.

Thanks!
 
It is a Pug after all - mine (I have a Pug 406) are treated, very, very gently and I still had to have two changes (Oh OK it has done 110,000 miles). ...
 
Do you feel it in the brake pedal? If yes, then brakes are warped, just need to determine which end.
 
It is a Pug after all - mine (I have a Pug 406) are treated, very, very gently and I still had to have two changes (Oh OK it has done 110,000 miles). ...

The car has done 105,000 km (about 65,000 miles) and I don't think they have been used that hard, two changes in about a year feels a bit too often when the discs have done only under 15 k in that time? Of course, the age of discs could be irrelevant.

Can anyone tell if there could be something else wrong that could cause warping, everything else than Pug design fail/feature?

Do you feel it in the brake pedal? If yes, then brakes are warped, just need to determine which end.

Little I guess, hard to tell because the whole car vibrates under braking so you feel it even as a passenger. It's the best guess so far? Could it be something else?
 
The car has done 105,000 km (about 65,000 miles) and I don't think they have been used that hard, two changes in about a year feels a bit too often when the discs have done only under 15 k in that time? Of course, the age of discs could be irrelevant.

Can anyone tell if there could be something else wrong that could cause warping, everything else than Pug design fail/feature?



Little I guess, hard to tell because the whole car vibrates under braking so you feel it even as a passenger. It's the best guess so far? Could it be something else?

Could be due to incorrect tightening of the wheel nuts/bolts. Some cars are really sensitive to it, such as my parents' Alfa 156 - the discs need changing every 2nd pad change :(
Whereas my older Alfa is tougher.

Then again, could be just cause its french

And the whole car vibrates??
That could be something in the suspension (bushes)
 
It is possible that it is suspension related, but I would still start with the brakes if it is only noticed under braking.
 
Or maybe they just put shit discs in. Plus, you do know that you need to properly prep discs before you start heavy braking, right? Improperly set discs (i.e., you brake hard in the first few hundred km, etc) will overheat and warp the discs prematurely.

My advice would be to figure out which set (fronts or rears) is warped, replace them with good quality items, and make sure you go through a good bedding-in procedure.
 
It is possible that it is suspension related, but I would still start with the brakes if it is only noticed under braking.

Yes, only under braking, no vibrations otherwise.

Or maybe they just put shit discs in. Plus, you do know that you need to properly prep discs before you start heavy braking, right? Improperly set discs (i.e., you brake hard in the first few hundred km, etc) will overheat and warp the discs prematurely.

My advice would be to figure out which set (fronts or rears) is warped, replace them with good quality items, and make sure you go through a good bedding-in procedure.

Didn't know about the prepping, thanks. But which is worse in general for discs, long light braking or short but more violent stopping?

Could have been that, I really can't know as I've know the car and the owner just over 4 months, and the vibrations have gotten worse in that time. The way she drives it shouldn't be a problem, but she likes lending the car a lot for her sister and friends so quite possible some of them have been hard for those new discs.

Now is there a way to try to figure out is it the rear or front discs that have warped? Pulling the hand brake lightly should make the car vibrate if it's the rears right?

Famous last words. :lol:
 
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As far as I know, the bedding-in procedure for new rotors & pads is fairly simple - brake gently the first several hundred kms. Don't brake hard while the rotors (discs) & pads aren't warmed up properly because excessive heat will cause the discs to warp or the pads to glaze. And for the first few hundred km, even when the rotors & pads are warm, try not to brake too hard. Apart if/when you have to in order to avoid a crash & possible death, obviously.

As for figuring out which ones are warped.. Eh, that's a good one. I *guess* you could try the handbrake. Good luck & make sure you try this somewhere with enough space. :D
 
An unbalanced wheel might also be a cause. I lost one weight from front tyre during the spring, and driving between 100-110 km/h there's just a slight shake from the steering wheel, almost impossible to notice. But when braking it's a totally different story, the wheel wobbles quite a lot. This is with 406, but I guess it's mostly the same with all cars, and sometimes badly balanced tires act weirdly.

OEM discs seem to take abuse much better than I'd imagined. So far I've done around 40k km of normal driving (with quite aggressive braking some times) and two track days (of course not the natural environment for 406 :D) and one lap round the Nordschleife, and there's about 50% life left on pads and discs.

Anyway, I'm sure you should feel some shaking during braking through the steering wheel if the front discs were warped.

Edit:
And regarding the use of brakes. In countries were the brakes don't have to work much (basically all countires with speedlimits) daily, the rusting of the rear discs might be a bigger concern than wearing. Especially in countires with lots of salt during winter time. For example many 406s with rear discs have problems in Finland with jamming rear brakes and rusting rear discs, and that's because on normal driving the front brakes do almost all the work, and because of that the rear pads never "clean" the surface rust of from the rear discs etc (and the French engineers didn't think about this). So actually using the brakes sometimes might increase their life. It's not a bad idea to sometimes, like once a month, brake quite lot harder so the brakes really have to do something.
 
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