High speed and/or load brake judder.

[John97Tdi]

Hello

As the title suggests my V70 TDi is exhibiting brake judder which only happens either at M way exit slip road speed or down steep hills. In an attempt to address this I've changed the front discs and pads as well as the drop links to no avail and the local garage has checked all the suspension/bushes/steering and said everything seems OK. The issue has developed over a period of time along with a very slight but definite 'wandering sensation' on rough/uneven surfaces.
Since its difficult to check without taking the struts apart I'm tempted to suspect the front strut top mounts have (after about 6 years and 100K miles) become somewhat 'tired and emotional' and since they can't be given a proper ' in situ' visual examination may still be worn enough to give the symptoms described.
Has anyone any thoughts or experienced similar symptoms before I start throwing money at the car?

Cheers

John

[artiedtke]

Interesting you mention this. I have a 850 TDI with a very similar symptom... it may or may not however be "normal", im not sure.

At motorway speeds if i slam on, (literally slam on from 70mph), the car will judder and wander to a halt, very similar to torque steer but in reverse (i.e. slowing down). It only does this under very very heavy braking though, i.e. at the point where the abs is working overtime !

Now mine has had the entire front suspension setup rebuilt, top mounts, bottom arms, hubs, the only thing it hasn't had is the struts.

It may be normal, im not sure.

[John97Tdi]

Hi Artiedtke

Thanks for the reply - I've been waiting to see if anyone else chipped in, but it looks like this may be a' feature,' and a rare one at that, of the TDi's. I'm throwing myself on the mercy of the garage today to try and resolve this so I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers

John

[artiedtke]

FWIW you can check if your top mounts are shot by grabbing the top of the strut tower under the bonnet and twisting it. There should be resistance. If you are able to twist the top quite freely then it's possible the mounts are shot.

It could also be something to do with the rear suspension. If you take a look its a bit weird, it's got a delta link setup, when the bushes wear it can also cause a wandering sensation. Mine hasnt been looked at since ive owned the car.

[B00TS]

My TDi also does this one.

It's a bit hit and miss - sometimes it will brake from speed (>70) with no fuss and other times it judders like a b**ch.

I had thought about doing the pads and discs as the discs aren't in the best shape but after seeing your post, John, I might think again.

I suspect one of the calipers is a bit sticky, to be honest, as I have had this cause intermittent judder in the past.

If the discs were warped, the judder should be present at lower speeds too and it's not.

If the weather stays good at the weekend I will probably strip the calipers and give them a damned good clean and free off...