HI everyone, sorry it is a long one, hopefully someone will be committed enough to read it.
A few months back I got a new WOF (MOT for UK people) for my 2005 Fabia vRS and they picked up that the front brakes and discs will need replacing soon and noticed that the front left pads were worn more than the right. It was also pulling to the left under heavy braking at high speeds, you couldn't tell around town. So I decided to change the front discs and pads and also the rear brake pads because they were getting low as well. Then I had the brake fluid replaced at the local Skoda dealer and they did a quick inspection and seemed happy with everything. When I was changing the pads the callipers seemed fine, just had to lubricate one of the sider pins on front right. Since then, the car has still been pulling to the left when braking hard at high speed (indicating another issue perhaps master cylinder), but is also started to get a bit of brake drag when the car was warmed up, about 15mins driving. My poor wife had the worst issue of this one day saying she couldn't get it out of first gear because trying to change gear would bring her to a stand still! I took it into the Skoda dealer to get it inspected and after some testing on the braking system found that the Master Cylinder was causing the brakes to stay on a little and their recommendation was to have it replaced. Replacing this would also fix the uneven brake pull.
I decided to get a second opinion form an independent brake specialist and they also thought the master cylinder would be the cause, but also the push rod needs adjusting because just the slightest touch on the brake peddle would make the brakes bite.
So I decided to order a new OEM master cylinder (turned out to be TRW) which came under these codes; 6Q0611019Q, 6Q0611019C, 6Q0611019E and is called a Tandem Master Cylinder. I had the Master Cylinder installed by the independent guys mainly due to cheaper rate and from dealing with them they seemed really knowledgeable and helpful. They said the fitting went well, no issues, the new Master Cylinder was 2mm different in size which in turn meant it wouldn't have the initial bite the old one had. Also that the Master Cylinder had four ports and came with two plugs, which is understandable because I image the part has to fit a few cars from the VW group.
I picked it up and on the short drive home the difference the new master cylinder made was amazing the brakes felt really good. Also it's now braking dead straight, no pull either side.
So bring on the first big drive to work the next day, it's not far only 22km. All was going really well until I was about 2-3km from my office when I went from 100km zone down to a 50km zone. Turned off cruise control and the car started to slow down reasonable quickly, not coasting at all. So I went along a bit further in the 50km zone and I could feel the brakes starting to slowly bite, it was a gradual feeling, not instance. after going through a round about it got to the point wear the car would barely move. Crap! So I rung the brake guys and told them about it, they said bring it round and they will check it out. I let it cool down for 1.5 hours and then drove it over to them, which made the same thing happen, fine when it's cold and then after about 15mins driving the brakes will slowly start to bite down and lockup. At this point I had to get the car to the mechanic to look at and I turned up with the front brakes smoking away and all four brakes were locked.
They did some tests and decided it must be the new master cylinder. This is where I want any thoughts people might have because i'm not 100% convinced. It had the issue before, just not as bad because the old master cylinder was faulty. Could it be an issue with ABS system or something?
If you managed to get through this life story, thanks for sticking with it, and any ideas would be helpful.