Do New Cars Come With a Different Brake Oil Than After Service?


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ameyam

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Hi,

Before I pose my question I would like to give a little background on the issue.

I find the brakes in my new Swift Vxi a bit indifferent. Basically, when I was driving my old Wagon R, you are driving down the road and see a traffic jam / signal about 100-150 meters away. I don't prescribe to going and braking just behind the car in front. Rather, I brake with little pressure in well in advance, then unload and roll to the traffic and apply braking just at the end where very little braking is required. Or I apply brakes with a little pressure from well in advance so the car slows down and brakes all the way to the stop. In both cases, I have much more distance to control my speed, so its safer.

However, the Swift is different. If you place a little pressure on the brake pedal, nothing happens. By then you are already close to the car in front, so you have to press the pedal harder leading to a jerk at the end when the car stops. I noticed the pedal goes in first before the braking action starts decelerating the car, something that didn't happen in my old Wagon R. What am I missing?

Note that final deceleration is quite strong, its just the initial braking effect that is not there, meaning I cant drive the car as smoothly as I could the Wagon R.

When I received the car, the showroom technician pointed out that the brake oil is white (clear) for now. That's a weird thing to point out. Is the soft braking related to this? Do cars come with a different brake fluid when new and do they replace in service or something? The manual does say not to hard brake in the first 300km or something like that. My 1st service is due next week

Also, I am currently running stock brake pads. Not sure what make they are. Should I get them replaced with Brembo or something?

Also, I had considered retrofitting alloys for better brake cooling only (and no other purpose). I postponed allow wheel purchase to the 6 month service or later because I was told that it doesn't really matter. Should I go for alloys now?

Ameyam
 
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ameyam

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Small observation in traffic this evening. When I press the pedal it goes down initially- thats in the dead band where the brakes dont get applied. In that phase the brake lights dont come on either. It means my brake pedal has play, dont you think?

Ameyam
 
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ameyam

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Took it to the service centre today and had then test drive it. Was able to demo both the soft initial brakes, brake pedal play as well as the annoying rattle that is there from the very first day. The removed the brake play but in the bargain the braking force has reduced. At least its consistent for now. He told me they would bleed the brakes. Looks like the brake oil has also reduced and needs to be topped off. My scheduled service is due next Saturday, so will have then increase the brake pressure then.

They didnt remove the rattle that seems to be coming from the muffler. Will have them look at it during the service

I am still unanswered in two aspects though- firstly should I have the stock liners replaced with Brembo or something and secondly should I fit alloys?

Ameyam
 
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bhvm

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If its in warranty , get the whole brake unit replaced, Shoes and all.
What you're describing appears very dangerous.

What if some errant biker comes up suddenly and you need urgent braking?
 
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ameyam

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Since they removed the play, braking is more consistent. That's really what we need after all because you would adjust pedal pressure according. Brakes still do feel soft though. Interestingly they are different from my Wagon R. There the brake pedal had a direct feel of the braking effect. So if you applied more pressure on the pedal you would feel the car slow down. The swift has a different feel. Even though you pressed in and the brakes are applying, the pedal continues to feel soft. The only way you realise that it is really braking is if you come off the pedal and the car suddenly unloads. Needed some getting used to after the play was removed. Since then i have also overcome the urge for an accelerated pickup. I must have driven over 20 km since without a single incident

Ameyam
 
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TSIVipul

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There is air in your brake lines.

Go to the A.S.S. and ask them to completely bleed your brake lines and refill the brake fluid and take care that when they connect the brake line to your wheel hubs, before that there should be fluid slowing out of the pipe. If not, then keep pumping until it happens.

What you have mentioned is a classic case of some(not dangerously high) amount of air in the brake lines. As you press the pedal, first the air gets compressed and then your fluid starts acting - very dangerous in emergency maneuvers.

Take care that at the time the mechanic bleeds your brake line, he do remove any air(if present) from front brake calipers and rear brake actuators too and use only prescribed brake fluid, it should be DOT 3 I guess, maybe DOT 4(not sure though, check in your manual).
 
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ameyam

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Thats what i told them last week when i took the car to them to complain regarding the brakes. There was an additional hissing sound when the pedal was pressed. They took a drive and confirmed then took it into the shop & fixed it. They never admitted whether it was a air inclusion but the play went away and the braking effect also reduced. This Saturday i had my first free service & reported that the braking effect had reduced. That agreed to check on the machine. When i got it back the said the brakes had been ok but there is a marginal increase in the effect. Nonetheless, the problem seems to have been resolved. The brakes arent as sharp as the zxi demo car but quite acceptable. The zxi has abs + ebd afterall

Ameyam
 
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TSIVipul

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ameyam said:
Thats what i told them last week when i took the car to them to complain regarding the brakes. There was an additional hissing sound when the pedal was pressed. They took a drive and confirmed then took it into the shop & fixed it. They never admitted whether it was a air inclusion but the play went away and the braking effect also reduced. This Saturday i had my first free service & reported that the braking effect had reduced. That agreed to check on the machine. When i got it back the said the brakes had been ok but there is a marginal increase in the effect. Nonetheless, the problem seems to have been resolved. The brakes arent as sharp as the zxi demo car but quite acceptable. The zxi has abs + ebd afterall

Ameyam
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Since your car is brand new, so expect the sponginess to go after some hundred kilometers. After that, your brakes will also start biting like the ones on ZXi. Having ABS has nothing to do with initial bite of brakes.

New shoes are slightly spongy, they get hardened with time and bite increases.
 
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