Technical help : Brakes too sharp on Megane!

[Station]

Having to repair my mate's Megane for the incoming MOT as she's a woman.I've done everything, but the MOT tester when it had a pre-test said the brakes are too sharp - almost locking up if you were to press on them. Possible MOT pass, but it's very uncomfortable, you have to be really light, as they just snap as soon as you touch them. Is this a common problem on these cars (it's a P reg), or is there another reason?

[Cheggers]

Can't speak for the Megane, but Mrs Chegg. has a Pug 307 which has always (from new) had brakes which are terrifyingly sharp. The service guys at the dealership seem to agree that it's "...a French car thing..."I'm struggling to think what kind of fault could possibly cause over-sharp brakes??

[Rocket88]

Have the brakes been done? Could be wrong pads fitted.............

[Josh_Cohen]

Possibly an oversized master cylinder and short brake lines i fitted a new rear axle to my zx and found when i replaced the rear brake pipes i made them to short and it would brake very sharply from the rear in the wet it was terrifying

[dieselnutjob]

My 806 failed its MOT last year because the mechanic said that the rear drums were "grabbing".The mechanic said that it can happen if the inside of the drum is glazed and told me to take the drums off and sand the inside surface and then reassemble.I did as he said and it then passed.I think this is only relevant to drums though.

[mattblack]

can't recall the brakes being sharp on my Megane. A few things off the top of my head...1. Cheap crappy pads/shoes fitted?2. Chamfer the leading edge of the shoes3. Back the adjusters off a bit

[Richard]

Take it to a gravelly track and lock the wheels up, you should be able to see which brakes are grabbing. I suspect it will be the back ones.

[Barry Cade]

The rear wheel cylinders may have been changed with the wrong type. Some had inbuilt regulating valves,and some don't. the regulating type are expensive,so may have been replaced with the cheap ordinary type. The giveaway is the size of the hex on the brake pipe union.. ordinary is 11mm, regulating type is 13mm Pugeots and Citroens have this too...OR the external regulating valve could be siezed.

[Timewaster]

Have you tried using a bycycle pump to introduce some air into the system for that Autoshite pedal feel?

 

 

Thats a joke by the way....