Citroen brake pads replacement

Front brake pad replacement

How do front brake pads work?

Brake pads are a key component of any vehicle’s braking system. They’re flat parts made of semi-metallic, organic or ceramic materials, with a metal backing. When you use your brakes, the pads hydraulically squeeze the brake discs, slowing your car down through friction and pressure. The pads absorb some of the biggest forces involved in daily driving.

Most cars have two pads per brake disc, although some high-performance models can have more.

How often should front brake pads need replacing?

As a rough guide, your brake pads should last for 50,000 miles, but there are a number of variables, including driver behaviour, the weight you carry, speed and the type of pads used. Not to mention that nearly 20% of MOT failures are caused by faulty brakes.

The law, vehicle regulations and your MOT

Incorrect brake operation, damaged or excessively worn discs or pads are considered unsafe for your vehicle performance and will cause your car to fail an MOT.

The cost of replacing front brake pads

The typical cost of replacing front brake pads is around £100.

For example, a BMW 116d M Sport would have a dealer price of £133.13, yet Fixter will carry out the same work for only £107.10—a 20% saving!

Changing the rear brake pads on a Fiat 500 C Lounge will cost you £120.59 with your dealer, but only £99.17 with Fixter—a superb saving of 18%!

When you choose Fixter to find you a great deal and a premium mechanic to carry out your rear brake pad replacement, you can expect to save around £20–£25 from an average dealer price. That’s a typical saving in the region of 15–20%.

What happens when we replace your brake pads?

• Our efficient and fully qualified mechanics will inspect the brake system for signs of wear, damage and breakage.
• They will establish which brake pads need to be replaced and fit new ones as necessary.
• You will also be advised of any other parts that may need to be replaced for the best operation and health of your vehicle.
• Once the brake pads have been replaced, our mechanics will test it thoroughly to ensure the correct operation of the new parts and make any adjustments required for premium performance.

What causes your brake pads to stop working correctly?

While your brake pads will keep you safe over thousands of miles, they won’t last forever. Eventually, the abrasive surface on them wears down, and they will need to be replaced, ideally while you still have around 25% capacity of the pads left.

Given that they take most of the load, front brake pads will probably need replacing first. They also have a bigger surface area to increase friction.

To make your brake pads last longer:

• Try avoiding driving at high speeds so that you’re less likely to need to brake quickly and heavily, which puts extra pressure on the pads.
• Anticipate traffic and hazards ahead so you can brake steadily and gradually.
• Heavy loads also put stress on brake pads – don’t carry unnecessary weight.

Symptoms of malfunctioning brakes

Your brake callipers make unusual noises

A loud screeching or grinding noise when you apply the brakes is a clear indicator that new pads are required.

When your car pulls to one side under braking

If only one brake is working correctly, it can cause your car to pull in the direction of the functioning brake.

The car vibrates under braking

Your brake pads could be warped if the pedal vibrates when you press down on it.

The brake pad is worn down

Look through the wheel’s spokes for a visual check—the outside pad is pressed against a metal rotor, and you should be able to see at least 3mm of the pad.

Your brake warning light on the dashboard is illuminated

If any of your dashboard warning lights are illuminated, the sensor that detects problems or worn out parts and components has detected an issue and activated the system.

Citroën

Citroën is a French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group since 1976, established over 100 years ago in March 1919.

Citroën produced the world’s first mass-produced front-wheel drive car and one of the first to feature a unitary type body, with no chassis supporting its mechanical components.

How popular is Citroën in the United Kingdom?

Citroën is probably better known for its quirky design and fun fashion styled brand of cars. Offering something different from more traditional sporty looks, they are a brand that provides value without being cheap.

There were 1.3m Citroën cars on the roads at the close of 2018; a figure that peaked in the early part of 2015 and has maintained a very similar number ever since.

Good value vehicles for family driving

Citroën offers a range of fun-looking smaller city cars and family cars for every ilk. The smallest starts with their C1 city model, growing into the C3 mini-MPV and SUV models, then the C4 subcompact and compact featuring crossover and SUV styles, up to the C5 family saloon, that is also available as an SUV sporting Citroën’s Aircross moniker. With models featuring up to 7 seats, Citroën doesn’t just create cars for everyday family motoring—they supply cars for the biggest of families.

Citroën’s reliability and reputation

You wouldn’t instantly think of Citroën as one of the technological leaders of the automotive industry, but as well as being the first to introduce front wheel drive and unitary body type vehicles, they were also responsible for producing the first hydropneumatic self-levelling suspensions system in 1954. Just one year later they introduced another milestone in motoring history, producing the first mass-produced car with modern disc brakes.

Citroën ranked 25th place out of 30 car brands in the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2018. Probably not a figure to earn them too much confidence and an increase in sales, but when you consider that they still featured higher than Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Land Rover then maybe the competition is a little tougher throughout that survey than it first appears.

Recent Citroën recalls and reliability issues

Various recalls have been made on Citroën models throughout their motoring history. The following are a list of the most recent in the UK and Europe.

25/04/2019 – Citroën Berlingo

The handbrake mechanism may not be correct

27/02/2019 – Citroën C4 Aircross (2011–2015)

The battery charge program may not be to specification

12/02/2019 – Citroën C3 Aircross (2016–2018)

The wires of the seat position sensor may not be correct

01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer and Dispatch IV (2015–2108)

The loosening of the front wishbone lower ball joints

01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer and Dispatch IV (2016–2018)

The fixing bolt of the front suspension wishbone

01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer and Dispatch IV (2015–2018)

The air conditioning compressor pulley could break

01/02/2019 – Citroën Spacetourer Dispatch IV (2016–2018)

Rear suspension wishbone mounting bolts

14/01/2019 – Citroën C3 (2018)

The steering column universal joint clamp may be incorrectly fitted

All recall information sourced from gov.co.uk data.