Front Suspension Judder

[grenthyam]

Hi,
I have a 2002 mk1 1.4 Berlingo that I have owned from new which has now travelled over 150,000 miles. The engine is still as sweet as it was from new, however, I have had a lot of expense in the last few months replacing worn out parts.
The problem that I have not been able to solve is that there is juddering from the front suspension when I apply the brakes at a speed of over 30mph.
The right hand front wheelbearing was changed recently by one of those quick fit establishments and soon after the brake juddering started.
I consulted a Citroen Main Dealer who diagnosed the problem as a warped front disc and changed the front discs and brake pads, this cured the problem for a while but the juddering returned.
Can anyone suggest a possible reason for this juddering which becomes faster as the braking speed increases.
Alan
Ps It`s the best all round car that i`ve owned in 55 years of driving.

[Landmark]

Hi,
Are you able to check the discs for runnout. To do it properly you need a dial gauge to check it, but you can spin the hub and observe the gap between the disc and pad. I've heard one "fix" is to remove the disc and rotate 180 degrees. Make sure the mating surface between hub and disc is clean. I had this problem and replaced 3 sets of discs in as many years and the ones now fitted seem ok. You would expect the main dealer to use good discs.
Make sure you check the other steering components/ball joints and bearing.
HTH,
Griff

[grenthyam]

Hi,
Are you able to check the discs for runnout. To do it properly you need a dial gauge to check it, but you can spin the hub and observe the gap between the disc and pad. I've heard one "fix" is to remove the disc and rotate 180 degrees. Make sure the mating surface between hub and disc is clean. I had this problem and replaced 3 sets of discs in as many years and the ones now fitted seem ok. You would expect the main dealer to use good discs.
Make sure you check the other steering components/ball joints and bearing.
HTH,
Griff

Thanks for the reply Griff,
I do have the facility to check the brake disc run out, which I will do when I get back to France, where the car is at the moment.
Both the front suspension links, rubber and ball joints were renewed in january this year. What puzzles me is that the brakes were fine after the change of discs and then after a short time the juddering started again, so why didn`t the juddering start immediately after the change of discs was completed if the discs were mounted out of true?
Alan

[ron]

Hi,
Are you able to check the discs for runnout. To do it properly you need a dial gauge to check it, but you can spin the hub and observe the gap between the disc and pad. I've heard one "fix" is to remove the disc and rotate 180 degrees. Make sure the mating surface between hub and disc is clean. I had this problem and replaced 3 sets of discs in as many years and the ones now fitted seem ok. You would expect the main dealer to use good discs.
Make sure you check the other steering components/ball joints and bearing.
HTH,
Griff

Thanks for the reply Griff,
I do have the facility to check the brake disc run out, which I will do when I get back to France, where the car is at the moment.
Both the front suspension links, rubber and ball joints were renewed in january this year. What puzzles me is that the brakes were fine after the change of discs and then after a short time the juddering started again, so why didn`t the juddering start immediately after the change of discs was completed if the discs were mounted out of true?
Alan

Sod's law or lousy discs.:whistle:

[prunty]

Hi,
Are you able to check the discs for runnout. To do it properly you need a dial gauge to check it, but you can spin the hub and observe the gap between the disc and pad. I've heard one "fix" is to remove the disc and rotate 180 degrees. Make sure the mating surface between hub and disc is clean. I had this problem and replaced 3 sets of discs in as many years and the ones now fitted seem ok. You would expect the main dealer to use good discs.
Make sure you check the other steering components/ball joints and bearing.
HTH,
Griff

Thanks for the reply Griff,
I do have the facility to check the brake disc run out, which I will do when I get back to France, where the car is at the moment.
Both the front suspension links, rubber and ball joints were renewed in january this year. What puzzles me is that the brakes were fine after the change of discs and then after a short time the juddering started again, so why didn`t the juddering start immediately after the change of discs was completed if the discs were mounted out of true?
Alan

I have exactly the same problem. I had a substantial judder in the front and changed the discs, problem solved, however within a short period of time the judder reappeared, although not as bad. I didn't put new pads on when I changed the discs as there was still plenty of life still left in them and somebody has suggested that changing them now might solve the issue. Any opinions on this would be welcome.

One further question as the MOT is due shortly, is this juddering an MOT failure??

[john]

yes the juddering is a failure

reasons for disc warping:

crap discs
sitting with ur foot on the brake
seized caliper

[prunty]

Bought new discs and pads, might try to stick them in over the holidays...