How difficult and expensive is to do these repairs

Legacy_user

Hi everyone.

I know this question is very much like how long is a piece of string but I feel I have nothing to loose by asking.

My car is due its MOT in January. I know that both the front and rear brakes need new disks and pads (they make the most embarrassing squeal ever!

It also needs the OS drive shaft replacing as full lock produces the nastiest knocking noise (very musical is my car!)

The car in question is a Pug 306. I have an uncle who repairs his own classic cars and I was thinking of asking him. However, its a bit cheeky and there is a bit of a distance between us miles wise.

Basically would I save anything significant by asking my uncle to help me do this if we bought the parts from say Partco or somewhere similar, rather than go to the local garage ?

Cheers

13000

saintjanet

These jobs would be quite easy for someone who has good mechanical knowledge,i would not attempt them your self though!!

Because the brakes are making a noise it does not follow that the discs and pads WILL need replacing,in fact your car probably only has front discs and not rear ones.I would have it looked at asap though,you cant take chances with brakes,or driveshafts.

The first thing i would do is ask your uncle to check the car over before you start buying parts!!People who work on cars for fun always like to give advice ,so he may well then offer to do the work for you,GOOD LUCK

no_debts_no_more

Most modern brake pads have a metal wear indicator that sticks out parallel to the pad material, and contacts the disc, making a horrible squealing sound as the pads wear out.

You should hopefully find that just the front pads are worn out. Removing the wheel, and peering into the brake caliper with a torch should show if the pads are worn. With some alloy wheels you can see well enough without removing the wheel. Rear pads normally go 2-3 times longer, so they should be OK.

The discs should last a _long_ time, and can normally be easily checked with modern alloy wheels allowing you to see the disc quite easily. They have to be worn down a fair bit (with a corresponding "lip" at the outer edge), or heavily pitted with corrosion on the braking surface to fail the MOT.

Changing a set of front pads should take no more than 30mins. Check on GSF for how much pads should cost (£25?) before you take it to a garage. Getting all the pads and discs changed unnecessarily is a common scam with garages, so check for yourself first. If the discs are bad, it is _really_ easy on some cars to change them. On mine, if you get the brake caliper off (which you must to change the pads, the disc simply lifts off. Try buypartsby.com for cheap parts.

The CV joint isn't necessarily an MOT failure (!), especially if the rubber gaiter is intact. They can clonk for a long time on full lock before they get dangerous. I got my wife's uncle to change one on my car a couple of months ago that had been knocking for nearly a year. It took him and his mate whose back-street garage we borrowed (so it was on a hydraulic ramp) over an hour to get the original one off, and new one on. From the manual it looks easy, but the old one didn't want to come off, and the new one _really_ didn't want to go on. Parts would be about £70, plus an hours labour.

Quinny_2

The driveshaft isn't a difficult job in itself,and it's a good job it's not the n/s one.as that's the one that enters the gearbox,and when it's pulled out,invariably,you end up with gearbox oil all over the floor,as I found out when I had to change one that had snapped on my AX race car earlier this year.However,I wanted to change the gearbox oil anyhow,so it was a good excuse.

The squealing you describe,may not necessarily mean that you need new pads/discs & shoes/drums.It could be that you have brake dust in the rear drums,and that they may just need cleaning out,however,until you do a stripdown,you can't really tell.

Having said that,the jobs you describe,are not that difficult,to a reasonably capable person,providing nothing is seized.

And if you decide to source the parts yourself,do yourself a favour,and ring around,as prices vary considerably.

After all,this is Money Saving Expert.....

Ken.

Parus_major

no_debts_no_more wrote: »

Most modern brake pads have a metal wear indicator that sticks out parallel to the pad material, and contacts the disc, making a horrible squealing sound as the pads wear out.

You should hopefully find that just the front pads are worn out. Removing the wheel, and peering into the brake caliper with a torch should show if the pads are worn. With some alloy wheels you can see well enough without removing the wheel. Rear pads normally go 2-3 times longer, so they should be OK.

The discs should last a _long_ time, and can normally be easily checked with modern alloy wheels allowing you to see the disc quite easily. They have to be worn down a fair bit (with a corresponding "lip" at the outer edge), or heavily pitted with corrosion on the braking surface to fail the MOT.

Changing a set of front pads should take no more than 30mins. Check on GSF for how much pads should cost (£25?) before you take it to a garage. Getting all the pads and discs changed unnecessarily is a common scam with garages, so check for yourself first. If the discs are bad, it is _really_ easy on some cars to change them. On mine, if you get the brake caliper off (which you must to change the pads, the disc simply lifts off. Try buypartsby.com for cheap parts.

The CV joint isn't necessarily an MOT failure (!), especially if the rubber gaiter is intact. They can clonk for a long time on full lock before they get dangerous. I got my wife's uncle to change one on my car a couple of months ago that had been knocking for nearly a year. It took him and his mate whose back-street garage we borrowed (so it was on a hydraulic ramp) over an hour to get the original one off, and new one on. From the manual it looks easy, but the old one didn't want to come off, and the new one _really_ didn't want to go on. Parts would be about £70, plus an hours labour.

Ye' like what he said. JUst add one thing about my experience..

Usually do all my own work on my car but was in a hurry once and took it in for a service prior to going on holiday. Garage said needed new discs 'n' pads so I said Ok go ahead.

4 months later needed new tyre and the chap said I had badly worn discs??!!

took it back to the garage and after arguing the toss about pads lasting longer than discs as was the case they decided to change 'em free o' charge. Never did trust that garage once after a supposidly oil change I found a good layer of dust on my filter - no finger prints or anything. under new management now the robbin' B's.

on the CV joint subject .. they should not fail unless they make a noise when the wheels are straight. like what bhe said though ... if the rubber gator is split then that is a fail. I've changed one or two of those in the past but not on a Peugeot. Not too difficult but messy