Noticing a reduction in the efficiency of the brakes over the past couple of weeks, the owner of this 2007 VW Polo 1.4 TDi, decided to book the motor in with me to check things out.

My first move was to give the Polo a drive myself, first-hand experience is always better than relying on a description.

A quick drive soon revealed that the brake pedal was very hard to press. This of course indicated a possible servo operation failure. This could be the vacuum pump, but a check on the pipe between the pump and servo was my first move. Looking at the brake servo hose, I spotted a small split in the servo pipe close to the vacuum pump. My first thoughts were that this was going to be the issue. But when I touched the pipe to check the crack, I realised that the problem was not the pipe, but the small rubber joint between the pipe and the pump. The short rubber sleeve which forms a seal between the two had perished, and this was allowing the vacuum to escape.

The bad news was that this seal only appeared to be available with a new pipe. Thankfully, this wasn’t too expensive. They could be sourced for under €40. Replacing the pipe gave the full servo assistance back to the braking.

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