Anyone any ideas and comments about this one. 1996 volvo 850 2 litre 20 valve. Sent it into the mechanic, brakes very spongy becoming harder with the next press of the pedal. Mechanic bled the brakes but pedal still low and although less spongy and more efficient depressing about a third of the pedal travel and not hard. Mechanic said it needs new discs as they are warped (I will agree with this as there is the classic symptoms of a warped disk) and once the discs are replaced with new pads they should be as I want them. Also he says that the calipers become 'lazy' with age and they should also be replaced. In other words nearly all of the system replaced except master cylinder, pipes vacuum and abs unit. I always understood the 850 brakes were exceptional, they certainly were when i bought the car 2 years ago. Any comments and suggestions gratefully accepted. - Roy

Id replace the offending disk(s) first and see where that leaves you! If the disks are very warped then they will force the pistons in the callipers back further than usual which will lead to increased pedal travel on the first press. Have never heard of "lazey" callipers, just siezed or dirty ones. Either way a good carefull clean up should be enough to get them back to expectations. Our local "Carols" store sells tins of "clutch and brake cleaner" for a couple of quid. Can get my motorcycle callipers back to full health in minutes with the aid of some cheap toothbrushes and said cleaner, you will have to remove the wheel off the car obviously as well as the calliper but the principal is the same.
If you are not familier with this kind of work a read of the Haynes manual will give you some idea of what is expected before you start breaking things :) Otherwise just ask :thumbsup:

In my 6 years of working on these cars I think I have only ever seen 1 caliper go bad.

Replace pads and rotors and have them bleed the brakes again and see what happens.

I agree with the caliper. They are meant for the kind that Volvo is, big, strong and momentous (especially for the T5 unit hard-braking after a Turbo stint)...

Try look at the brake hoses.