Repair quotes for brake pipes, discs and pads, need your advice please!

Thunderbird_2

Dear Moneysavers

I had the car (Ford Puma) serviced today at the dealer (Different story) and they advised to replace the following (prices inclusive of VAT and labour):

Front discs (19.4&19.2 mm and minimum is 20mm) & pads............for £129
Rear brake shoes (partially worn).........................for £100.87
OSF (corroded) & OSR (corroding) brake pipes........for £181.81
Alternator belt pulley (seems to be worn)..............for £100

Personally, I think the front discs and pads prices is reasonable, but the rest? I don't know! Then, I asked for parts only prices as I am considering doing the rest at an independant garage. Brake pipes, OEM or Cupper?

Any adivce will be gratefully received

EDIT: I would have done the work myself, but I don't have the time, nor a garage (weather) to carry out the work needed!

goldspanners

if the pads and discs are the same set up as the focus,fiesta and ka, then they are very easy to change. but price you have seems reasonable for parts and labour as long as they are good quality parts being used.
back shoes again are easy enough to change,but partialy worn? they managed to give you thickness of disc so why not a percentage of wear on brake shoes? im guessing these could be adjusted up to give a good few more miles yet (or until the summer comes and you could DIY it). i would make an attepmt at the belt yourself, have a look and see how easy it would be, a good saving of £100 if you can do it.
and the brake pipes i would just get them made up from copper, OEM pipes in my experience are usually a bit expensive.

mikey72

I just had the rear brake pipe on my van replaced, the garage just charged labour, they make the pipe up, it's so cheap they don't even cost it. £4 for brake fluid after fiting.
I couldn't tell you the labour charge, but it was with a new strut top bearing, new insert, steering rack end, and tracking, on a ducato van, total 3 hours labour, so maybe half an hour, so £20 for the brake pipe and fitting. As you're having front and back done, twice that maybe, but you have been quoted 6 times what I was charged.
Shoes are a pain to change if the drum won't come off, £100 doesn't sound bad.
How is the pulley worn? Or is it the belt they're changing?

Thunderbird_2

The discs and pads are OEM or near that quality as it is Ford Dealer and I asked the kid at the counter if they were Motorcraft ones and he said yes! As I siad, £129 for 2 discs and 4 pads including VAT and labour is not that bad. And yes, they are the same set up of the Focus, Fiesta, etc.

I agree with you regarding the shoes. I think it is ok to leave them till one sunny weekend in the Summer!

I will have a look at the belt, which has been replaced with the cambelt 2 years ago (Remember the saga of the crank pulley then?!lol) and see what is like. The trouble is with these car that Haynese didn't bother to write one about them. I think partly because they are similar to the Fiesta of that era.

Brake pipes, qouted £38 for the part, but to £181.81 to include the labour! OEM will rust eventually, may be after another 8 years, but Cupper pipes are soft aren't they? Moreover, I will need to buy the kit to bend them, which is going to be an added cost. I know the pipes are slightly corroded from my usual inspection, and mentioned to me by the MOT tester, but I need to have a look myself and see how badly "corroded" they are, because I a bit not happy with them mentioning this only after they have replaced the brake fluid today! A wise mechanic could have said something about the pipes before replacing the fluid!

I could be tempted to buy the OEM pipes and fit them myself at a later date, depending on the state of the corrosion.

Many thanks goldspanner

Thunderbird_2

mikey72 wrote: »

Shoes are a pain to change if the drum won't come off, £100 doesn't sound bad.
How is the pulley worn? Or is it the belt they're changing?

I remember last Summer when I tried to get the drums off to inspect the shoes, it wouldn't just come of! So I left it. However, they managed to get them off today!

The man said the belt pulley looks worn! I looked at him confused and thought he might mean one of them pulley made of plastic or rubber they fit in those new cars! I have to look at myself as I remember vaguely that the fan belt was replaced with the cambelt 2 years ago!

I will keep posted once I know what is exactly needs doing!

Many thanks

goldspanners

Thunderbird wrote: »

I could be tempted to buy the OEM pipes and fit them myself at a later date, depending on the state of the corrosion.

sometimes a wire brush and some hammerite will help you get another year or so from them without fault.

Thunderbird_2

goldspanners wrote: »

sometimes a wire brush and some hammerite will help you get another year or so from them without fault.

This an MSE idea! :money: Good thinking. I will have look and decide!

Thank you once again.

vaio

I think I’d prefer to keep steel pipes visible rather than painting them particularly once they have already started to corrode.

The rear OEM pipe could well be full length from master cylinder to the back and will be a sod to fit, if only one end is rusty I’d buy/borrow a flaring tool and just replace the rusty bit using a straight connector. The copper alloy pipe factors sell can be easily bent with fingers as long as you are careful.

Dealers tend to be on the expensive side, is it worth it on a car old enough to have rusty pipes? Might be worth asking around to see if you can get a recommendation for a good local independent.

Thunderbird_2

vaio wrote: »

Dealers tend to be on the expensive side, is it worth it on a car old enough to have rusty pipes? Might be worth asking around to see if you can get a recommendation for a good local independent.

The car is worth it! But the dealers are not! I have booked it in for the front brake discs and pads to be replaced, afterall, £129 for genuine parts at the dealer's labour rate isn't that bad, is it? I am going to get a second opinion on the rest from an independant I discovered recently!

Many thanks

cyclonebri1

Thunderbird wrote: »

I remember last Summer when I tried to get the drums off to inspect the shoes, it wouldn't just come of! So I left it. However, they managed to get them off today!

The man said the belt pulley looks worn! I looked at him confused and thought he might mean one of them pulley made of plastic or rubber they fit in those new cars! I have to look at myself as I remember vaguely that the fan belt was replaced with the cambelt 2 years ago!

I will keep posted once I know what is exactly needs doing!

Many thanks

Could be wrong as I'm not too familiar with that engine but it sounds as if it may be the crank pulley to the fan belt or serpentine belt, and these are commonly decoupled, ie, they have a rubber damping element within the pulley than can shear, perish or crack etc. At that price it probably is,

cyclonebri1

goldspanners wrote: »

sometimes a wire brush and some hammerite will help you get another year or so from them without fault.

My mot man much prefers older brake pipes to be rubbed down and greased specifically not painted. If he sees overpainted pipes he will scrap them to check condition.

Thunderbird, don't buy oem pipes, any decent motoe factor will provide pre packed up pipes to suit at much less cost.