Air in Brake Fluid (Ford Fiesta MK5, late 2002)

20aday

Hello fellow MSers,

For the last fortnight or so when I've come to slow down in my Fiesta the brakes have been spongy to the point the pedal is 'on the floor' before I stop.

It's very intermittent and 80% of the time the brakes behave normally.

I've had a look on Google and the general consensus is that my brakes need bleeding. Is this the case or am I looking at something far more serious?

I'm back at work on Thursday and where I am employed has a workshop so I can get it sorted but is there anything I can do in the meantime to minimise the risk of having an accident.

Fortunately I don't need the car over the next couple of days to get around.

Thanks for the help/advice.

Gloomendoom

They may need bleeding but, if so, I would be wondering how the air got in there... assuming that they haven't always been spongy. You could have a leak.

Have you checked the fluid level?

What do you mean by intermittent? Under what conditions etc?


The best advice I can give is not to drive it at all until you have had it looked at.
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enfield_freddy

no , your brakes do not JUST want bleeding , they wont repairing


in 9 out of 10 cases the reason for the brakes needing bleeding is that there is a fluid leak , and air in being allowed back into the system .


before driving any more , please check the level of the fluid.


if it looks to be lower than normal then jump down on your knees , and look for "wet spots" from leaking fluid , on an older fiesta , I suggest yo look at the rear brakes , behind the wheels there will be "wet" around the lower edge of the brake backplate /drum


other places are on pipe joints (and pipes) the front calipers and around the master cyl .

20aday

I had the front brake pads replaced in November 2014 (the rear brakes were fine) and it passed it's MOT at the end of March 2015 (with no advisories) so if there is a leak somewhere it's occurred since then.

When I mean intermittently one occasion was driving home from work. Had no problems whatsoever from where I work until I got home nearly. Brakes were fine and all of a sudden they went spongy.

It happened again tonight. Drove somewhere with no issues whatsoever. Drove half way home and the problem happened again.

I've checked the brake fluid level and it's at the top so in daylight hours I'll have a look underneath my car tomorrow.

As I've said I can walk anywhere I need to tomorrow and Wednesday so won't be putting others (and myself) at any risk whatsoever.

Thanks for your replies.

enfield_freddy

ok air in the brake fluid would make your brakes spongy , but all the time , not occasionally from the megre info suplied and the fact that your fluid is still high , I would suggest that the master cyl is failing


please get frther advice , BUT , as you now know there is a fault (intermittent?) , be very carefull if driving

enfield_freddy

ok , back off! the OP has now decided that there is a problem , and is going to attend to it ASAP , and untill then he will walk


he did not come on this forum to ask your permissdion to drive , he mearly asked for help pinning the fault down .

20aday

I've only been able to supply meagre information as I'm not at all mechanical when it comes to cars... but the only time I'll be driving the car again will be to work on Thursday (and I'll be very, very careful!)

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Master Cylinder as the car will be 13 years old in November and it's clocked up nearly 126,000 miles.

George_Michael

20aday wrote: »

For the last fortnight or so when I've come to slow down in my Fiesta the brakes have been spongy to the point the pedal is 'on the floor' before I stop.

It's very intermittent and 80% of the time the brakes behave normally.

I very rarely get surprised with the downright stupidity of some people, but you are just unbelievable.
You admit to have been driving a car for two weeks knowing that the brakes are ineffective and you have to put the pedal right to the floor to stop.
It won't be much comfort to the relatives of the people that you could kill knowing that your car is only like this for 20% of the time.

enfield_freddy

George_Michael wrote: »

I very rarely get surprised with the downright stupidity of some people, but you are just unbelievable.
You admit to have been driving a car for two weeks knowing that the brakes are ineffective and you have to put the pedal right to the floor to stop.
It won't be much comfort to the relatives of the people that you could kill knowing that your car is only like this for 20% of the time.

and I reply for the second time


"ok , back off! the OP has now decided that there is a problem , and is going to attend to it ASAP , and untill then he will walk


he did not come on this forum to ask your permission to drive , he mearly asked for help pinning the fault down .

George_Michael

enfield_freddy wrote: »

ok , back off! the OP has now decided that there is a problem , and is going to attend to it ASAP , and untill then he will walk

Apart from Thursday when he will again be driving his car with known Ineffective brakes, but will be doing so carefully. I just hope that no one walks out in front of him expecting him to be able to do an emergency stop.

enfield_freddy

ok , then stay home ,


or indeed have a lie in with Fadi , and moan in bed , not on this forum