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

George_Michael

Are you honestly stating that you think it's okay for someone to drive a car knowing that the brakes are so poor that the pedal bottoms out before the vehicle will stop?

enfield_freddy

that is not the question asked or the advice given , stop changing words to suit your "beef of the week"

20aday

Thank you for calling me 'stupid' as that's really helpful in my enquiry.

I know full well there is a significant risk to other people re: my brakes which is why I came on here for some advice about what it could be.

I wanted to know what the problem could possibly be for the simple reason that if it's a costly job rather than throw money down the drain I could scrap the flaming thing!

enfield_freddy

yup , maybe micheal is annoyed that " Fadi " is having a bad day ,


20aday , please get it sorted asap , hopefully you can use your companies workshop instead of the stupid prices quoted by quickfit etc ,


a good place to get parts from is euro car parts , go ere http://www.eurocarparts.com/car-parts?gclid=Cj0KEQjwkIurBRDwoZfi1bGCxocBEiQAmcs-ero-1mNLpT-jZgus72GfcugzlVoL9k4fK5q9hTJh4hIaAt7W8P8HAQ


put in your reg , follow it thru to the braking section , and check prices and local availability


good luck

George_Michael

20aday wrote: »

I know full well there is a significant risk to other people re: my brakes which is why I came on here for some advice about what it could be.

So in your own words you know that driving your car in its current condition poses a significant risk to others yet you are still going to drive it to work on Thursday.
Can you provide one reason why this isn't sheer stupidity?

20aday

Because where I work also has it's own workshop.

I would rather use someone I trust than somewhere I've had no dealings with before.

Not only that I also get discount for being an employee so anything to help with the repair bills.

Anyway because of your attitude/helpfulness this is my last post here on MSE. I hope you can sleep at night knowing you have bullied someone off a website.

specialboy

20aday wrote: »

Because where I work also has it's own workshop.

I would rather use someone I trust than somewhere I've had no dealings with before.

Not only that I also get discount for being an employee so anything to help with the repair bills.

Anyway because of your attitude/helpfulness this is my last post here on MSE. I hope you can sleep at night knowing you have bullied someone off a website.

I think what George Michael is trying to say to you is that you shouldn't even be driving the car to work to be repaired, with brakes in this state you should be getting it trailered or recovered to the place of repair.

arcon5

Fluid level not dropped, intermittent but regular.
Sounds like master cylinder agreed.

And by time it goes in to a workshop it would be nearly 3 weeks. Your on a public forum posting this so don't be surprised when people take a disliking to your practices. It's not like it's a clunk or anything. When it happens only two of your four brakes will be being used which is why your foots going to the floor to stop.

Make sure your hand brake is well adjusted in case it happens at a junction or some lights change and you need to stop and about to overrun. Although not too much you spin out.

Good times

facade

Could also be a front wheelbearing.
Run-out in the disc pushes the pads back, then the first press of the pedal moves them out again, and the pedal goes to the floor, but pumps up fine.

Certainly wants looking at.

OP, you have tried simply releasing and quickly pressing the pedal again, rather than trying to press it through the carpet the first time?

Strider590

I would say it's likely down to either:

A) Excessively harsh braking

A binding brake caliper

Both would cause excessive heat, boil the brake fluid and glaze the discs/pads. When this happens the required braking effort to stop is multiplied exponentially.

If your saying it occurs only sometimes, then I think overheating is the issue.


Going further into it, if the brakes have vacuum assist servo, then it could be a vacuum leak somewhere, a perished hose or something. Usually this looks like a big black disc just behind the brake fluid reservoir, with hoses running off.

This thing is what causes the brake pedal to become easier to press once the engine has been started.

Because the vacuum is taken from the intake manifold, poor maintenance, really old engine oil (fills the inlet manifold with gunk), etc can have a negative effect, especially if the car isn't running 100%.