63 plate C-Max issue

jaymoe

Was gifted the car by my sister who had it mot'd (definitely) and serviced (not sure) before giving it to me. All was running smoothly until today. All of a sudden the oil light went on while I was on the A13 during rush hour. Couldnt pull over as the only layby was shut as it had highway equipment in there, all of a sudden i pushed on my brakes and the pedal wasnt going down, absolutely solidly it was staying put.
Got home, checked the oil and it was low, I had some indoors and topped it up.

The question is, would low oil affect the brake pedal? I have also checked the brake fluid and the reservoir is on max

I also plugged in my diagnostic scanner and came up no fault codes

Bigwheels1111

They have an issue with the brake booster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c67-vc7Cudo

jaymoe

When I was looking up possible issues that was one that was coming up but in the video they were managing to press the brake. I can’t even do that. It’s like there’s something behind the pedal stopping it from moving. Could still be the problem but either way it looks like I’m not going to work tomorrow!!

oldernonethewiser

Does the brake pedal move at all?  Could be a physical issue.

jaymoe

You have to really push hard on it to get any movement and even then it’s only slight 

pogg000

Petrol or diesel?

jaymoe

petrol and was last filled up Sunday and had been running fine

stu12345_2

your brake vacuum pump is probably shot, it uses oil as a lubricant and if oil is low or dirty it damages it, thus affecting brakes.

I'm surprised you haven't done permanent damage to your camshaft also


how low was it on dipstick, what colour was the oil.

the brake vacuum pump isn't that dear unless you go for genuine parts, it's the camshaft repair that will cost more in time and parts, that's if it is damaged 

get it towed / trailered to a garage and report back here with the diagnosis from the garage please 

jaymoe

Yep will do. Garage are looking this afternoon so once I know more I’ll let you know

Goudy

Your cars brakes are boosted.
This booster uses vacuum on a diaphragm, when the pedal is pressed the vacuum one side of the diaphragm help push the piston on the master cylinder with lost more force than just your leg/foot.

Without it your brake pedal will feel solid and you'll need to use far greater effort on the pedal to slow/stop the car.
If you aren't used to it/expecting it, it's a shock and feels like the pedal has locked solid.

The vacuum comes from a vacuum pump, which as already mentioned is driven off the end of the cam shaft on these models.

Some cars use the natural vacuum created by the air entering the engine in the inlet manifold, but diesel cars and modern petrol engines don't have any (diesels) or as much vacuum as older cars as it creates some inefficiencies (pumping losses). So most modern cars these days tend to use a vacuum pump.

As you've ran it low on oil and the cam shaft/vacuum pump is at the top of the engine where it's harder to get oil too, the pump has probably over heated and failed.
Oil not only lubricates but takes the heat out of engine parts. This means the damage from low oil is usually heat related, metal parts like bearings expand due to heat and then fail.

Hopefully you've only damaged the vacuum pump, that is on a bit of a dead end, oil wise at the top of the engine.
With some luck the rest of the engine might be ok.

With any repair, there should be a question asked as why the part failed.
OK you can presume it's because of low oil, but why the low oil?
Is it leaking. Is it using too much oil. Is it because you aren't checking the level regularly or servicing it regularly?

It'll be costly to fix but more costly if you don't tackle the cause.


   

stu12345_2

how did you get on at garage today