Breaks? Pads or discs?

andreaandrea

Hiya

Ive got an old Ford fiesta - tonight on the way home there was a kind of grinding noise when i applied the brakes - not all the times but a lot of the times.

Does this mean the breaks have gone - if so s it likely pads or discs? Any idea of costs would be great

Im due at work at 8 - im guessing if its the brakes i shouldnt do any miles in it at all?

im likely to buy a new car within 6-12 months and am tryin to determine if its worthwhile bothering getting this ixed or just scrap now and buy a newer car earlier (can do this - just a bit hard on the finances at present!)

Thanks for any help you can give me

shown73

Sounds like the pads are worn down to the metal backing. Further use will result in poor braking, and that grinding noise is your discs being damaged. As it is, you may get away with just pads, which are not very expensive, or you may need discs anyway, depending on how old or worn they are. The whole lot shoudn't be terribly expensive if you keep away from main Ford dealers. I couldn't recommend anyone, I do my own, but I'm sure that Kwik-Fit or similar places could do it for you, probably at a set price. Ring around, or look on the internet, but I wouldn't use it in the meantime. Mobile mechanic could do it for you also, perhaps....

jonfev

I think shown73 is right but is also possible one or both of the rear wheel cylinders has gone. This lets brake fluid onto the drums and it makes a horrible grating noise on braking. Once you have applied the brakes a couple of times the fluid burns off and the noise goes until some more fluid leaks out. This would fit in with your description of it being an intermittent noise.
If cylinder(s) need replacing the pads will need replacing as well because the friction material will be contaminated. All this is not hugely expensive but more complicated than replacing the front discs or pads so the labour costs will be more.

andreaandrea

Thanks both - can anyone give me a stab at prices fitted for pads and/or discs - cant seem to find any online

dannynixon

Probably looking at around £25 a set of pads for a '89-'95 model (not including fitting, not got a clue)

goldspanners

dont pay any more than £25 for pads,£40 for discs and at most 1 hour labour =£40 -£50 in a small independant garage.

C_Ronaldo

OP your grinding metal on metal, i had teh same noise and it cost me alot but then took it to the dealership to get the pads and discs replaced when it may have been cheaper if i went to an independant garage

jetcat

mine made similar grinding noises - got front ones (could have beeb rear ones, but i know it wasnt both lol) done for £102 pads and discs inc fitting.

like you, i was really worried about the cost, but it wasnt as bad as i thought - plus mine is a xsara, so yours should be cheaper (i think!)

bt80k

just done mine on my quattro pair front discs £30 delivered e.bay, pads £15 local guy..fitted them myself...i'd pop into kwik fit as i'm sure they still do a free brake test then you can get a diagnosis a quote and shop around if it's too much

Conor_3

andreaandrea wrote: »

Hiya

Ive got an old Ford fiesta - tonight on the way home there was a kind of grinding noise when i applied the brakes - not all the times but a lot of the times.

That'll be one of those well maintained and serviced cars that'll undoubtedly be the cause of my demise at work then. :rolleyes:

If you change them now, you'll get away with pads. Leave it and it'll be pads and discs.

Oh, and you might want to think about getting the rest of the car looked at as well - it's not just your safety you should be thinking about.