7 replies to this topic

[Doggy1]

Bought a new fiesta 1.25zetec 5dr back in october [covered 3500miles so far]. Recently, I've noticed a grinding noise from the front brakes [can only really notice it after applying the brakes and pulling up to a junction or roundabout]. Are there any known brake problems with the new fiesta [misalignment of pads etc..]? I've booked it in at the local Ford dealer for next week as a warranty repair, so it should get sorted then.

Thanks in advance.
Cheers

[Hook]

Bought a new fiesta 1.25zetec 5dr back in october [covered 3500miles so far]. Recently, I've noticed a grinding noise from the front brakes [can only really notice it after applying the brakes and pulling up to a junction or roundabout]. Are there any known brake problems with the new fiesta [misalignment of pads etc..]? I've booked it in at the local Ford dealer for next week as a warranty repair, so it should get sorted then.

Thanks in advance.
Cheers

Mine have been doing this in the cold weather when they first get used. I assume yours is a more prolonged problem?

[DanGull]

This may seem simplistic, so I apologise if it's obvious...but are you aware what ABS feels like?

Grinding is a good description, does the pedal seem to judder under your foot? That's completely normal with ABS.

This seems to tie in with the fact that it happens approaching junctions etc...

[Jonny87]

if this only happens at the beginning of your journey it is quite likely to be your pads rubbing the corosion off of your discs. There is far more corrosion to the discs when the roads are salted. after using your brakes once or twice the rust should have rubbed off and the problem will disappear.

[Doggy1]

Thanks for the responses. It's definitely not the ABS, as it makes the noise even when approaching a junction under very light braking at slow speeds - nowhere fast enough to activate the ABS. As suggested by Jonny87, I thought it may have been the disks with corrosion, but the noise continues even after long journeys - after I've given the brakes a good thrashing. I don't think its affecting the braking performance yet, its just a nagging problem, and I know there's something not quite right with them.

Will let you know what the dealer says.

Cheers.

[MarkyR]

Thanks for the responses. It's definitely not the ABS, as it makes the noise even when approaching a junction under very light braking at slow speeds - nowhere fast enough to activate the ABS. As suggested by Jonny87, I thought it may have been the disks with corrosion, but the noise continues even after long journeys - after I've given the brakes a good thrashing. I don't think its affecting the braking performance yet, its just a nagging problem, and I know there's something not quite right with them.

Will let you know what the dealer says.

Cheers.

I would be interested too in what your dealer says as my car does the same thing and I was told it's nothing to worry about by the dealer?

[DONFRAMAC]

This is a well-known problem with single-piston, floating caliper disk brakes. They don't bother lubricating the sliding parts, or the backs and edges of the pads. (Copaslip used to be the main brand of copper-based grease for brake parts, but keep it off disks and friction material.)
Within 2 months of me buying my new '58 reg Fiesta Mk 6.5, I could feel a wear step on the inside edge of both discs, and the outer faces were only getting a light buffing to clear rust off. My dealer is 110 miles away, so I paid a local Citroen specialist for 1 1/4 hrs labour for him to strip & clean & generally buff pads ( the outer ones were glazed ), and apply the lube.
I should have gone to him earlier, as the work would have been less time-consuming, with less de-glazing req., and the pins the calipers float on needed cleaning & lube.
The poor braking was highlighted when I took the car under complaint for the gear-shift to be checked, as cold-weather gearchanges were very notchy, but the temperature on that day was 13 deg C, so no problem showed up. The loan-car, however, was an absolute dream for braking, -- a 1.6 TDCi FOCUS ZETEC. Two hours with that reminded me of the floating-caliper endemic problem, so the job was done in my home town, at my own expense. (Another full day going to Inverness and back, to a dealer that skimps on a PDI, was too much to argue about, incompetent tw**s.)
In my part if the Highlands, brakes have to have this treatment every year, usually at servicing time.
P.S., now that the car has more than 5,000 miles on it, the winter gear-changes are less notchy, but my Wife's Jan. '09 Toyota Aygo has a vastly better gear-shift, and so did my last car, a Yaris D-4D, owned from new, in Sept. '03, until 30/09/08. Even my previous Rover 25 TD was better, and that 'box was a Rover-improved Peugeot 205 one, that Peugeot adopted themselves to cope with high power/torque applications, as Rover had made it strong enough for the VVTi MG F, and, I expect, the 2.0 and 2.5 V6 K series motors.
Your discs can get rusted overnight, enough to need some hard braking 4/5 times the next day, before they go silent. Leave them a week, and a trip out of town + tramping on the pedal may be needed, a few times, after a look in your mirrors.
( The Rover Dealer did the brake job annually, as a matter of course, but I had to tell the Toyota Foreman to do it, and about descaling discs or skimming them, rather than renewing them :-- there is a simple little lathe for skimming -- childs-play.)

[Forbesie]

Hi Doggy1,

Could you let us know what the service guy found wrong with your brakes please. Were they able to fix them?
I'd really appreciate a response as I'm having the same problem.
Taa