I have a 13 plate ecotec fiesta, it has done about 64k. And up until this year it has been a reliable economic car.

However this year it has been in the garage 3 times for the same fault. There is an issue with the brakes, extremely dangerous and very scary.

I am a paramedic and have to use my car for work, this fault has caused me a great deal of problems and money - which is very limited.

I am so disappointed with this car and the lack of acknowledgement from Ford as I believe I am definitely not the only one with this problem. I will be contacting Which and other consumer backing sites to see if they can help me with this issue.

Very very disappointed now with Ford and my fiesta.

Can you describe what the problem is, and what the garage have done to try and fix the problem?

The garage have stripped and serviced the whole braking system, we have also paid for a brand new servo.

Still the brakes are not working. There is no progressive braking and the pedal can be pressed, almost completely to the floor without any brakes coming on, then they will activate, where I nearly head butt the steering wheel, to finally get some action from the brakes. 

Intermittent fault, but extremely scary when it does happen. I hate driving the car now, and refuse to take my children in the car.

Edited June 15, 20205 yr by Frost04
Spelling errors

The garage have said they have had 3 other fiestas with the same issue. Apparently there was a similar fault on fiat cars, but they have recalled and changed the parts.

Very worrying and dangerous. I don't think the problem is with the vacuum servo as a failure would make the pedal harder to press and the brakes would be harder to press to get the xar to slow down. I think the pump is working ok and the hydraulic pressure is good because when they come on they work really well. 

I think the brakes are being turned off by a bad signal from the ECU or abs turning the hydraulic pump off. When this faulty signal clears the full force of the brakes suddenly comes back on. If the car has traction control it might be that which is triggering the bad signal. At a guess I would suspect a bad component on a control board is causing the intermittent fault. If it only happens at speeds up to 30mph it could be related to traction control.

This does seem like a bad component on a control module rather than a mechanical brake part.

If you have a leak on vacuum servo, pedal go down.

Put you ear really close to brake pedal and brake with your hand, see if you ear anything, air for ex.

 

9 hours ago, Kevin#95 said:

Very worrying and dangerous. I don't think the problem is with the vacuum servo as a failure would make the pedal harder to press and the brakes would be harder to press to get the xar to slow down. I think the pump is working ok and the hydraulic pressure is good because when they come on they work really well. 

I think the brakes are being turned off by a bad signal from the ECU or abs turning the hydraulic pump off. When this faulty signal clears the full force of the brakes suddenly comes back on. If the car has traction control it might be that which is triggering the bad signal. At a guess I would suspect a bad component on a control board is causing the intermittent fault. If it only happens at speeds up to 30mph it could be related to traction control.

This does seem like a bad component on a control module rather than a mechanical brake part.

It doesn't just happen at 30mph, when I'm doing 70mph and coming up to a roundabout I am having to use engine braking through the gears to slow the vehicle.

 

On 6/15/2020 at 11:58 PM, Frost04 said:

The garage have said they have had 3 other fiestas with the same issue. Apparently there was a similar fault on fiat cars, but they have recalled and changed the parts.

The Ka is basically a Fiat 500 underneath, but the Fiesta isn't anything to do with Fiat.  Can you remember which parts were recalled and changed?  And why haven't the garage offered to change those if that's what they think the issue is?

It sounds like an EBA fault (electronic brake assistance) to me.  The vacuum servo only provides part of the assistance, most of the pedal feel nowadays is electronic.  The brakes will still work without it but you'll have to press the pedal harder and it won't be as progressive as we're used to now.

The garage have offered to strip down the abs and completely change it, then remap the computer to the new components, but this is going to be up to £2000, I can't afford it or afford not to have a car. 

3 minutes ago, Frost04 said:

The garage have offered to strip down the abs and completely change it, then remap the computer to the new components, but this is going to be up to £2000, I can't afford it or afford not to have a car. 

Ah ok, they're making it sound like much more work than it actually is!  

You can buy a used ABS module for about £50.  Takes under an hour to change so no more than about £70 in labour.

Of course used parts are always a bit of a gamble, but brand new ABS modules cost so much that I'd always go used with these.

 

I agree that if you follow Tom's advice there is a good chance the fault will be fixed. The abs has an electronic board in it and it might just have a dry joint, but changing it for a used one is the best option and a lot cheaper than 2k. 

i don't know if this would make a difference or not. I wonder what the difference might be if you removed the abs fuse(s) for the purpose of narrowing down the problem. 

it might be easier said then done. I had the same thought in trying to sort out a problem on a 2008 focus (different symptons to yours). I found there were three fuses marked abs, one of which was under a plastic cover thing designed to make it difficult to get to. once the fuses were out the speedo did not work as it uses the abs sensors.  can anyone else comment on if this might be a way of narrowing it down?

Can anyone tell me where I can get a used abs module from then please?

12 hours ago, Frost04 said:

Can anyone tell me where I can get a used abs module from then please?

Local breakers yard would be ideal.  But if that's not possible, Ebay is next best.  You just need to make sure it's compatible with your engine and spec.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xmk7.5+fiesta+abs+module.TRS0&_nkw=mk7.5+fiesta+abs+module&_sacat=0

Here's a video showing how to change the ABS ECU if you're interested.   

 

the video is for a left hand drive car. i'm guessing it's on the other side of the car for right hand rive. don't know if it's so easy to get to.

just looked under bonnet of my 2015 mk7.5. on my car it's behind the battery and orientated so the electronic module is between the hydraulic part and the bulkhead . there is a bit of a gap between it and the bulkhead but I don't know if it's enough gap to get the module off the back. if you undid the bolts holding whole abs unit to car perhaps you can bend it forwards a bit on the pipes to give enough clearance.  At least it looks easier than on a mk6.5 where you have to disconnect the pipes.