Hi all!

I'm looking to buy a 1995 Ford Fiesta . It only has 50k miles and the engine and most of it is in great condition, but the brakes seem very loose as in you have to press the brake paddle all the way down for it to even start braking slightly. I'm wondering if it would be dangerous to drive but it did pass an MOT recently. 

In the MOT advisory section it states "Brake pipes corroded, covered in grease or other material FRONT".

 

My question is if anyone knows if it could be just the brake fluid that needs changing or if the loose brakes are down to the corroded brake pipes.

If so, how much would it cost to have the brake pipes replaced?

 

(I'm trying to get a quote from a mechanic but because it's such an old car no one can tell me unless I bring it in, and the next available slots are in 3 weeks time and I'm looking to buy the car now)

Hello Toni, welcome to the 'Ford Owners Club'

Thats a lot of questions in such a short post !

Firstly I can give you a 110% guarantee that 'if' the brake pipes are indeed corroded it is not affecting the operation of the brakes. If they were leaking you would be loosing the brake fluid and you would have no brakes !

"Loose brakes" I guess you mean the brakes are soft. This could be the result of many, many things. (a) does the brake Pads and or shoes need replacing? (b) Are the brake pistons / calibers seized up, or leaking ? (c) Is there air in the system ? (d) Is the Brake Servo working OR for that matter does the car even have a Servo fitted?  (e) Yes it probably is a good idea to have a garage change the brake fluid. These are only some of the possible problems for the brakes being 'Soft'

Do you know for sure that the brake pipes are in fact corroded and not just covered with Underseal which was a common thing for cars of that age?

How much will new brake pipes cost ? = How long is a piece of string ?

Garages charge between £70 and £200 per hour labour + Pipes + fittings + fluid = ? My best guess is about £250 if you get a little back street garage to do the work.

Hi unofix, thank you so much for your reply! This really helps!

The MOT advisory does say the brake pipe is corroded and I saw that it was covered in grease, so I was assuming this might be the case but it is probably wise to take another look at it. It is good to know though that this hasn't got to do with the brakes being soft (sorry, soft was word I was looking for 😁). This is what I was fearing.

As it recently passed the MOT I assumed all the brake components have been checked and were sufficient enough, so my only guess is that it might have air in the system or the break fluid needs changing. 

 

1 hour ago, unofix said:

Hello Toni, welcome to the 'Ford Owners Club'

Thats a lot of questions in such a short post !

Firstly I can give you a 110% guarantee that 'if' the brake pipes are indeed corroded it is not affecting the operation of the brakes. If they were leaking you would be loosing the brake fluid and you would have no brakes !

"Loose brakes" I guess you mean the brakes are soft. This could be the result of many, many things. (a) does the brake Pads and or shoes need replacing? (b) Are the brake pistons / calibers seized up, or leaking ? (c) Is there air in the system ? (d) Is the Brake Servo working OR for that matter does the car even have a Servo fitted?  (e) Yes it probably is a good idea to have a garage change the brake fluid. These are only some of the possible problems for the brakes being 'Soft'

Do you know for sure that the brake pipes are in fact corroded and not just covered with Underseal which was a common thing for cars of that age?

How much will new brake pipes cost ? = How long is a piece of string ?

Garages charge between £70 and £200 per hour labour + Pipes + fittings + fluid = ? My best guess is about £250 if you get a little back street garage to do the work.

Hi unofix, thank you so much for your reply! This really helps!

The MOT advisory does say the brake pipe is corroded and I saw that it was covered in grease, so I was assuming this might be the case but it is probably wise to take another look at it. It is good to know though that this hasn't got to do with the brakes being soft (sorry, soft was word I was looking for 😁). This is what I was fearing.

As it recently passed the MOT I assumed all the brake components have been checked and were sufficient enough, so my only guess is that it might have air in the system or the break fluid needs changing. 

Modern cars have dual circuit brakes, mainly since maybe mid 1970s.  If one circuit springs a fluid leak you don’t lose all brakes, you have brakes on 2 wheels instead of 4 wheels and the pedal goes down a lot further. Some cars have one circuit for front and one circuit for back. Others have them linked diagonally eg front left on same circuit as rear right.   Of course it wouldn’t pass mot if one circuit was leaking.  We don’t know if something has happened since mot was done.

7 minutes ago, isetta said:

 If one circuit springs a fluid leak you don’t lose all brakes,

Indeed, very true. Of course when the brake fluid reservoir becomes empty then you would find yourself without brakes.

I would also add that it is usual for the brake fluid reservoir to have a divider in the bottom so if one circuit is leaking fluid the reservoir keeps some fluid in the reservoir for the other circuit.   It could be master cylinder problem where only one of the two circuits is holding pressure there. Hard to explain without a diagram of internals of dual circuit master cylinder.   You could try jacking car up and seeing if you can turn wheels whilst someone holds brake pedal down hard.  Handbrake off of course.