Hey,

I had my rear right side caliper replaced as the piston had seized a while ago and hadn't noticed. I had all four pads done at the same time.

The moment I got the vehicle back, I noticed that the brake peddle was just... not responsive to my press, finding I had to go further down to feel any reaction from the brakes.

Now, I rack up colossal mileage so I know my own car inside and out, I have pads replaced regularly, every 4-5 months or so, and ever time new pads go on, the brake peddle travel is reduced (as it would) and feels nice and tight.

The first half of the brake travel is just useless and I find myself spending more time faffing around with trying to figure out when to lift my foot of the accelerator to spend the extra second or two adjusting my foot on the brake peddle. The first 50% of the travel you feel literally NOTHING (almost) and then slowly as you get towards 60-70% of the travel you start to feel the vehicle slowing down and if you press harder you are getting an emergency brake. (that 60-70% position is the response I would get at around 20-30%.)

The mechanics that worked on the car are sadly telling me that there is nothing wrong with my car, which is infuriating.

For example I was on the motorway and somebody pulled in front of my. My muscle memory is to 'tap' on the brake slightly to build a tad bit of distance, but I found myself having to push hard down to get the response desired.

Once again, apparently, its normal. And I'm telling them, its not. I have pretty much lost confidence in distance keeping, so I am constantly falling back, trailing lorries in the left hand land.

Could the brake caliper replacement damaged something else... somehow? I was told that a bad caliper or piston would cause the master brake cylinder to fail if replaced incorrectly, but I just don't see the correlation.

Any advice?

 

Requires full re-bleed, whole system to correct procedure

Hey, thanks for the reply. Not sure why I missed this info in the original post.

They are adamant that the brakes do NOT need bleeding. Which is very strange to me as that was my first assumption.

As above, agree with Dave.

Thanks for the replies.

They are adamant its just master brake cylinder that is failing and 'happens' from time to time, usually after changing a major component (can anyone validate this, sounds way off) it's really infuriating.

I have booked it in to Halford tomorrow, hopefully all is well.

18 minutes ago, ModdyTDCI140 said:

Hey, thanks for the reply. Not sure why I missed this info in the original post.

They are adamant that the brakes do NOT need bleeding. Which is very strange to me as that was my first assumption.

They've just bled to the rear caliper(s), they need to completely bleed the entire system, starting from scratch, following the correct procedure.

ABS module has to be in bleed mode to open and close all the valves

If you're not happy after they've looked again, take it to Ford, get them to bleed it correctly and give them the bill

1 minute ago, DaveT70 said:

They've just bled to the rear caliper(s), they need to completely bleed the entire system, starting from scratch, following the correct procedure.

ABS module has to be in bleed mode to open and close all the valves

Thanks for the informative reply.

Would Halfords know how to do this as standard? Does a regular break fluid change include what you've described above?

(I know Halfords and quickfit are crappy outlets but I'd rather have the assurance of the brand/warranty/claim etc if they mess it up.)

15 minutes ago, ModdyTDCI140 said:

Would Halfords know how to do this as standard? Does a regular break fluid change include what you've described above?

Probably not, the car has to be connect via OBD port to a bleed machine to open and close the ABS module valves whilst the operator goes round opening and closing the bleed nipples.

That's why I recommend taking to Ford if you're not happy and get them to bleed/flush the brake fluid and bill Halfords because they should've done it properly.

Yes, regular brake fluid flush requires this procedure too  

interesting, thanks for the reply Dave.

Put my mind at ease. Was thinking it was something more major and it was getting on my nerves. Hopefully sorted by tomorrow.

Thanks again!

If you don't clamp the brake hose and crack the bleed nipple open  before forcing back the piston, then the fluid being forced back into the master cylinder can 'flip the seals'. And that can cause this infuriating problem. I had to replace my  m/c and also bleed the abs unit  to fix this condition on my mk3. What a faff! 

Agree, best thing to do is to have a full system bleed of the brakes in this situation.

BUT, just to be clear, it is known that, on any make of vehicle, that when doing a bleed of brakes, where the pedal is pushed to the floor as it has to be, it is known, but not common, that the master cylinder seal(s) can "flip over", hence requiring a new master cyl. It is not the fault of the technician - it is just bad luck but much more likely to happen on a well used older veh where master cylinder seals are not in perfect condition

2 hours ago, nicam49 said:

If you don't clamp the brake hose and crack the bleed nipple open  before forcing back the piston, then the fluid being forced back into the master cylinder can 'flip the seals'. And that can cause this infuriating problem. I had to replace my  m/c and also bleed the abs unit  to fix this condition on my mk3. What a faff! 

Hey, thanks for the reply. What a bizarre situation to be fair.

Do you remember how much you ended up paying for your M/C and ABS bleed?

Thanks!

20 minutes ago, TrevorB said:

Agree, best thing to do is to have a full system bleed of the brakes in this situation.

BUT, just to be clear, it is known that, on any make of vehicle, that when doing a bleed of brakes, where the pedal is pushed to the floor as it has to be, it is known, but not common, that the master cylinder seal(s) can "flip over", hence requiring a new master cyl. It is not the fault of the technician - it is just bad luck but much more likely to happen on a well used older veh where master cylinder seals are not in perfect condition

Thanks.

How does 10 years and 240,000 miles sound? Old enough? 🙂

I'm just gutted as my budget is running dry, I haven't been paid for the last three weeks of work and every god damn time I start this car something is always failing at randomly... its killing me now.

Hi Moddy,

As said, the first thing to do is to ensure the brakes have been bled 100% correctly before diving into replacng the master cylinder.

Regrettably, 240,000 miles sounds more than enough, sorry. Best of luck. Please let us know how it goes

If you wallet is draining. i would suggest stop going to Halfords overpriced know nothings. fin d a local mech you feel you can trust and who will not rip you off and use him for all works. Once you build a raport prices can reduce, 5 minute jobs are done for free or a nominal fee, and if really good you can negotiate the dreaded VAT which is geneally a bill killer.

Hi, I bought a 2nd hand m/c from a breakers, and have Forscan and a Tunnelrat code reader, so used that to do the abs bleed procedure(it's a software command that you select) I had bought new m/c seals from Bigg Red but couldn't remove the old ones! Hope you get it sorted soon... as sounds flippin dodgy!