Brakes noise problem has me & garage stumped, any help ?

[Jon Read]

(Mondeo Mk3 2002)

So for the last month my brakes have been making a creaking groaning noise when the car comes to a stop (rarely happens when slowing down on corners, mainly when coming to a stop or very close to). I took it to my local garage and they thought they had fixed it by repairing the heat shield for the exhaust as it was hanging down. Sadly when I took it for a ride after the noise was still there. I kept driving it for another week or so, and then my yellow ABS light started to come on randomly.

What I noticed was when the ABS light was on that the brakes no longer creaked, at all. Then if the light went off on the journey the brakes noise would come back. Also my handbrake came on on my last journey for 50% of it, that has never happened before. So today I took it back in to my garage and they are stumped, they said the ABS light coming on should make no difference to noises from the brakes, especially the fact the noise goes away when the light is on. Normally I would just assume it coincidence, but the fact it made noises when the light was off and no noises when the light was on I just couldn't believe it was coincidence. But they know more than me as I am not a mechanic.

So they are currently stumped and not sure what it is. I wondered if anyone here has any ideas ? The noise is very much like a creaking groaning noise from under the driver seat/pedal area. Sometimes I can also feel the sensation in my foot when it is on the brakes pedal. It usually happens at junctions, traffic lights, car parks, basically anywhere I have to come to a stop and happens about 70% of the time. It also has a slips/grips/slip/grips type feel sometimes (but not always), like the brakes give, then lock, then give, in very quick and short succession, although it seems to actually brake okay, just a sensation.

The diagnostic tool showed a ABS wheel mismatch but the garage said they wiped the code and it hasn't shown back up today, although the ABS light still comes on. This brakes noise has been around for a month or so and the ABS light only started a few days ago. I also have no idea why the handbrake light came on for 50% of my journey yesterday, I have never seen that happen before as the handbrake was most definitely not on, and it came on the 2nd half of the journey.

Also not sure if relevant but back in early Janaurt just before this began I had an ABS sensor replaced/repaired as I had the yellow ABS light coming on. Whatever the garage did fixed it as the light stopped and my diagnostic device stopped telling me about a rear sensor error, but I didn't have any brakes noises or noticeable issues as it was purely just the ABS light back then. It hadn't actually come back on for 2 months since then until it came on again a few days ago. 

Any ideas anyone ? I know it is a very old car but I wanted to get another year out of it if possible. Thanks all.

[unofix]

The best idea I can suggest is take the car to a garage that understands ABS brakes.

Clearly the issue is related to the ABS system, could be the ABS pump, or balancing valves or brake master cylinder. Don't wait until the brakes reach a point they hardly work. If the ABS light comes on then there has to be a DTC. You need a garage with a Ford (not general purpose) code reader OR get yourself a laptop and download the software FORScan.

 

[Jon Read]

Thanks. I use FORScan on my phone with a diagnostic device, the only ABS error that showed up was Code: C1222 - Speed Wheel Mismatch, but the garage said they have wiped the code and tested the ABS when driving and all checks out okay and no error has come back, but the ABS light is still on. 

Do you know if it is even possible for the brakes to make a creaking noise only when the ABS light is off but not on ? As that is really puzzling me. 

Last time I asked my Ford specific garage to take a look at my car they said it was too old so sent me to another general garage, and this was over 5 years ago for a different reason. 

[iantt]

Sounds like one of the wheel bearings is rusted up. Basically the wheel bearings have the abs sensor ring as part of the bearing . The hub the bearing sits in corrodes and bits of rust attaches to the ring. So when you brake , the sensor will pick up the ring turning just about until you slow down to nearly a stop just at that point before stationary sensor fails to detect the rotation compared to the 3 others and decides to activate the abs on the one wheel. That's the abs pump activating you can feel/hear. 

Easy way to find which one is to monitor wheel speeds on each wheel via diagnostics. The speed of the one wheel will stop before the others. 

Unfortunately you can't see the sensor ring as it's hidden in the hub. Will need the bearing pressed out and a new one fitting in reality, cleaning up any rust/debris. 

Or the sensor could have the debris stuck on the sensor tip. 

Bear in mind this is only an educated guess based on my experience on a Mondeo i fixed 15+ years ago. 

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