Braking Issue/maybe

[JSMarsden]

Hi all,

Fairly new to the forums but want to be a large part of it :). Looking at simple mods first along the line when I get used to the car (owned it for a day!)

I picked it up on Friday and all seemed fine, I drove from Manchester to South London on the first drive and after coming off the motorway at the services I began to brake and felt a very slight 'pulsing' sensation from the brake pedal. It felt (may just be me) that the car would be braking harder, softer, harder in a rhythm when slowing down from about 75ish to around 30.

I checked my brakes in the services (emergency stop) and all seemed fine however at slow speeds I could feel a very soft pulsing under my foot.

I'm unsure if this could still be dirt on the brakes since its been sat on the forecourt for a few week and will obviously leave it for another week to see if anything improves as I don't feel its drastically hampering the performance...

Could it be possibly warped disks/any thoughts or anybody had similar issues?

Thanks!

Js

[stef123]

A pulsing brake pedal could well be a warped disc. The only real way to check is to measure the run out with a dial gauge.

[Taeasz]

Hi James

I had exactly the same issue as you when I bought my 9 months old Ecoboost 125 with 9000 miles on the clock. I assumed the same as you and thought it may be rust on the discs. I also suspected an ABS issue but as the pulsing rate varied with road speed it was more likely to be run-out on the discs. Sometimes it was more noticeable than others, and I had the slow speed pulsing as well. I had the local dealer check it out when in for service and he said there was corrosion and pitting on discs, and offered to skim the discs for £200. No thanks!
Eventually I found a Ford main dealer that was willing to fit genuine replacement discs and pads at Ford's £175 fixed price repair price (normally only applicable to cars more than 4 years old) and the problem was solved. The car has been much nicer to drive since then. Incidentally when doing the job they found that one of the front brake callipers was partially seized so they had to free that off as well. Hope this is of help to you.

[JSMarsden]

Thanks a lot for that!

I'm going to try and do a few emergency stops/drive and break gradually to see if anything happens but I know If it's warping or anything that you suggested then it'll get worse.

If it does then I'll be taking it straight back to the garage to get it sorted. I understand the warranty doesn't cover wear and tear items but if the problem were then when I purchased it then I shouldn't have to pay.

If everything fails and I need new ones then I'll probably just look for some aftermarket ones which should be better than the standard ford ones?

Thanks!!

[stef123]

To be honest, I would be informing them now that you think there may be a problem. The longer you leave it the more likely they could be to blame you looking for a way out.

[Taeasz]

James

I did try some fairly heavy braking tactics to try and clean up the discs when I first noticed the problem but it didn't really improve matters. If anything they gradually got worse rather than better. I think the root cause was that the previous owner was probably fairly light on the brake pedal and maybe did a lot of short trips. If the car stands for long periods corrosion and pitting can build up on the discs.

I originally intended to use aftermarket discs and pads, I had used EBC before and had always been happy with them. However parts would be around £120 so I didn't think the Ford fully fitted price was too bad. I believe they use Motorcraft parts and although I did have some reservations about using the same as original this didn't appear to be a widespread problem with later Fiestas, so I put it down to the fact that maybe Ford had a duff batch of discs at the time of build.

[vinpetrol]

Hi

It might be that it has had discs fitted fairly recently and that the hub wasn't cleaned as well as it could of been.

If you take the wheels off and the discs look fresh it might be worth taking them off and giving the hub where the disc seats a good clean up with a wire brush and then putting it all back together.

This has worked for me a couple of times in the past all be it not on a recent fiesta but brakes are generally similar regardless of manufacturer.

Vin

[JSMarsden]

Thanks all for the initial help very welcoming! I went out in it today and I can't seem to feel it anymore. Maybe it was just a one off but I'm going to keep my eye on it to see if it comes back - I think if I try and find an issue then it'll become a "phantom issue" and ill be dreaming it!

The disks look OK from what I can see, however a bit of browning/rusting on the calliper but I perfume that'll disappear after a few more days of use!