Hi!

I know something similar may have been posted already however the only relevant posts I could find were in 2012!

I have noticed (Car is 64 plate, 12,500 miles)that everytime I start to come to a stop (about 4mph) I get a slight squeak from my front brakes - I think its predominantly from the front right.

I have read a few things, 1) That its a common fault with fiestas and you may get this noise at low speeds 2) Its due to the salts on the roads and the fiesta's brakes. I have only just noticed this noise (so not during the freezing winter months) and it has only just occurred in the last few days, bizarrely when the temperatures have been warmer? 

 

Is there a quick way to check the wear on the front pads/disks? I assume after 12,500 miles that the pads shouldn't be worn down, or the disks. Is there any way I can check if it will be road salts/dirt etc causing the noise? 

Best way to check your pads from personal expierence is remove the wheel, and where the caliper is there is a slight gap. You should be able to see your pads. If not, unbolt the caliper (2 bolts on the inside of the caliper) one at bottom and one at top, you'll then have access to the pads. If you take them off, you may need to 'clamp' the piston to make room to put the caliper back over. easy job. Make sure you press the brake pedal once you've put the caliper back on as it'll go straight to the floor first time. :)

14 hours ago, JayG90 said:

Best way to check your pads from personal expierence is remove the wheel, and where the caliper is there is a slight gap. You should be able to see your pads. If not, unbolt the caliper (2 bolts on the inside of the caliper) one at bottom and one at top, you'll then have access to the pads. If you take them off, you may need to 'clamp' the piston to make room to put the caliper back over. easy job. Make sure you press the brake pedal once you've put the caliper back on as it'll go straight to the floor first time. :)

May try this one next weekend! I'm guessing its salts as I rarely hammer the brakes and they've only done 12,500 miles so I assume its salt/grit. May just use some WD40 to grease them up a bit 

As bad as it sounds not taken a wheel off before, always scared of putting the jack through the floor of the car! May get my brother on the case too! Would anyone recommend any decent pads whilst I'm at it?

2 hours ago, JSMarsden said:

May try this one next weekend! I'm guessing its salts as I rarely hammer the brakes and they've only done 12,500 miles so I assume its salt/grit. May just use some WD40 to grease them up a bit 

As bad as it sounds not taken a wheel off before, always scared of putting the jack through the floor of the car! May get my brother on the case too! Would anyone recommend any decent pads whilst I'm at it?

Genuine ford pads are generally pretty good I got around 30k miles before I replaced the front discs and pads with genuine ford again (about £115 from memory for new discs and pads and less than an hours labour at a local independent garage to fit them), maybe just a build up of brake dust or a lack of cleaning and maintenance your experiencing. Should get more than 12,500 from them with sensible conservative driving! I hardly use the brakes.

Watch what you doing with wd40, spray grease etc when near braking faces not a good mix for obvious reasons.

If you've never taken a wheel off maybe better putting the car into a trusted local garage for them to give your braking system a once over and clean up. Dangerous to mess about with a braking system if you have limited knowledge and facilities etc etc.

The cheap discs and pads generally give off more dust and don't wear as well, but the biggest factor for wear on any braking system will be individual driving style I'd say.

1 minute ago, dave_k said:

Genuine ford pads are generally pretty good I got around 30k miles before I replaced the front discs and pads with genuine ford again (about £115 from memory for new discs and pads and less than an hours labour at a local independent garage to fit them), maybe just a build up of brake dust or a lack of cleaning and maintenance your experiencing. Should get more than 12,500 from them with sensible conservative driving! I hardly use the brakes.

Watch what you doing with wd40, spray grease etc when near braking faces not a good mix for obvious reasons.

If you've never taken a wheel off maybe better putting the car into a trusted local garage for them to give your braking system a once over and clean up. Dangerous to mess about with a braking system if you have limited knowledge and facilities etc etc.

The cheap discs and pads generally give off more dust and don't wear as well, but the biggest factor for wear on any braking system will be individual driving style I'd say.

I was only joking about the WD40! haha - My brother has done a lot of changes on his car (brakes, superchargers etc) so will get him to jack it up one weekend with me to check them! Thats not a bad price for the brakes and pads! I heard Mintex pads are fairly decent but think they give off a lot of break dust.

I have this squeak on my ST, got a tyre changed and they did a break test, said the pads aren't anywhere near worn, could just be warming up or the "salt" as you said, told me to ask Ford about it, spoke to them today and they said they'll come back to me.

So i'm going to see if it really only does happen when it's cold and at low speeds, not sure how i'm gonna test listening to my brakes at high speed though?

21 minutes ago, Maxxxykins said:

I have this squeak on my ST, got a tyre changed and they did a break test, said the pads aren't anywhere near worn, could just be warming up or the "salt" as you said, told me to ask Ford about it, spoke to them today and they said they'll come back to me.

So i'm going to see if it really only does happen when it's cold and at low speeds, not sure how i'm gonna test listening to my brakes at high speed though?

Yeh mine seem fine at high speeds. Its literally coming to a stop at lights (a squeak right at the last moment for just a second) and in the works car park slowing from 5mph because of the ridiculous speed humps. Although your ST will have different breaks - possibly same issue though! 

If you want to jack the car up at anytime, then if you look under the car you'll see a 'metal' bar really close to the edge... I'll get a photo if you do not understand me' place the jack into that and up the car goes. (I hope you understand what I mean if you just have a look under the car right near the edge) haha!

I guess if you're worried about doing this the first time alone, then maybe it is best you do it with someone and maybe have them teach you? 

7 minutes ago, JayG90 said:

If you want to jack the car up at anytime, then if you look under the car you'll see a 'metal' bar really close to the edge... I'll get a photo if you do not understand me' place the jack into that and up the car goes. (I hope you understand what I mean if you just have a look under the car right near the edge) haha!

I guess if you're worried about doing this the first time alone, then maybe it is best you do it with someone and maybe have them teach you? 

Yeh! I just don't want it to end like a chuckle brothers sketch with a jack coming through the floor next to my pedals  haha. 

I think it should be fairly easy to see the jack points I guess! 

6 minutes ago, JSMarsden said:

Yeh! I just don't want it to end like a chuckle brothers sketch with a jack coming through the floor next to my pedals  haha. 

I think it should be fairly easy to see the jack points I guess! 

Give me a second, I'll get a photo. Last thing I want is to hear you've hired someone to come tip the car over haha.

 

Not a very good photo, but left hand side of the photo is the main body work (door and side skirt) and then right hand side is under the car. The thin bar you see, you put the jack there (jack has a space for that to slot into) sorry it isn't great, my car is on a main road at the moment and was limited...

 

Too late, I wound it up too quick!

3 minutes ago, JSMarsden said:

<a href="http://s340.photobucket.com/user/Haydeeees/media/crash.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o330/Haydeeees/crash.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo crash.jpg"/></a>  Too late, I wound it up too quick!

Check above. :)

6 minutes ago, JayG90 said:

Check above. :)

You were too quick and I threw the wrong link up! haha (Car is on its roof now ;))

 

Thanks a lot for that! Great help 

5 hours ago, JSMarsden said:

I was only joking about the WD40! haha - My brother has done a lot of changes on his car (brakes, superchargers etc) so will get him to jack it up one weekend with me to check them! Thats not a bad price for the brakes and pads! I heard Mintex pads are fairly decent but think they give off a lot of break dust.

Yeah heard Mintex do give off a lot more dust. If I didn't use ford parts, I'd consider brembo discs and pads on the name and reputation, no idea on the prices though.