Hello

I am having probkems with my focus 2003 1.8 diesel.

I was driving and all of a sudden the brake pedal dropped to the floor.

I had a quick check around and no visible signs of a leak. Discs all round so no wheel cylinders to leak. Front pads were in a bad way so i changed them.

The pedal is solid when pumped with the engine off but when started the pedal just falls to the floor.

I have been trying to find the issue for a few days now through checking the braking system and various forums as i have swapped the master cylinder and servo. I have also swapped the abs pump and rebled the system twice. 

I am unsure if the abs pump needs a special tool to bleed.

 

I am now running out of ideas.

Im sure the actuators inside the abs pump need to be activated to expel all the air from the pump.

Any ideas on how to do this?. Ive heard taking it out onto a gravel track and trying to get the abs pump to activate and then rebleeding.

Disconnect the battery when bleeding brake system with ABS.
Just the battery ground is sufficient.

The ABS pump is 'open' as default so shouldn't need anything special to bleed it.

Does sound like theres still air in the system though.

Have you tried clamping off each flexipipe in turn and see if pedal stays reasonably firm, then if it does you will be able to identify front or rear issue and which side.

I had the battery disconnected and have bled the brakes a few times now. 

Just strange how the pedal is solid until the engine kicks in. Going to clamp each flexi next and try that.