Help - Brake pedal travel distance.

[Velse]

Hello all, I hope you are doing well.

 

I would like to ask something as it seems to me like it´s not quite normal. 

We have a Ford Fiesta 1.25 2010, model  from 2008.

I do not expect it to brake like new cars, for starters only the fronts are discs. However, the brake pedal goes down for a while before effectively starting to brake, easily a 30% I´d say, maybe  a bit less.

I checked the vacuum, pumped the brake, then pushed the clutch and brake and started the car, it sunk about half way down but no warning lights come up in the console.

It seems to me like there could be air in the system and simply pulling it out would fix the issue, but I am not sure. Could it be that that´s how it is with this model or am I able to actually make it a bit more sensitive? Braking performance is good, it just takes that extra travelling for the pedal to brake. I don´t think the rears are worn out as the brake system is meant to adjust automatically. Any ideas :)?

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Velse
1.25*, I wish I had a 2.5 xD

[TomsFocus]

Rear drum 'automatic' adjusters are rarely automatic after a few years, it would be worth checking them.  How is your handbrake?  Many clicks to get it to hold on a hill?

Brake fluid should be changed regularly, every 2 years is recommended but not many people do it.  It might be worth changing the fluid if the pads and shoes are fine and there are no leaks anywhere.

I find if I do a lot of driving without any heavy braking the pedal gains a bit of freeplay and the handbrake gets higher, so far I have managed to cure it by braking hard from speed in an empty and safe location.  I'm fairly sure that's forcing the brake shoe adjusters to work properly.

[isetta]

I agree with TomsFocus on automatic adjusters. On my 2007 Fiesta which I had for 9 years (but sold last yr) I had to take the drums off to manually adjust the rear brake adjusters as they did not automatically adjust up and this was most noticable on the handbrake travel. Often people then adjust the handbrake cable but that is just masking the real problem of the adjusters in the drums being stuck. On cars I have had since I started driving 35 years ago I have found that the automatic adjusters often need manual adjustment.

Have you just bought it like this or have you had it ages and found it's got worse?

[zain611]

I adjusted the rear drums on my fiesta and noticed the handbrake cable would now work when put in the first position. I would also say that braking improved slightly as the shoes would operate the rear drums with less press of the brake pedal. Before I had to press the brake pedal a bit more down for both the front and rear brakes to work. 

[Gizza11]

Have you tried changing the brake fluid if its never been changed then air and water can get into the fluid. Air and water can compress unlike the brake fluid itself that does not this will give you the symptoms you have  . If you have no joy after initial  adjustments of the back shoes and hand brake etc then it my be fluid related or even  in worse case  brake master cylinder seals but check for air  first by renewing the fluid first if its old over 3 years.

[Velse]

Thank you all for the replies.

I will try the hard braking, it kinda makes sense to me.

After I will also change the brake fluid, the car is second hand and we got it like that. It hasn´t got any worse, it just feels like it has a bit too much free play till brakes engage.

 

The hand brake feels right, it has about 4 clicks to be fully deployed.

 

I will report back with how it goes :)

[Bobr]

My handbrake is fully on at one click.

 

[isetta]

18 hours ago, Velse said:

Thank you all for the replies.

I will try the hard braking, it kinda makes sense to me.

After I will also change the brake fluid, the car is second hand and we got it like that. It hasn´t got any worse, it just feels like it has a bit too much free play till brakes engage.

 

The hand brake feels right, it has about 4 clicks to be fully deployed.

 

I will report back with how it goes :)

When the rear brake shows wear and the rear brake adjusters in the drums are stuck then brake pedal travel and hand brake travel will suffer. At this point, a lot of people do up the handbrake cable adjuster which reduces hand brake travel but does not reduce brake pedal travel. This is a bit of a bodge and only really masks the real problem of the adjusters in the drums being stuck. But many people think it is the correct thing to do (they are not knowingly bodging it) because they don't understand how the whole thing works inside the drum.

[zain611]

7 hours ago, Bobr said:

My handbrake is fully on at one click.

 

Same here, I put it up to one click on a hill and it managed to hold on. Before the touching the rear drums I had to pull it so it clicks four times. 

You need to adjust the brake shoes then from there you will notice the handbrake doesn't have to be pulled up that much. I had an advisory on the MOT mentioning that there's a bit of travel on the handbrake plus it failed because the brake pedal would fully depress all the way. The cause of the brake pedal was because one of the brake lines burst in the MOT causing brake fluid to leak. 

What your aiming is slightly better braking at little pressure on the brake pedal and the handbrake can hold the car at one or two clicks. 

[Velse]

Hand brake seems to be okay, it actually takes 3 clicks, not 4 as I mentioned earlier.

Considering that it has 67500 miles, it´s not bad, so I wont be adjusting it for now I guess.

 

I hope I have some time to try some emergency braking this weekend or next week, let´s see how the foot brake responds to that :)

 

 

[LOLG]

Hi having bought a 2011  fiesta from new and spent  five years or more triying to sort out exesive travle in foot peddle i think its time to give up and get rid.

Having been in the garage buisness i decided to by my wife a new car insted of here using re sale ones, a ford fiesta i thought, one of the worse disicion i ever made . First 12 months ok then break travle, told the usual crap from fords oh dont worry there like that, breaks ok on test. Mmmm back again after six months after i had driven the car again!!! my wife thought the breaks felt ok that sounds about right.  Fords Hallifax had another play, a little better this time however 6 months then bake problem again Ford decided to bleed the breaks after a few course words with them this time there was an improvement however this problem re occured aprox twelve months later combined with a stearing rack problem but mutch to my suprise the company i had delt with had shut down and by the time i had sorted out where to take the fiasta the waranty had run out.  Time to look into it myself as if i hadn't anought to do.  on cheking everything for leakes re ajusting the rear breakes etc, no joy!!!  then a master cylinder change and to my suprise the fitting on the reservoy cap was one that i could not aquire for my pressure bleeding pump, however another company in Halifax had opened a ford agancy,  Wow!!

Having gone to see the service manager and told him of my problems and although the car was now out of waranty he booked the car into the garage cheked it through and blead the breakes, this was a one off but next time i would have to pay he said, I thanked him then jumped into my car WOW nearly went through the windscreen the breakes had never been as good but allas aprox 12 months on thay were just as bad as before,  so anoyed i striped off the front callipers to check then replaced the discs and pads dismanteled the rear breaks cheked the cylinders replaced re ajusted then cheked all the breake system everythin was ok but still the problem, so i took it to fords again to check and bleed the breaks again yes briliant got no travle but once again the problem came back so now i am thinking poss ABS unite but because you have to perchace it with the ecu combined at aprox £1500  forget it. I won't go into all the other problems I had with the car I will be hear all day.  Sorry to say but this car having only done 3200 miles !!!  What a load of crap and if you are having the same type of problem my sugestion get rid. sorry about the spelling not my best point.

 

[Trianni]

A lot of people having the same problem! After the warranty and maybe a little bit before had the same issue. And i my wife leave with it for many years now. After many visits to various Ford garages and paying till now 600-700€ they told me to change ABS around 2000€.I had a lot of Ford cars till now. But not anymore because as i see this we talk about a failure which Ford should address immediately from the beginning with a recall!!!

[MasterTechTip]

This is a fairly common issue on these models, one the best ways of rectifying it is to do a "power bleed" unfortunately it's not a permanent fix and can only be done on an IDS machine or equivalent. I have known people to swap out ABS pumps and all sorts and it doesn't rectify the fault. Should be able to get a power bleed done at your local Ford dealer for around £40