Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on

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Mon 17 Jun 2019 20:55
Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on - OceanMan

Hi all, I know I should probably see a mechanic about this, but I've received some sound advice from this place in the past so I thought I'd give this a shot first...

So my friend's Ford Fiesta (Style plus, 1 litre, manual, 2010)i hasn't been driven for 6 weeks beforetoday. It's battery was flat (and old anyway) so I decided to change it. Followed the instructions as set out in a YouTube video, disconnected the negative side first, didn't leave the keys in the ignition etc.

When I started the car everything seemed fine, but as I drove it, everything went wrong. Getting it to move it felt like the handbrake was still on, and the car started to rumble and make a loud squeaking noise. I assumed I had a flat tire so I pulled over and checked, no flat. I drove it for about 1 minute In total and it really did feel like I was fighting against a lot of friction, but I'm certain the handbrake was off. It was making such unholy noises that passers by were staring and one shouted that I should turn the hand brake off.

Then, just as I pulled up the ABS SERVICE NOW light came on. I promptly shut it off and walked home. I'm wondering if there may be a simple solution to this. Is it possible that the 6 weeks of inactivity meant the handbrake has jammed or perhaps I installed the battery wrong and the computer has been fried?

Any suggestions at all would be appreciated before I can get it looked at by a mechanic next week.

Thanks in advance

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Mon 17 Jun 2019 21:46
Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on - OceanMan

Update: I spoke to my friend who owns the car and she said a similar thing had Happened a while ago, and they fixed it by slamming firmly on the acceleration and that seemed to solve the problem and get the car moving smoothly. I may try this tomorrow but it seems risky.

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Mon 17 Jun 2019 21:57
Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on - elekie&a/c doctor
Don’t think so . I suspect there is a problem with the rear brakes, possibly handbrake. Part of the abs system has been fried due to a brake overheating. Could be a sensor or wheel bearing. Get it checked properly.
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Tue 18 Jun 2019 02:22
Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on - 3uga

I think you need new brake pads. Ford Motorcraft parta have a tendancy to fail before geting worn out. Had the same problem a few years ago and fixed it with new brake pads.

The friction material from the pads break of in a single chunck and as you drive, that chunk gets beteen the disk and the caliper mount.

When buying new pads stay away from Motorcraft

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Tue 18 Jun 2019 02:24
Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on - OceanMan

Thanks for the responses.

Is there any way I can check this myself? Something specific I can look out for to see if the padsare broken?

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Tue 18 Jun 2019 18:05
Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on - 3uga

Jack up the car, remove wheel and look at brake pads. Brake pads are made out of 2 parts: a metalic plate and friction material. These two get separated.

Just recalled that fords come either with brake pads and caliper or with drum brakes. Forgot to ask wich type of braking sistem you have. In either case the problem will be the same : separation of friction material.

If you have drum brakes, you have to take the drum out. That might be hard because bolts that hold drum in place will have rust and usualy snap.

I find it weird that ford uses drum or caliper brakes on same model, same year cars and Im starting to wonder if caliper brakes come as extra.

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Fri 21 Jun 2019 17:36
Ford fiesta - Car struggling to drive ABS light on - OceanMan

Got this fixed. Turns out the breaks had somehow jammed to the back wheel because the car hadn't been driven in a few weeks. Thanks for the responses.

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