Parked my sons Fiesta up on Friday, everything fine, nothing wrong with the car. He jumped in it this morning to go to work and the brake pedal went to the floor, we had a look at it and there is no brakes until the pedal nearly reaches the floor. I went a (gentle!) run in it and the brakes do work but the pedal goes nearly to the floor with little or no feeling of them working. The brakes are good enough to squeal the tyres when they come on but they only work in the last 1/2in before the pedal touches the floor.
I topped up the brake fluid which was well down, and tried again but no improvement.
Any ideas? I cant understand how the car was ok when I parked it up, but now the brakes have no pressure at all.
Trev
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frightening
please get expert help and dont drive it until sorted
seeing as well as new shoes and rear wheel cylinder it will probably need a new master cylinder as well now
thankfully driving it down the road didnt cause a major rta in this mornings icy conditions
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When was the brake fluid level last checked?
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frightening
bell boy
Not driven in traffic, live on an unadopted, unmade private road...no traffic.
When was the brake fluid level last checked?
bathtub tom
Not checked for a long time, summer before he went away comes to mind. Not sure of the level this morning, I could see there wasn't much in it, but before I could get to it, my son had the top off and had topped it up.... so don't know if its got air into the system or not. Would these symptoms occur if it had got air in the system through the master cylinder running empty?
Had a good look round the wheels before it got dark and there wasn't any evidence of any leaks.
Thanks for the reply's
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I'd have a good look at the disc pads (as they wear, the fluid level drops) and a very close look at the inside of the rear tyres. If it's got a leak from a rear wheel cylinder, that's where the evidence will be.
I'd guess the fluid level dropped to a point where it sucked in some air and that's why the pedal's so low.
Any funny lights on the dashboard beforehand?
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I'd have a good look at the disc pads (as they wear the fluid level drops) and a very close look at the inside of the rear tyres. If it's got a leak from a rear wheel cylinder that's where the evidence will be.
Had a look at the inside of the wheels, no evidence of brake fluid.
Any funny lights on the dashboard beforehand?
>>
Not when I last drove it (friday)
If it has sucked air into the master cylinder, would bleeding the system bring the brakes back?
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by pushing the pedal to the near floor to stop the car you put the seals past the place theyve been since it was new and it can rip them
this is why i said it might need a master cylinder
as said look at the back plates for wetness of a leak,it could also be a fractured pipe usual place is the loop under the rear innerwings that go up to the hose for the rear cylinders
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Trust bb, he's far more knowledgeable than me.
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by pushing the pedal to the near floor to stop the car you put the seals past the place theyve been since it was new and it can rip them this is why i said it might need a master cylinder
Thank you for the info, it does help when reasons are explained.
Looks like there's no "quick fix" ..... it'll have to wait 'till the weekend now for further investigations.
Thanks again
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A quick update:
Looks like the oil level in the master cylinder had dropped sufficiently to let air into the system, helped by not checking it from earlier in the year and parking the car on a tilt most of the time outside our house, (letting air into the system sooner than if it was parked on the flat?).
Bled all the brakes, only the front ones had any air in. After bleeding, the brakes are fine again, seemingly better than before.
Had it checked over at the local garage, no leaks found on the braking system, brakes found to be performing well. Still a mystery why the fluid had dropped.
It has emerged now that my son had seen the red warning light coming on from time to time and thought it was the handbrake sticking! Didn't know that the light also doubles up as the low oil light in the master cylinder. Didn't think to tell anyone about it either!
Just make sure that your offspring know about the various warning lights on their cars and what they are for, I had told mine about all the warnig lights when they first had their cars, but it appears to have fallen on deaf ears, probably forgotten about in the excitement of getting their first cars! ....it could prevent an expensive repair job or even an accident.
Trev
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I'm still worried about where the brake fluid went. As BB said the shoes and pads could be right down to nothing. Did your garage actually check the pad thicknesses? Your lad may find himself down to the metal.
Also the brake fluid can be sucked out of the system into the brake servo.
Could be worth checking the level every day.
Good luck!
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This would be worth putting a new master cylinder on for the cheap cost at that age the seals perish and when you put the pedal down and it went to the floor you have passed the current travel of the piston.
The bores of the cylinder go oval and the seals do "grip" but pressure can make them pass, also they leak into the servo if you take the two nuts off and pull back on the master is there any brake fluid on the end were the rod is into the master?
13 years old deffo new master for the piece of mind.
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arent knowing your fluid levels part of the driving learning/test scenario these days? what else has your son failed to grasp in his hurry to get behind the wheel?
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Same thing happened to step sons Corsa. Was a leaking rear slave cylinder.
Get the rear drums off and inspect.
Again, I am unable to edit the middle of this message. First and las t sentences - yes. Weird.
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