arrg i just (well sunday) had a 2 scary moments in my life of driving, and that's only 2 months worth...
I have a 03 Fiesta 1.25lx....
Here i was going down a dual carriageway at 70 and ahead of me, i see a people carrier coming slowly down of a slip road... However the person driving this must have been drunk or seriously stupid or both, but instead of pulling onto the road like normal, he pulled across ALL 3 LANES of traffic RIGHT INTO my path. I slammed brakes on, probably got her down to under 40 in a few seconds, as well as nearly hitting central barrier of the dual carriageway as i tried to avoid this idiot.
So anyway, that shook me up but i didn't know worst was to come. I finish my journey down the fast roads and turn into the country lanes (30s around here), and then enter Hornchurch town center. I had used the brakes a few times since this very hard braking incident however i hadn't had to stop.... So I'm going through the town, doing probably 20-25mph because most of the traffic lights are off and the police are getting ready to close the town roads (or something) because of the football, people are everywhere so i not going fast...
I'm following a Jag XJR (a really old one) and the lights go red. I start a "normal" brake usage to smoothly slow the car down, however nothing happened, so i pushed harder thinking omg!!! the pedal went about half way down before they started working at which point the car started braking and ABS kicked in (since the brake was on the floor now). it took about 100meters to shave off 20-25mph... i couldn't believe it. i either have 0% brakes, or 100%.
I continue the drive, keeping under 20-25mph (much to people behinds me disgust) and having rather poor brakes. and got home safely, but with some rather harsh braking.
After the car cooled down i checked the brake/clutch** fluid it seems OK, its at or just below the max mark, well above the min mark. I checked the front disks and they seem dirty, not shiny like my mates fiesta ST, but i haven't driven through any oil or anything so i don't understand that. Once the car had fully cooled down i drove to my local Tescos car park to test the brakes (roads was dead, footy was on) and the brakes seemed to have improved but the pedal is still very soft but i can at least do smooth braking now. My mate popped down and gave me some car audio parts then gingerly drove home.
So the pedal has around 1-2inch of travel before any braking action is applied....
So, as I've said I've checked:
1: the brake/clutch** fluid. it looked fine.
2: the disks look slightly dirty
I will check the pads soon and might decide to bleed/replace the brake/clutch fluid too.
Be at ease I'm not driving the car anymore.
What other faults could have caused this?
** brings me to another point, my clutch has been acting up lately, IE it doesn't release totally when cold so its hard to change into gear when first starting the car, and since they use the same fluid system i wonder if something is wrong with the fluid, even though it looks OK???
I have a 03 Fiesta 1.25lx....
Here i was going down a dual carriageway at 70 and ahead of me, i see a people carrier coming slowly down of a slip road... However the person driving this must have been drunk or seriously stupid or both, but instead of pulling onto the road like normal, he pulled across ALL 3 LANES of traffic RIGHT INTO my path. I slammed brakes on, probably got her down to under 40 in a few seconds, as well as nearly hitting central barrier of the dual carriageway as i tried to avoid this idiot.
So anyway, that shook me up but i didn't know worst was to come. I finish my journey down the fast roads and turn into the country lanes (30s around here), and then enter Hornchurch town center. I had used the brakes a few times since this very hard braking incident however i hadn't had to stop.... So I'm going through the town, doing probably 20-25mph because most of the traffic lights are off and the police are getting ready to close the town roads (or something) because of the football, people are everywhere so i not going fast...
I'm following a Jag XJR (a really old one) and the lights go red. I start a "normal" brake usage to smoothly slow the car down, however nothing happened, so i pushed harder thinking omg!!! the pedal went about half way down before they started working at which point the car started braking and ABS kicked in (since the brake was on the floor now). it took about 100meters to shave off 20-25mph... i couldn't believe it. i either have 0% brakes, or 100%.
I continue the drive, keeping under 20-25mph (much to people behinds me disgust) and having rather poor brakes. and got home safely, but with some rather harsh braking.
After the car cooled down i checked the brake/clutch** fluid it seems OK, its at or just below the max mark, well above the min mark. I checked the front disks and they seem dirty, not shiny like my mates fiesta ST, but i haven't driven through any oil or anything so i don't understand that. Once the car had fully cooled down i drove to my local Tescos car park to test the brakes (roads was dead, footy was on) and the brakes seemed to have improved but the pedal is still very soft but i can at least do smooth braking now. My mate popped down and gave me some car audio parts then gingerly drove home.
So the pedal has around 1-2inch of travel before any braking action is applied....
So, as I've said I've checked:
1: the brake/clutch** fluid. it looked fine.
2: the disks look slightly dirty
I will check the pads soon and might decide to bleed/replace the brake/clutch fluid too.
Be at ease I'm not driving the car anymore.
What other faults could have caused this?
** brings me to another point, my clutch has been acting up lately, IE it doesn't release totally when cold so its hard to change into gear when first starting the car, and since they use the same fluid system i wonder if something is wrong with the fluid, even though it looks OK???
).
