Nearly had accident.......brakes?

Anglia100e · Post by **Anglia100e** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:16 am

Hi

Ford Fiesta 1225 Zetec 3 months old 1700 miles to date.

Bit of a question for you as I am not sure about the brakes. She will be going into the dealer but wondering if anyone has any ideas

Yesterday afternoon with weather dry and doing about 25 mph, a woman walks straight out in front of me then notices me and is rooted to the spot. I braked as hard as I could but there was no sign of any of the braking aids cutting in like the brakes biting then releasing in quick succession. The car stopped without any skidding at all which suggests the system was working fine but I felt nothing under the pedal at all like EBD or ABS etc. Also I tried to steer away from her to the right but the car pulled to the left and eventually stopped with the rear wheels about two foot from the kerb but the front nearside wheel was in the gutter. When the car stopped the woman was actually resting her hands on the bonnet that's how lucky she was.

As I say the brakes were fine and stopped the car very quickly and smoothly but pulling to the left and there was no sign of any drumming under the footbrake pedal at all. All my other cars fitted with these braking aids when working you can feel the pedal very quickly vibrate when braking and releasing in quick succession............any ideas before I take her down to the dealer?

Thanks for reading

DGZS · Post by **DGZS** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:34 pm

Not sure whether you should feel the ABS working through the pedal, I never have on my zetec s, but all I will say is I dont think the brakes on the fiesta are really up to much. Cant understand why Ford put drums on the rear and such small discs on the front!

Graphite · Post by **Graphite** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:34 pm

If you had good traction between tyre and road and no potential slippage there is no reason the 'braking aids' should cut in

In fact they will 'slow down' your braking - but ensure that the wheels keep rotating and don't lock up to stop you losing control as you skid!

Perhaps you need to get down to the gym and work on those quads to be able to push the pedal a little harder! LOL

Don't forget - although a 'small' car the new Fiesta weighs in pretty heavy at 1450 kg! - My 1997 Scooby is only 1250 kg and the brakes on that are a little more 'substantial' than the Fezz ones LOL

BUT at the end of the day you managed to avoid an accident - so well done! - AND you've learned something from it that will hopefully make you a safer driver without killing or injuring someone first

Blueoval09 · Post by **Blueoval09** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:19 pm

New fezza diesel is only just over a ton (1011kg) and petrol just under (966kg) according to spec given on autotrader app graphite put a set of stainless braided lines on for awesome brakes, got hel (£69 direct from hel) ones on mine and it's like hitting a wall when a decent amount of pressure is applied 

lemotan · Post by **lemotan** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:50 am

why don't you test it on closed road/parking braking from dif speeds and surface (for ex use some sand to create slippery spots for one wheel)

Graphite · Post by **Graphite** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:39 am

Blueoval09 wrote:New fezza diesel is only just over a ton (1011kg) and petrol just under (966kg) according to spec given on autotrader app graphite put a set of stainless braided lines on for awesome brakes, got hel (£69 direct from hel) ones on mine and it's like hitting a wall when a decent amount of pressure is applied 

LOL - yes you are right on the weights

Sorry I must have been looking at the 'Gross Vehicle Weights' which seem to include towing 500Kg

- I was surprised by this high figure and hence remembered it! - Thanks for clearing the confusion

Braided lines are good - I have used them on my Scoob and the departed Discovery - but on a 'new' car I would be surprised to find a huge difference... You can sometimes pick them up on ebay pretty cheap. Goodridge had an ebay shop at one point - I got my Discovery brake lines brand new for about £10!

Bargain!

GSchneider · Post by **GSchneider** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:05 am

My 2008 Honda Civic Type R brakes where shocking!!! but I put some HKS braided lines on and the brakes were amazing, I did change the pads shortly after but the different in just the lines and better fluid was stunning

big ben · Post by **big ben** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:43 pm

Sorry to jump in on this post but while your all on the subject of brakes has anyone changed disc and pads if so how do you get the discs off

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