FORD FIESTA
BRAKE BOTHER
Q
I have a problem with the brakes on my 1988 Ford Fiesta. When I apply the brake normally or gently, the brake pedal feels fine, but if I apply the pressure slightly harder, as I do when at a standstill and applying the handbrake, the pedal can drop two or three inches. When that happens, the brake pedal will pump up again and will be fine until the next time I apply the brake with the extra effort. I have tried bleeding the brakes out, but there was no air in the system and the problem does not feel to me as though it is hydraulic. Can you point me in the right direction? James Cope
AYou have not mentioned removing the rear brake drums and checking the mechanism. This would be the first check to make. One of the common failure points on the Fiesta rear brakes is due to the self-adjusting quadrant. The small teeth on the adjusting quadrant wear and, when under pressure, may suddenly jump out of position, allowing the brake shoes to fully de-adjust. This in turn allows the brake shoes to retract fully, pushing the pistons in the slave cylinder as far back as they will go.
The next press of the brake pedal then has to push the shoes back out into the fully adjusted position. This of course then gives the extra travel on the brake pedal. The adjusted quadrants then normally hold the brake shoes in the adjusted position until the next time the extra pressure is applied. The problem will only get worse as the tiny teeth wear further, and so the solution is to replace the adjuster quadrants, and if necessary the brake shoes too while you are in there.