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With a high revving petrol engine and driving on large roads with big intersections I find myself engine braking sometimes, mostly as a way of being in the right gear to accelerate again 🙂
Evening all,
Thanks for all the thoughts. I have now been able to inspect the discs and I am not surprised that one of them failed, the ribs connecting the two braking services are really badly corroded.
The front RH disc failed and similar cracks are visible on the front LH disc.
While I can sort of understand the corrosion my main concern remains that the van was serviced and MOT'd in June and handed back to me with no comments or advisories. I even paid for a brake clean in addition to the service....
I will be contacting Ford directly to discuss further now that I understand the failure mode.
Drive safe out there guys and girls!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/164739786@N06/31163237278/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/164739786@N06/43224897490/in/dateposted-public/
Nasty, though I'm not sure how this would be spotted on an MOT unless there were visible signs of the cracking on the outside of the disk....they're not going to crack test the brake discs.
Also what's I involved in a brake clean and why would you think it was necessary? I've never heard of such a thing. Is it something you have had done before or regularly? i.e. a potential cause of the corrosion?
Good luck with Ford, though I don't hold out much hope of them taking any interest...they'll blame it on the brake disk manufacturer. I got no truck with them when the sidewall of my tyre split on a brand new car less than 6 months old where it was obviously not cut with a knife or done maliciously.
I even paid for a brake clean in addition to the service….
I'd be asking what was sprayed into the brakes.
I'm assuming a "brake clean" was just getting the pistons moving properly if a caliper was sticky
Hmmm, that can't have corroded all the way through each fin simultaneously? Do you have a new disk to compare it to, do all the fins connect the two sides together ? Just trying to figure it out, but it looks like the two sides of the disk must have been detached for some time otherwise there'd be a clean-ish surface where the two halves separated?
And +1 for what's a brake clean when you're paying for it?
Isn’t a brake clean a squirt of WD40 on the rubber gators holding the pistons in? Just so they don’t squeak?
TBH the rear discs on my roadster look a bit rusty too, I have been thinking about replacing all discs and pads.. Myself 🤣💪
BH the rear discs on my roadster look a bit rusty too, I have been thinking about replacing all discs and pads.. Myself
There's actually the same number of bolts on my Focus than there is on a mountain bike.
Bike:
Axle
6x rotor
Car:
5x wheel
2x calliper
How much of a faff the job is depend whether the disk sit in front of or behind the hub (or I think on some french cars the disk and hub are one unit!).
Yeah mine sit on the outside (I’ve changed the pads before) just wondering how much “haaarumph” I’m going to need to get the bolts undone 🤷♂️
Also, got to swing the callipers out of the way too .. but I’ve done that recently when I cleaned the surface and rubbers and pistons before putting the pads in.
That was easy.
I can’t ever remember a disc splitting in all the time I’ve been driving, and looking on the surface the OPs discs do look rather rusty for a recent aged vehicle.
Sure your van age is correct 🤣??
Its only the wheel nuts (and a tiny set screw) that hold the disk on to the hub with most fords (and many other cars as well) so if you've managed to get the wheel off you are 90% of the way there.
Are you from the 1950″s? no need for engine braking now. Engine is for making you go, brakes for making you stop. Engine braking was from the days that pre-dated power assisted brakes where you were more concerned with preserving your braking leg, also when brake fluid was crap so brake fade was a consideration…no need to worry about brake fade with modern day brakes. Cars are so over-braked compared to the 1950’s. Also they had cross-ply tyres which squirmed under heavy braking so engine braking prevented that, but with modern tyres they’re easily capable of taking the loads modern cars and brakes can throw at them without getting all out of shape and un-supportive. With modern day brakes there is no need for engine braking. Brakes are cheaper than engines so why push more duty onto your engine instead of your brakes?
Thats a great technique for burning through fuel, engine braking means more economy. Not sure how you figure it's going to wear though, it's getting the same lubrication regardless. Driving instructors seem to disagree with you as well.
Its only the wheel nuts (and a tiny set screw) that hold the disk on to the hub with most fords (and many other cars as well) so if you’ve managed to get the wheel off you are 90% of the way there.
Yeah... Then you've got to get the bloody things off because the last person didn't understand what torque settings are for, reset the calipers (provided they're not seized), potentially replace a nipple (because that was rounded), adjust the handbrake (my Mondeo helpfully has the adjuster under the heat shield above the exhaust centre section tunnel) and finally bleed the damn things (because yes, one was seized and needed replaced).
Don't get me wrong, it's not a difficult job but it's a pain in the arse to get done if things start holding it up, took me the better part of 2 days arsing about to get it done but was my first time doing a change since I was helped about 8 years ago. A pad change turned into pads and discs and then a nipple and then a whole new caliper. So about £190 all in for the actual bits. Then a rewind tool (possible to do without), hose clamp, disc cleaner (for the factory oil finish), high temp grease for the pins (for the love of god don't use copperslip! The Pagid stuff is good) and fluid. So that was another £65ish. Oh, and you'll want a torque wrench, properly torqued bolts make a world of difference when you come to take them off.
I never bothered with the set screw. To be fair the person that last replaced them clearly never either. They're just useful for holding the disc when building up, it does nothing otherwise.
Screws? You mean those countersunk screws are all that hold discs to the hub? 😳
I did wonder what they were when I took the wheels off.. so that’s made the whole process even easier then.
Mind.. £240 for a set of front discs and £90 for the rears 🤣 Quite why the difference when the rears are the vented types like the fronts, only smaller..
Awesome, thanks for that nugget on info chaps 👍
for the love of god don’t use copperslip! The Pagid stuff is good
It might not be copperslip, but EBC disk/pad kits come with a sachet of what looks like copperlsip.
But some people then say copperslip doesn't work with ABS (but have no justification for that). And the ceratec grease should be used instead.
In the end I gave up, the sliders still had some grease on them and the pistons moved freely so I didn't add anything.
Torque settings:
Wheelnuts "1 grunt" tight with a socket wrench
Caliper bolts same with a 7mm allen key.