My Ford Focus (Y reg. Zetec) has developed a squeaky brake pedal - it
squeaks every time I release the brake. How can I cure this?
--
Andy Mabbett

Say "NO!" to compulsory ID Cards: http://www.no2id.net/

"Andy Mabbett" wrote in message
...
My Ford Focus (Y reg. Zetec) has developed a squeaky brake pedal - it
squeaks every time I release the brake. How can I cure this?
--
Andy Mabbett

Say "NO!" to compulsory ID Cards: http://www.no2id.net/

Are you sure it is the pedal? Many cars suffer from the rear brakes
squeaking as the pedal is released, it is a simple service matter to fix.

mrcheerful

In message , Andy Mabbett
writes
My Ford Focus (Y reg. Zetec) has developed a squeaky brake pedal - it
squeaks every time I release the brake. How can I cure this?

Sell the bugger (but don't let on)

--
geoff

Andy Mabbett wrote:
My Ford Focus (Y reg. Zetec) has developed a squeaky brake pedal - it
squeaks every time I release the brake. How can I cure this?

Stop reving the engine at the traffic lights and applying the boy racer
combined brake-accelerator cat-screaming twin foot technique...

Seriously, just had a looksy at the "car by car breakdown" at
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk for the ford focus.

I quote from the "What's Bad" commentary -

"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out, leaving
the driver unable to brake or declutch"

Think the squeak may be from the pins moving adrift, or the resulting
misalignment of parts under spring tension? Needs checking for sure!

--
Adrian

"Adrian C" wrote in message
...
Andy Mabbett wrote:
My Ford Focus (Y reg. Zetec) has developed a squeaky brake pedal - it
squeaks every time I release the brake. How can I cure this?

Stop reving the engine at the traffic lights and applying the boy racer
combined brake-accelerator cat-screaming twin foot technique...

Seriously, just had a looksy at the "car by car breakdown" at
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk for the ford focus.

I quote from the "What's Bad" commentary -

"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out, leaving the
driver unable to brake or declutch"

Think the squeak may be from the pins moving adrift, or the resulting
misalignment of parts under spring tension? Needs checking for sure!

--
Adrian


Oil can - WD40 or something needed?? All mechanical things need some
lubrigation - many are adequately lubed during manufacture - but it can dry
out.

Adrian C wrote:

Andy Mabbett wrote:

Seriously, just had a looksy at the "car by car breakdown" at
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk for the ford focus.

I quote from the "What's Bad" commentary -

"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out, leaving
the driver unable to brake or declutch"

You actually think that something like this would occur and no
compulsory recall be carried out? Honest John probably has the worst
collection of misinformation this side of Dr Evil. Not that it helps
the OP. If its inside the car then removal of the pivot pins,
lubrication and/or replacement of the pedal bearings will probably fix
it. A quick squirt in the appropriate areas with a silicone based
spray (not WD40) might help.


--

Martin Evans wrote:
Adrian C wrote:
I quote from the [http://www.honestjohn.co.uk Ford Focus] "What's Bad" commentary -

"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out, leaving
the driver unable to brake or declutch"

You actually think that something like this would occur and no
compulsory recall be carried out? Honest John probably has the worst
collection of misinformation this side of Dr Evil. Not that it helps
the OP.

It may be a start. Or it may be something completely different. I don't
think the information presented at that site may have been put there
maliciously as it seems you think. Why? It's well known that the motor
industry pays lip service to regulation and covers things up. Only when
sufficient people get killed then funds get released to pay for recalls.

I've found advice in Honest John does relate very well to issues I've
had with my car (Renault Laguna / corroded power steering pipes) which
is not something mentioned in the manufacturer's recall notices listed
on the Automobile Association's website!

If its inside the car then removal of the pivot pins,
lubrication and/or replacement of the pedal bearings will probably fix
it. A quick squirt in the appropriate areas with a silicone based
spray (not WD40) might help.


If it is that problem, I'd investigate with some other expert exactly
why the pins are falling out, and if as I suggested in my posting that
parts are in misalignment. Squirting lubricant at the problem may not be
the solution if it makes the pins more likely to dislodge. Surely a
better engineered pin or securement method would be better? BTW, I don't
really know the mechanics of Focus braking systems - but someone
probably does in uk.rec.cars.maintenance.

--
Adrian

Adrian C wrote:

Martin Evans wrote:

I've found advice in Honest John does relate very well to issues I've
had with my car (Renault Laguna / corroded power steering pipes) which
is not something mentioned in the manufacturer's recall notices listed
on the Automobile Association's website!

That might be the case but corroded steering pipes would be picked up
by the MOT and failure would not necessarily lead to total loss of
control of the vehicle (it would need big muscles though)

It was hilarious reading some of the Honest Johns advice given in the
Motoring section of the Telegraph a few years ago Some of It was ok
but odd bits were about as believable as the mileage on a car sold by
Quentin Willson. (see Leicester area papers a few years ago)

If it is that problem, I'd investigate with some other expert exactly
why the pins are falling out, and if as I suggested in my posting that
parts are in misalignment. Squirting lubricant at the problem may not be
the solution if it makes the pins more likely to dislodge. Surely a
better engineered pin or securement method would be better? BTW, I don't
really know the mechanics of Focus braking systems - but someone
probably does in uk.rec.cars.maintenance.

Even if you didn't know the precise mechanics of the linkage no
manufacturer would produce a pedal mechanism where the pivot pins
would just "fall out". For a start they are usually constrained by
circlips or split pins at one or both ends, sometimes with stepped
shoulders and the forces concerned would tend to retain the pin within
the bushing rather than spitting it out. Removing them can be an
absolute pig of a job at the best of times. Despite it being Ford
who are well known for their ability to produce "it will do dirt cheap
engineering" the Focus has been around for a long time both here and
in the most litigious market in the world so IMHO the merest hint of a
problem like this would have caused a recall years ago.

Squeaky pedals IME are usually the result of dry nylon bushes that
were never lubricated right in the first place.
--

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 09:38:42 +0100, Martin Evans
wrote:

Adrian C wrote:


"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out, leaving
the driver unable to brake or declutch"

You actually think that something like this would occur and no
compulsory recall be carried out? Honest John probably has the worst
collection of misinformation this side of Dr Evil.

I'm not so sure, see:

http://www.officerjason.com/

cheers,
Pete.

Pete C wrote:

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 09:38:42 +0100, Martin Evans
wrote:

Adrian C wrote:


"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out, leaving
the driver unable to brake or declutch"

You actually think that something like this would occur and no
compulsory recall be carried out? Honest John probably has the worst
collection of misinformation this side of Dr Evil.

I'm not so sure, see:

http://www.officerjason.com/

But that would never happen in this country as the coppers are going
that fast no one could catch them - its ok though they are just
training for real world situations.
http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/m...9/nspeed19.xml
in case anyone missed "one of our finest" being let off for doing
159mph by the wonderful justice system we have in the UK. Yet let your
speed creep up by a few mph on a deserted motorway and Joe Public is
ripped off for yet another 60 quid in scamera tax.

Going back to "officer jason"
"Phoenix officer Jason Schechterle might have walked away from his
100-mph rear-end collision with just two cracked ribs, but for the
resulting fire, which left him with scarring from 4th degree burns"

Excuse me a 100mph rear end crash and you expect to get out unscathed?
Two cracked ribs or not most sane people would have got out before
they got barbequed. But crap engineering or not, unless they start
building Formula 1 type fuel cells into cars then the fuel tank is
quite likely to leak a bit when rear ended even with a huge crumple
zone and placement of the fuel tank as far forward as practicable.
They should start sticking it under the drivers seat if drivers are
really concerned about being burnt in a car accident, by then you
won't care if its frying tonight.


--

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 20:49:45 +0100, Pete C
wrote:

stuff snipped

http://www.fordfocusbrakeproblems.com/

LOL!

cheers,
Pete.

Hmmm...

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ford+focus+brake+problem&btnG=Search&hl=e n&c2coff=1

cheers,
Pete.

Pete C wrote:
Hmmm...

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ford+focus+brake+problem&btnG=Search&hl=e n&c2coff=1

cheers,
Pete.

To be fair, the US Ford Focus has had a *lot* more build issues than the
European Focus (although the UK ST170 variant has had its moments).
Reduced brake disc life is common to a lot of vehicles due to the
removal of asbestos from brake pads.

Ford do list a couple of Technical Service Bulletins related to Focus
pedal box issues, with fixes including extra bracing / remounting. I
couldn't see one relating to pins but IIRC one of the other recent Ford
models did have this issue.

The other problems listed on HonestJohn seemed to be pretty much spot on
and well documented by a varitey of sources (including my own personal
experience).

Cheers,

Chris

--
Cut along the dotted line to reply

Martin Evans wrote:

Pete C wrote:


On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 09:38:42 +0100, Martin Evans
wrote:


Adrian C wrote:


"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out, leaving
the driver unable to brake or declutch"

You actually think that something like this would occur and no
compulsory recall be carried out? Honest John probably has the worst
collection of misinformation this side of Dr Evil.

I'm not so sure, see:

http://www.officerjason.com/


But that would never happen in this country as the coppers are going
that fast no one could catch them - its ok though they are just
training for real world situations.
http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/m...9/nspeed19.xml
in case anyone missed "one of our finest" being let off for doing
159mph by the wonderful justice system we have in the UK. Yet let your
speed creep up by a few mph on a deserted motorway and Joe Public is
ripped off for yet another 60 quid in scamera tax.

Going back to "officer jason"
"Phoenix officer Jason Schechterle might have walked away from his
100-mph rear-end collision with just two cracked ribs, but for the
resulting fire, which left him with scarring from 4th degree burns"

Excuse me a 100mph rear end crash and you expect to get out unscathed?

Yes, these days.

Andy Mabbett wrote:
My Ford Focus (Y reg. Zetec) has developed a squeaky brake pedal - it
squeaks every time I release the brake. How can I cure this?

you can't. my old Y reg 1.6 escort ghia did the same, clutch, too. as did
an RS Turbo I had for a few weeks. and a couple of ford hire cars. it's
a ford design feature, imo.

recently, I had a vauxhall corsa courtesy car and after going over/through a
/massive/ pot hole the clutch and brake pedal developed a squeak. I thought
the body/chassis had twisted, the pot hole was that bad, and was worried that
I would be billed for it. next day the squeak had gone but I was convinced that
some misalignment had been inflicted by that pothole, possibly in the nylon
bushes in the clutch / brake pedal box.



RT

"Martin Evans" wrote in message
...
Adrian C wrote:

Andy Mabbett wrote:

Seriously, just had a looksy at the "car by car breakdown" at
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk for the ford focus.

I quote from the "What's Bad" commentary -

"The pins which hold the foot pedals in place may fall out,
leaving
the driver unable to brake or declutch"

You actually think that something like this would occur and no
compulsory recall be carried out? Honest John probably has the
worst
collection of misinformation this side of Dr Evil. Not that it
helps
the OP. If its inside the car then removal of the pivot pins,
lubrication and/or replacement of the pedal bearings will probably
fix
it. A quick squirt in the appropriate areas with a silicone based
spray (not WD40) might help.


Well, I was actually in a Ford when the plastic bush that went through
the pedal and servo push-rod snapped due to steel clevis pin having
dropped out - fortunately we were MOT testing the car at the time and
not whilst trying to stop in an emergency...

the OP. If its inside the car then removal of the pivot pins,
lubrication and/or replacement of the pedal bearings will probably
fix
it. A quick squirt in the appropriate areas with a silicone based
spray (not WD40) might help.


No, the reason for the squeak needs to be found, not just masked.