Mondeo Pulling to right when braking

Wavey

Afternoon all,

In the last fortnight my 94 mondeo has been pulling tho the right when i brake. Its actually very severe now. It can send you over to wrong side of the road if youre not ready for it.
There was always a permanent slight pull to the left which i dont mind as much.

Any ideas as to what would be causing this?

I replaced both front brake pads last year so i dont think that is the problem.

Is there any way to check if brake fluid is reaching both brakes?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks
Wavey

Hellrazer

Pads wearing unevenly,faulty brake caliper(may need seals)warped disc,leaking brake pipe.

Could be anything really.Bring it to a mechanics for safety sakes.

I wouldnt leave anything to do with brakes without being FULLY checked out.You could end up dead if its as bad as you say.
Richie

ToxicPaddy

Or it could be the tracking..

You might not notice it as much as the car is front wheel drive and as such the
front wheels are pulling the car along, but under breaking its a different story and
the full weight of the car is coming down on the front wheels at speed.

Firstly check the front tyres to see if there is there uneven wear, as in the inside is
more worn than the outside or vice versa and if so I would get the tracking done,
only about €20 - €25 in Quik fit or any of those places..

Tox

Seth Brundle

could be a number of things, worn or siezed brakes, worn or out of camber suspension, uneven tyre pressures/wheel alignment
Bring it to a [ford] mechanic and get it sorted!

Hellrazer

Originally posted by ToxicPaddy
Or it could be the tracking..


Tox

Its not tracking because if it is as bad as Wavey makes out you`d feel it at normal driving and besides hes already said hes a pull to the left at normal driving which I`d say IS a tracking problem.

This is definately a braking problem since it only show up at braking.

Richie.

Wavey

Thanks for the replies lads.

How much would I be looking at to get it looked at in kiwk fit?

Seth Brundle

Personally, if it was me, I would feel safer having a mechanic do this. I would not be comfortable having Kwik-fit or similar do the job as IIRC they are not trained mechanics!
Brakes are something dou don't mess with!
(http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=kwik+fit+uk.rec.cars.maintenance&btnG=Search)
As for cost - how long is a piece of string? It will depend on what exactly is gone wrong.

Mailman

I think I remember that this was a known problem on the early Mondeo.
Saw something about it on watchdog on BBC many moons ago.

Seth Brundle

http://www.btinternet.com/~madmole/Reference/knownproblems.html#The pull to one side
http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/faq/01/modules/06_steering_suspension/09/

Wavey

Thanks for the links.
Seems to be a very common problem. Will have to try and get someone to look at it.

Hellrazer

Has anyone actually read the thread???

The problem is a pull to the RIGHT not the left that is the problem listed as common in Mondeos.
A pull when braking is a brake related issue.

The pull to the left used to be down to a poorly aligned subframe or bad tracking and anyone who has done a clutch on a mondeo will be able to tell you what a bitch it is to line up the subframe when the job is done.

Richie.

Wavey

Finally got a chance to look under neath the car this evening. The frontmost bushen (spelling?) behind the front left whell is knackered. The rubber is totally disintigrated. Would this cause the car to lung to the right when braking?
This is very odd cos i only replaced this very bushen 12 months ago for the nct.

Tea drinker

If it's on the wishbone it would be highly likely to cause changes in steering when braking/accelerating.
If it's on the subframe less likely.... I would STRONGLY recommend you get someone to check and replace all worn parts in that suspension IMMEDIATELY!
Bushings in general are cheap, maybe 20 euro each.

Depending on where you live, you could get a reputable non-dealer mechanic to do the job for ya, very uncommon in Dublin though!

Cheers..
Marto