Ford Mondeo LX 06 Problems

surveys

I have a Ford Mondeo LX TDCi 06 which I purchased in July 08. I have serious braking problems. Have any members perhaps also had problems with this car. ?
The pedal travels too far before properly activating the brakes but even worse is the fact that under heavier braking the pedal reaches a point where no further brake pressure makes any difference to the stopping. Its a case of 'keep your foot there and hope'. !
Incidently it has been tested by a Ford Dealer and stated to be perfect.!
The brake oil has been completely replaced. Front and back brake pads replaced. Master cylinder replaced. Its also been on an 'electronic brake testing' machine which it apparantly passed. !
If I could find a trained and experienced Ford engineer to give it a thorough check up I am sure he could find the problem. I have recently taken it off the road and purchased a rental car as I can no longer drive ther Mondeo without getting completely stressed out. !

beam99

Why not try and bringing it to a DOE centre and getting them to do a brake test for you on there rolling road and get a print out off them, it will cost you i reckon approx €50.

surveys

beam99 wrote: »

Why not try and bringing it to a DOE centre and getting them to do a brake test for you on there rolling road and get a print out off them, it will cost you i reckon approx €50.

That was a very fast response. ! Thanks.
You mean the NCT test. ? Are they really any good. ? It went for an electronic machine test, as I mentioned, and passed, and I imagine this is the same as the 'rolling road test' ?
Anyway, for €50 its worth giving it a try. I believe they have a long waiting list though. ? I checked the DOE site and it doesnt even list NCT centres in Louth and Monaghan ! I would hope their actual centres are better than their web site. ! :mad:

surveys

surveys wrote: »

That was a very fast response. ! Thanks.
You mean the NCT test. ? Are they really any good. ? It went for an electronic machine test, as I mentioned, and passed, and I imagine this is the same as the 'rolling road test' ?
Anyway, for €50 its worth giving it a try. I believe they have a long waiting list though. ? I checked the DOE site and it doesnt even list NCT centres in Louth and Monaghan ! I would hope their actual centres are better than their web site. ! :mad:

My worry about an NCT test would be the actual test for braking. The car sits in the car park awaiting its test and then goes in for it stone cold. Suppose my problems are generated by heat ? Lots of cars have different braking characteristics when heated up and surely this will not be picked up on a cold test. ? Our everyday braking takes place most of the time when the brakes are hot.

beam99

NO i mean DOE CENTRE.

A doe centre has the same brake tester that the nc have , there's loads of them all over the country, I have done it before, just ring them up and tell them you just want to get the braking system ckecked on a rolling road. that your not happy with the brakes, and you just want a print out for your own piece of mind.

mickdw

I think I know the feel you are getting from the pedal. Firstly, if you have had pads replaced onto very worn/ridged discs, you will get exactly this problem for a week or so. The pedal will be soft and will offer poor braking strength due to tiny contact area of the pads on the ridged disc. If you have had all pads changed at the same time, this can be quite scary as you will have little brakes.

Would it be possible that you had air in your brake fluid or very old boiling brake fluid. Then you got the new pads and the fluid changed at the same time resulting in perfect fluid but now alot of pedal travel due to the new pads as described above. Its also possible that you still have air in the system specially after having the master cylinder replaced.

If you pump up the brake pedal with car switched off, does it then sink alittle when started while keeping pressure on the pedal. This would show whether your brake boost pressure is working properly?

Is the pedal solid and not slowly sinking to the floor when stationary if pressed continually?

surveys

beam99 wrote: »

NO i mean DOE CENTRE.

A doe centre has the same brake tester that the nc have , there's loads of them all over the country, I have done it before, just ring them up and tell them you just want to get the braking system ckecked on a rolling road. that your not happy with the brakes, and you just want a print out for your own piece of mind.

Thanks 'beam'. Unfortunately I don't know what your talking about. Sorry. :mad:
The DOE run the NCT tests. So what other test is there such as you describe ?
I didn't know they ran other tests, other than the NCT ?

surveys

mickdw wrote: »

I think I know the feel you are getting from the pedal. Firstly, if you have had pads replaced onto very worn/ridged discs, you will get exactly this problem for a week or so. The pedal will be soft and will offer poor braking strength due to tiny contact area of the pads on the ridged disc. If you have had all pads changed at the same time, this can be quite scary as you will have little brakes.

Would it be possible that you had air in your brake fluid or very old boiling brake fluid. Then you got the new pads and the fluid changed at the same time resulting in perfect fluid but now alot of pedal travel due to the new pads as described above. Its also possible that you still have air in the system specially after having the master cylinder replaced.

If you pump up the brake pedal with car switched off, does it then sink alittle when started while keeping pressure on the pedal. This would show whether your brake boost pressure is working properly?

Is the pedal solid and not slowly sinking to the floor when stationary if pressed continually?

Thanks 'mick'. Having carried out those two tests I think perhaps you may have discovered something ?
1.. When I press the pedal down hard and keep it there and then start the engine, with the pedal still depressed, the pedal flops to the floor.

2... When stationary, with the engine running, and holding down the pedal, the pedal moves down to its usual position but then if I keep holding it there and increasing the pressure the pedal begins to move again, then holds, then moves down again until it is almost on the floor !

Surely it should not be doing that ? I thought once pressure is applied the brake pedal should stop at a certain point and refuse to go any further ?
After all, once the pads reach the disks there is nowhere else for them to go. !

In regard to the earlier part of your answer I'm afraid I did not explain properly about the brake fluid etc. The pads were changed months before the brake fruid was changed. Also the brake disks were checked by the garage and by me and there is very little wear on them. The car only has 30k mileage.
Thanks for your help. What do you deduce, if anything, from 1 and 2 above ?

Savman

surveys wrote: »

Incidently it has been tested by a Ford Dealer and stated to be perfect.!
The brake oil has been completely replaced. Front and back brake pads replaced. Master cylinder replaced. Its also been on an 'electronic brake testing' machine which it apparantly passed. !

The Ford Dealer would know whether it's unusual or not. I've a TDDI Mondeo too and find the brakes a bit 'soft' but again was told by Ford it's normal. Make of that what you will.

mickdw

surveys wrote: »

Thanks 'mick'. Having carried out those two tests I think perhaps you may have discovered something ?
1.. When I press the pedal down hard and keep it there and then start the engine, with the pedal still depressed, the pedal flops to the floor.

2... When stationary, with the engine running, and holding down the pedal, the pedal moves down to its usual position but then if I keep holding it there and increasing the pressure the pedal begins to move again, then holds, then moves down again until it is almost on the floor !

Here is what I would do....
Get the brakes bled thoroughly including at the master cylinder. Then get each of the flexy brake hoses clamped off in turn until while checking the pedal to discover where the problem is. I mean surely if the pedal is reaching the floor, there is a problem.

ART6

The symptoms sound very much like faulty master cylinder seals -- oil bypassing to the return to the reservoir under pressure. With the engine off you are only providing to force of your leg to the master cylinder, but with then engine on you are adding the engine boost to that. The higher the pressure the worse the leak past the seals. Are you sure that master cylinder was actually renewed?

ford jedi

is your mondeo new model or old model?? when you say your pedal goes to the floor do you feel it pulsing up through the pedal when this happens?/