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-   -   Brake warp issue in Fiesta (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/99108-brake-warp-issue-fiesta.html)

I am struggling with this brake warp issue in my almost 2 year old Fiesta 1.6S!

I get this pulsation on the steering when I step on the brake pedal at city speeds and its there all the way till I come to a stop. I have a feeling its the front left disc that warps as the steering pulls slightly through the left side when I step on the brake pedal and I start getting the pulsation on the steering!

The rotor & pads were replaced under warranty twice. Once at 20K and then recently when it was around 35K. The rotors have warped again with just 2K KMs done. Its becoming more concerning since I cant have the rotors replaced every other time this occurs as Ford doesn't allow phasing the rotors as well!

The last time when the rotors were replaced along with the pads, the SA mentioned the cross member alignment was out of place and that could have caused this issue. Now that the problem has occured again I have to look at it with more detail.

Should I look at damaged wheel bearings or damaged flanges can cause this issue?

EDIT: The car has done about 37,400 KMs now!

One more query... :D

I recently fitted the Evotion end can, same as the one fitted in Sathe46's car. The exhaust sounds sweet, no doubt about that but at certain RPMs (3K-4K) there is a boom sound thats filtering into the cabin. Is there anyway I could control this?

I had this exact same issue. Culprit was low quality brake pads from A.S.S.

Sometimes, the brake pads from Ford are just too hard, or have excess metal content in them, which scrapes the disc and caused the pulsation(ABS like).

Changed to good quality aftermarket pads, and the problem vanished completely.

My suggestion would be: Phase the disc outside A.S.S, and change to good quality pads. Will cost you only about 1.5 k for the whole job.

In addition to the above, please also check for two important things: Make sure that the seating surface of the rotor on the hub is cleaned for rust for proper mating, and ensure proper tightening torque of the lug nuts in two stages using calibrated manual tools.

Once installed, bed in the new pads and rotors properly by driving gently for the first 100 miles or so, then making a series of ten stops from 70 mph or so down to 20 mph, with gentle acceleration in between to cool down the discs.

@Anachronix: When you say warp, do you mean scoring marks on the disc or warped out on its shape onto mutiple planes.

If its scoring marks primarily, then you need to look at the caliper, piston and the brake pads. If its warping in the shape, that means there is a major problem.

Cheers

@dhanush, I agree the OE brake pads are of inferior quality. I would need to upgrade that, but I am worried if its more than just the brake pads since this has happened the 3rd time now and I have replaced the rotor & pads together all the time. I will upgrade to upgrade to better quality pads anyway.

@VCheng, Sure I will keep that in mind when I have the new rotor and pads.

@MileCruncher, I dont remember seeing any scoring marks on the rotor. I will get a picture and post it here just in case if you can notice any pattern!

You've had the pads and rotor/s replaced twice and you don't know which side it is on? :p

My question was actually gonna be - is it just one disc that has the problem, or both?

Perhaps a stuck piston in the caliper heating up / warping the disc?? This also ties in with the mention you made of replacing the pads as well...

More details will help.

Is it resonance you're hearing or the sound itself?
Perhaps some kind of sound deadening / damping sheets might help?

cya
R

I dont have an answer to this, since I dint really care about it earlier since the discs were replaced in warranty. I tried to check with the SA and he is unable to find the measurement information they had about the old discs that were replaced.

The pads were replaced since I thought it was the best practice to replace the pads together with the disc so that I have even wear on both surfaces.

I had dropped the car at Ford A.S.S last Friday to get this issue fixed as I felt it could be a safety concern with that kinda brakes. The car is still at the workshop waiting for next steps from the plant.

The SA mentioned that the disc wear is normal and there is nothing abnormal with the disc. They want to check if its the alloy wheel thats causing the pulsation, but then if there is a faulty wheel it will be more evident when the car is in motion right?

I am still waiting for a solution!


Its the muffler drone, this causes some vibration inside the car as well! Damping should help?

Are the brake rotors and pad covered by warranty? My fiesta has the same issue at higher speeds. Basically there is pulsation on the steering when i step on the breaks at higher speeds. The car has extended warranty which is about 4 years(it's under 3years ) and is around 30K old. The service personnel said that brake rotor has to be replaced and that it is covered only for 10K kms.

This is exactly the same issue I'm facing with my Optra magnum TCDI. The car has done 34k Kms and the issue first occurred when the vehicle had done approx 28k , i initially got front 2 rotors skimmed but the shuddering/vibrations came back ( had driven about 500 kms) after which the A$$ replaced the front 2 rotors under warranty saying they were warped beyond repair (I.e skimming), however the problem re-surfaced after driving about 600 odd kms, this time I got rotors (all 4) skimmed at a friend's lathe machine shop. However, the dreaded vibrations /pulsations have come back again. It's just not confidence inspiring at high speeds when I try to brake, it feels the whole car is shaking and I can feel vibrations even in the steering wheel, and the seat .The co-passenger can also feel it under hard braking. I'm at my wits end on how to fix this issue. Is this an issue with the tie-rods or bushes ? The SA at sundaram doesnt think it is, he keeps referring to the rotors and they being warped. My car js now out of warranty and replacing the rotors will be a costly affair. But having replaced the rotors once the issue came back so I'm really not sure if that's the way to go. Any real expert on this pls suggest something which will get rid of this issue once for all so that I can enjoy driving my magnum like I did before.

@anachronix:

Do you have aftermarket alloy wheels with specs other than stock wheels? If so then I too had the same issue of steering wobbling while braking and uneven wear of pads, don't know but I shifted back to stock wheels and the problem was gone. The car was Indica.:)

It may not be the front brake discs that could possibly cause the pulsation problem. In my case, it was the rear brake drum which had 3MM deep scoring marks on them. Please ask your SA to take measurements of the disc and confirm that the discs are actually warped!

No, I am still using the OE wheels! :)

I had the same problem too in my Ford Ikon 1.6. Culprit seems to be poor quality rotor and pads. Go for after market ones , I went for a brand called allied they are much better and 30k later the rotors are still fresh. pads still has 20 k left last time i checked. I got them changed at sector 16a noida.

May be that's the problem. Why don't you replace them and see? I can get a good deal for your OE ones :D

That would void the warranty on brake rotors, as per the so called Ford Warranty Policy. If it is known that the cross member is misaligned, why are they not checking for it? Or have they?

I know who is waiting to give me a good deal on the OE wheels lol: