Squeaky brake pedal on Ford Focus

[Andy Mabbett]

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?

[mrcheerful]

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

[Adrian C]

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

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

[john]

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

[Martin Evans]

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.

[Adrian C]

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,

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

[Martin Evans]

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)

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.

[Pete C]

I'm not so sure, see:

cheers, Pete.

[Martin Evans]

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.

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.

[Pete C]

LOL!

cheers, Pete.

[Pete C]

Hmmm...

cheers, Pete.

[Chris]

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

[The Natural Philosopher]

[[news]]

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

[:::Jerry::::]

leaving

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...

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