Front brake pads wearing thin

[amfisted]

I changed my son's front brake pads last weekend; he has a 59 plate Fiesta 1.4. I've done the job several times before without any problems, but this time it was raining slightly and having no accessible garage I faced a decision as to whether to sit down in a puddle and get on with it. I decided to do it anyhow, and released the upper caliper guide pin bolt on the driver's side front wheel and then proceeded to undo the brake pipe union bolt. Why I released that second bolt I really don't know, but I can only imagine I was distracted by the fact that my precious tools were getting wet in the rain and I was rushing the job. The stuff that dribbled out when the union bolt was removed looked like dirty rainwater to me, so I ignored it, and it was only when I went to lift caliper out of the way and couldn't do so because the lower guide pin bolt was still attached that I realised what I'd done.

Brakes were bled and all was eventually OK, but I won't be changing pads in the rain again.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

@DaveHerne. Yes I believe so, in that the gauges show the value of force each wheel exerts on the test roller, per given weight of car, and does not take into consideration the time factor for that force to develop, so when both front wheels are on the rollers, and the tester applies brakes, the gauges jump or move and stop at a reading, the examiner looks at those readings and sees how each wheel reading compares with the other and if they fall within the limits of a typical family car, so only measures average and what it does not measures is exact figure for a particular car and model when it was new.let us say a reading of 300kgf when new, and gauges read 257kgf, may still pass MOT, yet what that means is the brakes are not as efficient as when the car was new, hence the stopping distance would be affected by lower force, yet it still passes MOT test.

Another thing, when testing Hand Brake, the examiner pulls the leaver right up with huge force, that we in normal use do not apply all our might, in fear of snatching the cable, this obviously gives wrong reading and many hand brakes would fail if nominal force was applied, ladies in particular cannot exert enormous force. A real Handbrake test should be carried out on a slopping ramp with handbrake applied with a nominal force, like say a 30% gradient.