Assuming there is a "low fluid" sensor in the brake fluid resevoir then get the mechanic to check both the sensor and the warning lamp on the dashboard.
complete brake failure, I'm a lucky boy
- Thread starter mwatsonxx
- Start date
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All it needs is for an air bubble to get in through the ruptured pipe and then get lodged in the ABS equipment or travel up into the master cylinder area and this is what happens.
You can't automatically blame the MOT tester - he can only check what he can actually see.
Thankfully you weren't hurt, anyway!
John
You can't automatically blame the MOT tester - he can only check what he can actually see.
Thankfully you weren't hurt, anyway!
John
Hell that's a trick that Ford are very good at
The car can be restored to the same order as it was before, once the pipe is done......the garage may have problems undoing bleed valves on the calipers and wheel cylinders, of course - sods law and that.
John
The car can be restored to the same order as it was before, once the pipe is done......the garage may have problems undoing bleed valves on the calipers and wheel cylinders, of course - sods law and that.
John
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Ive had two pipes burst while carrying out a brake efficiency test during an mot. Both Mk5/6 Escorts, both in the same place under the heat shield below the fuel tank. You cannot check them as you are not allowed to remove anything during the test. I don't bother but many testers mark on the advisory notes something along the lines of "unable to fully check, coverings obscuring full examination" to cover themselves. Don't know why they bother - if you cannot see it, you cannot check it so it cannot be avoided and you are not to blame.
Yeah, they have a funny type of sound deadening felt / wheel arch protector that over the years becomes saturated and hangs down onto the brake pipe, corroding it.
I suppose one testing brakes should not just apply enough pressure but a great deal more to see if the seals in cylinders and and pipes can withstand let us say two to three or even more times normal brake pressure you would subject even during an emergency stop, I often do that on my car, but at times I fear it may just plop out !
Another thing I am not even sure if a roller testing of brakes is any indicative of a car's stability in real braking at high speed, for example you could be doing 70mph, and suddenly find yourself in an emergency situation and find your car pulls heavily to one side, or shudders badly, in my view these things are hard to pick up by roller testing which I beleive only measures the efficiency of brakes, but you as an MOT man may correct me.
With the Ford, I'm surprised the tank straps haven't rusted through either.....saves you the job of undoing them
John
John
When you carry out a brake efficiency test, you check and record the effort applied to each brake as well as each handbrake. You apply the brake until each wheel locks or will not produce any more effort. At the end of the test, you enter those results into the mot computer and it calculates the efficiency of the foot and handbrake as well as the balance across each axle. You then get a pass or fail for the brake efficiency test. Obviously, before you carry this test out you have already checked, as far as you can, the general condition of the system.
D
Doggit
I suspect they could fix the problem, but you would never feel safe driving the car again, so I can understand where you're coming from. On the other hand; if you're mechanic is an ace, then get it fixed, and then PX it.
(this is a discussion, not a challenge or trying to prove you wrong)
How do they measure the effort? I have not seen any tester place a pressure sensing pad under their foot and over the brake pedal to do that, I had car with real bad discs where the inner pads were merely 30% in contact with the disc, the rest of the inner face of the disc was totally corroded with a thick layer of rust, yet it would pass the required readings, and |I know how much effort it took to stop that car in an Emergency or even in stop and go traffic, in most cars you only need to tap lightly on your brakes and you instantly feel the response, and my one you often felt the car was not going to stop as you would feel no immediate response, having got used to my car like that, I once jumped into a friends new Vauxhall Zafira for a test drive, and I could not drive it at all as I had developed a heavy foot and so no matter how hard I tried to stop it gradually and smoothly, I could not, and it would stop dead the minute I touched its brake pedal! In my view they were hyper sensitive brakes, I had to jump out in case someone ran into his car, I could not bring it to a smooth stop, and so let my friend take over. So like wise when my friend had a go at my car he almost crashed my car because he didn't realise how much effort one needed to stop it.
After the disc change, and new pads, there was tremendous improvement, and more could be had if I had looked at the rear drums and as well as new rear disc and pads.
So you see where I am coming from, the Mot tester did not pick up that fault, and since for some reason both inner faces of the discs were only 30% in contact, outer faces were fine on both sides.
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Ok mate, no offence taken. Firstly you must bear in mind that mot pass standards on any item are always minimum standards so to some people that may seem quite low. Overall brake efficiency requirements for most dual circuit equipped cars are 60% for the footbrake and 16% for the handbrake. Even if the vehicle does not reach those figures the car can still pass if more than 50% of the wheels lock. Efficiency is measured in total brake effort compared to the weight of the vehicle. Some brake testers measure the weight of the vehicle and with others the weight is automatically registered for calculation purposes when you enter the car details from the DVLA data source. Here's a video that can explain the brake test better than I can explain:
Any questions on mot's feel free to ask and if I don't know off the top of my head, I'll find out for you.
Here's a longer winded version if you can keep your eyes open. Lol.
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