Uneven brake pad wear on focus

Markus85 · 23-07-2007, 06:29 PM

My 2004 focus has done 33,000km's and still has 1 yr warranty left, i noticed a grinding sound from the the brakes, this was happening off and on while no brake pressure was applied, when pressure was applied it consistently made noise, so i ended up slamming the brakes forcing them to lock up, after that the grinding stopped, took it in to ford and they said the driver side pads were worn out and the passenger side pads still had life in them, the driver side rotor had been grazed so ford replaced the front rotors and brake pads and charged me for it because they said it was wear and tear

Has anyone else suffered the same problem? plus who thinks its wear and tear or a defect?
Should this problem go under warranty?

20focus05 · 23-07-2007, 06:41 PM

Just asking had you been over any recently resealed roads where they put the gravel down or dirt roads? a small stone can get stuck in the calliper not letting it work properly. Sorry to tell you but I have seen this on other cars

Markus85 · 23-07-2007, 06:54 PM

i've thought about that but i don't see how a little rock will destroy a whole pad, apparently the ford bloke said there was about 5000km's left in the other pad, if it was a rock that really sucks

More revs · 23-07-2007, 07:36 PM

This can happen if the caliper binds a little. They are floating calipers on the Focus and short of removing them and fidling with the sliding mechanism theres not much you can do about it. In fact unless its real bad its not worth doing anything.

melbzetec · 23-07-2007, 10:26 PM

Have never had a problem. Brakes have been great.

Unless there is a obvious caliper or hydraulic problem, it is wear and tear.

Live with it.

whippet_zetec · 24-07-2007, 09:44 AM

done 35,000km in my 2003 Zetec, get brake dust build up on the mags but no other braking issues.

24-07-2007, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markus85

so i ended up slamming the brakes forcing them to lock up, after that the grinding stopped, took it in to ford and they said the driver side pads were worn out

I recon the pad may have been sitting on an angle and hence wearing a small area only down to the metal. Slamming on the brakes must have fixed that

Fast Eddie · 24-07-2007, 03:49 PM

My '03 LR has done 52,000 and has no problems whatsoever. My mechanic reckons I must be driving it like "Miss Daisy"!

eXtremist · 26-07-2007, 06:29 PM

I think the focus is crap when it comes to brakes.

They have excessive brake wear which makes me spend 30 minutes every week cleaning my wheels.

More revs · 27-07-2007, 12:40 PM

yes they have typical euro brakes with enviro pad material and soft rotors. they work very well which is really the only true measure of brakes eh..

My renault chews rotors up at a scary rate and leaves black dust in the driveway. by contrast the focus is clean.

Oh yeah guess what - the VECTRA is back from the panel beater. Sadly it survived a belting when it ABSed itself into the side of another car. Now the ABS on my focus works very well wet or dry, unlike the VECTRA - and yes I'm yelling that word coz VECTRAS should be shot on sight.

Might take it out on the weekend and knock over some white posts again - god I hate that car...

debbyandjamie · 29-07-2007, 11:38 PM

I haven't checked this website for some time - I decided to check it again because I'm about to spend another heap of money having pads and rotors replaced on our 2004 Ford Focus. We had to replace rotors and pads at 36,000kms. At the time I posted messages and there were a number of other messages at the same time about Focus brakes. It is a well known problem - according to a person I spoke to at my motoring body.

The 2005 Ford Focus advertising even said that the brakes had been improved (my question at the time was "What is wrong with the brakes on the previous models?"). My belief is the rotors were under engineered (they were made too thin and wear badly so they go below the thickness required by Australian Standards very quickly).

The response I had from my local dealer and from Ford Australia was very poor. Ford even said that this is quite common in equivalent cars. Well - I won't be buying any Fords again and I'll stay away from the equivalents they mentioned (BMW's and Astra's) but I don't believe replacing rotors at 36,000km's is normal wear and tear for normal use.

debbyandjamie · 29-07-2007, 11:43 PM

I almost forgot. Another common problem (according to the Ford dealer where we were) with the 2004 Ford Focus is the alternator. Ours gave out when we were visiting relatives interstate at about 50,000kms. Luckily it happened after we arrived and not on the way. I did have to drive the car about 20 kilometres without any instruments working. We had to go without a car for about 5 days while it was fixed under warranty.

melbzetec · 30-07-2007, 01:06 AM

And your point is?

Most on here have not had a problem with brakes.

And I'd love to see the ad where it says "we've improved the brakes". I've worked in automotive advertising for over ten years, and can't think of any advertiser who would even bother with such a useless claim.

Don't you love people who's only contribution in their first posts is to whinge?

zetec · 30-07-2007, 12:52 PM

My front discs wore unevenly at 45,000km with grinding noises and I just replaced them with Ford parts again. 94,000km and still going strong now, no issues. Just one of those things I guess and I'm happy to move on with my life and keep enjoying my car. It'd take mre than a brake change for me to not love mine to death!

31-07-2007, 01:06 PM

Brakes produce friction between metal and the brake compound.
Typical euro cars have soft pads and rotors to generate better friction, as a result the car brakes very well. But of course the downside is increased wear, but I have never had brake fade even trying really hard.

Twice in my old EF I had bad fade that rentered the brake pedal useless, almost causing major accidents. On the "good side" the rotors last 90,000kms.

How much is your safety really worth?

20focus05 · 31-07-2007, 05:28 PM

I had an eb and raced that thing around the winding roads south of adelaide and had no brake problems but a mate who had a commodore the bakes would fade just looking at a corner.
Our LS focus has done nearly 60k with only 30% wear, it is a manual and I have had smoke coming off the brakes, what a ride!!