Front brakes eager to lock up . . .

[Guest]

I know the weather has been really poor recently but I am concerned as my 944 seems to be really eager to lock up the front brakes when under normal drivng conditions my Mondeo would not have . . . I am running the standard 15" teledials on my 88' 944 with 215 60 R15 90H Sport Contact the pressure when last checked was 27 PSI in all round, are these tyres the cortect rating and size for my model and year? Are there any recommended tyres both make and size for the standard 15" teledials? Does any one know what the the original tyre size was for all four corners?

The Brakes do work well though are heavier under foot compared to my Mondeo, but I guess this is to be expected due to the age of the vehicle and technical advancements . . . isn't it?

Regards . . .

 

[berg944]

My lux was like that for a couple of days when I fitted rear pads.

They have now bedded in and are fine.

Your front locking could be lack of rear braking.

Mike[:'(]

 

[Guest]

The car has not long passed an MOT, surely the rear brakes should be ok? What is the best way to check that the rear brakes are functioning as they should? Is there a front / rear compensator or bias valve?

 

[Fen]

There is, on the top of the ABS pump in the driver's wheelarch. I don't know it can go wrong and it isn't adjustable though.

 

[Guest]

Is there an easy way to determine if I have ABS?(Option code?) there is no light on the dash, I am almost positive I do not as when I brake hard the front locks up and I started to slide . . . there was no sign of any ABS, thus I had to release the brake pedal and re-apply it . . .

Has anyone else experienced this at all? is it the rubber I have on? or a characteristic of the 944 less ABS in these crummy weather conditions?

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: siddus74

The car has not long passed an MOT, surely the rear brakes should be ok? What is the best way to check that the rear brakes are functioning as they should? Is there a front / rear compensator or bias valve?

I would suspect that you're just too used to driving a car with ABS. The rear brakes are really just there to give stability under braking. The real stopping effort is put in by the fronts. As a result, you will generally find that the front wheels will lock first. Have you much experience of driving non ABS equipped cars?

However, if there actually is anything wrong with your brakes, the MOT test doesn't necessarily test brake bias. It just checks that your brakes exert at least the minimum permissible braking force. It's possible that you may be getting a little less braking power sent to the rear brakes, but there are so many possible causes for this that it's probably best to get your car looked at in order to narrow it down.

It could be that the bias valve is wonky and not sending enough to the rear. It's unlikely that you have a sticking calliper, as that would probably have shown up on the MOT. Somebody might have fitted different pads in the front and/or rear which are mismatched, so you're getting more effective braking on the front than the rear, or it could be something as simple as having more worn rear tyres than the fronts. Rear tyres will generally not last as long as the fronts, so it might be time for a change.

 

[Diver944]

Personally, I would wait for a perfectly dry day and have another test (with no traffic around).

215 tyres are fairly wide on a wet and slippy road and I think you found the limit of the conditions at the time []