I am starting to get skidding if I brake to stop, from 30mph on wards.. The car doesn't come to a halt easily and loses traction.

What to do?

puyopop said:

I am starting to get skidding if I brake to stop, from 30mph on wards.. The car doesn't come to a halt easily and loses traction.

What to do?

Click to expand...

Assuming it's braking evenly, I'd be thinking this one is down to the tyres.

What have you got, and how much tread is left?

puyopop said:

I am starting to get skidding if I brake to stop, from 30mph on wards.. The car doesn't come to a halt easily and loses traction.

What to do?

Click to expand...

1. Either you have old or worn tyres


or


2. You've been watching too many re-runs of The Professionals on the telly and it's affecting your judgement.


Our 1.2 has the original 5 year old Continental 165/65-14s and they're a bit ' hard' but not completely worn. They'll be replaced with Uniroyal RainSport 3s of 185/60-14 size at some point. Grip over economy every time!

Front or back?
What model?
Have you changed anything brake-related recently?
If you have good tyres, and you are not driving like a stunt driver, you should definitely check your brakes (or get them checked) as soon as possible.

Are there any lights staying on the dash such as the ABS warning light?

1st step is to check the tyres.
I just replaced my from new Continentals after 5 1/2 years with Falken tyres. Just can feel the difference in grip at every stage!

Ol hard tyres will have very little grip. I had a Seicento some years ago. A great little skateboard until I tried to stop. The tyres were as hard as nails. A new set with wider alloys solved its (lack of) grip problems for very little money.

Of course it could be the car was being thrown about like an Evo II and is now running on the rims.

If it is the back wheels locking up it could be that the friction material has come away from the brake shoes and is jamming as you apply the brakes.

We need the full story.

Sorry for not giving more details.

Its definatly the front skidding. The tyres are under 2 years old and have done about 9k miles on them.

2.5mm thread left.

Skid can be heard and car won't stop easily without spazing out.

I havent changed the breaks or done any break adjustment.

No warning light

Tyre pressures. Too high may be

A good overhaul of the front brakes isn't costly so get it checked out ASAP.

If its suddenly got worse you might have a failing brake hose. They can delaminate internally and become a sort of non return valve. The brakes wont release or only release slowly. But by the time they do fail you really should be reconditioning the calipers as they'll be seizing up soon enough.

If one brake hose has failed the others will be along soon so change the lot and be done with it. At the least change both sides.

http://www.brakecaliperspecialists.uk/fiat/

http://www.eurocarparts.com/brake-caliper?gclid=COWk36ib3M4CFWIW0wodc1kNDg

puyopop said:

Sorry for not giving more details.

Its definatly the front skidding. The tyres are under 2 years old and have done about 9k miles on them.

2.5mm thread left.

Skid can be heard and car won't stop easily without spazing out.

I havent changed the breaks or done any break adjustment.

No warning light

Click to expand...

I bought some tyres for an old fiests..fine in dry..lethal in wet..

Strange if its only just started though..??

On mine 2006. If the front "skids"the abs cuts in

Does it have ABS?
As ABS was mandatory from mid 2004, only the earliest should be non-ABS. As said above, if it has ABS, any skidding should be addressed by the ABS system.
Does the ABS warning light come on with the ignition and then extinguish after 3-4 seconds? If the warning bulb has failed, you won't know the system has shut down.

Having said that, at most normal speeds and braking, the ABS should not be necessary as skidding should not occur. So first carry out the physical brake checks as above.

There was a recall to replace the ABS electronics.

For what its worth, I had an ABS problem on my mothers car which is a 2010Perodua nee Daihatsu nee Toyota etc etc. The ABS system was not working and the car behaved very oddly indeed and the propensity to skidding was far far worse than I would have credited. AFter many failed attempts to resolve this and a visit to the main agent, it turned out to be dirty ABS sensors which when wiped with a clean dry rag returned to normal. The car was practically undriveable especially in the wet. The load sensing valves still present on some vehicles can also cause problems but normally on the rear. Whatever the issue it needs to be sorted before an accident occurs. Get it diagnosed t a dealer and ask for a price to fix it. You can of course always go elsewhere once youknow what the cause is ............

My bike speedo/ABS sensor is in the back wheel gearbox. After a while, bits of metal sludge can clog the sensor causing the speedo and ABS to stop working.

You can ride it and the brakes feel fine but the front wheel is VERY easy to lock up. Not much fun on a 100bhp bike weighing 1/4 tonne.

These days we really don't appreciate jus how much the electronic systems control how we use the vehicles.

Maybe the OP's problem is faulty ABS. But whatever the cause, s/he needs to get it sorted before serious trouble arrives.