Uh oh.......brakes.

[0z0ne]

Well forgive my impatience or not, but I DID put in fluid after wiping out the reservoir. I let the car sit about an hour before proceeding to pump the brakes and look for any leakage. Guess what?
Though i couldn't see much with a flashlight underneath the vehicle, i did HEAR a definite hissing and bubbling coming from the drivers side wheel area. It certainly did not sound like a small leak by the noise twas making, but obviously I am not sure. I get the feeling though that what I've discovered is may not be the only problem (I have a very good intuition you see ) but only time will tell, eh?
I will look at it again in the morning and then again after I get back from work.
I suppose you guys wouldn't suggest test driving the car until it's really fixed?

Anyway, Sunday morning I'm leaving for NM, but hopefully when I get back I can get on this ASAP. I wish I had someone to help me

Thanks for the replies folks.

I think i will get my fiancee to pump the pedal for me when it's more dry to have a better look, thank you red

GN all!

[Charlie1717]

Another thing to keep in mind. Google is your friend Any term or part that doesn't make sense to you. Just google it and you'll figure it out. Also youtube can prove to be very useful to watch before doing a job. Seeing someone else do a similar job can help familiarize yourself with what might be needed ie. brake pads/shoes, bleeding the brakes, stuff like that will have videos that will really help out (probably not specific to the festiva though :p)

The Festiva has a safety feature, as I believe all cars do, that allows you to still stop with 0 brake fluid. You just have to hit it as hard as you can and you will gradually slow, just as you learned.

I had the same symptoms as you last year. Sudden loss of brakes and no fluid in the reservoir and a slow leak causing the brake fluid to slowly diminish. Which You will soon see. Hopefully it is just a wheel cylinder, which was my issue. These are on your rear brakes. Google wheel cylinder Festiva and you'll see a pic of it
Youtube replace wheel cylinder and watch this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYAORTwAHo

Now that video is step by step since it's a different car but it's the best way to get an idea of what the job involves. You don't need all those tools but they are helpful. I had none of those tools :p
Hopefully it is your wheel cylinders since those are cheap and fairly easy to replace. But if you replace those you will need to replace your shoes (brake pads for drum brakes) so you will want to get new shoes/spring kit(s)/wheel cylinder(s) and hopefully your drum is in decent condition. Again if any of those terms throw you off Google!

Good luck!

[WmWatt]

OP says brake warning light was on when he bought the car. Can't find reason for brake light on in Haynes manual. Seem to recall there being a couple of reasons for light coming on. Anybody remember what they are?

[FestYboy]

the hard barke lines that go to each corner of the car; the fronts go through the innner fender wall via a hole that is protected with a plastic grommet. at that point there is typicaly alot of failures do to rot at the hard line and you should see fluid there. just follow the brake line from the caliper at the front wheels up untill they pass through the bnodt, that's where you shoudl start your search.

[Safety Guy]

The light comes on when either the handbrake is slightly raised or when fluid level is too low. The master cylinder (MC) has a sensor in the bottom middle with wires to a connector near the firewall. I think these are the only two reasons for the brake light to come on.

My recommendations:

1. DON'T DRIVE THE CAR!!!! Not until you have fixed the problem and the brakes work fine in your driveway, with no leakage or other problems.

2. If at all possible, install your emergency brake cable for a backup.

3. Get a Ford shop manual and/or a Haynes manual. READ UP ON THE FESTIVA BRAKE SYSTEM IN THESE MANUALS BEFORE DOING ANY WORK. Understand as much as possible about the system FIRST.

4. If you have brake fluid in your MC reservoir right now, go out and use a marker to mark the level so you can check it in the coming days. It may be draining out just sitting there, and you need to know that.

5. Go on google and youtube and DO SOME MORE "HOMEWORK." Read up on how automobile hydraulic brake systems work and how to do various brake jobs. Just as you would do to ensure "good scholarship" in a term paper, read a good selection, preferably by folks who seem to know what they're doing. Library books can also help here, and may be better vetted for accuracy. After reading four or five versions, you will see similarities and some differences. It will be up to you to apply this to your own vehicle.

6. The library should also have "general car repair manuals." Get one or two of these to look at. They are aimed at "general knowledge" of brake systems.

7. On a nice DRY day, with good light (and a good flashlight), get down and dirty with your car and see if you can look at the entire brake system front to back. Be able to identify the various parts and functions. Take the wheels off and look at the front discs and take off the rear drums to look at the brake shoes and rear wheel cylinders. You won't necessarily be working on them, but you need to see what you have and know what the parts are called. This will take time. Don't rush it!

8. If you have a friend or relative who you KNOW FOR SURE is a capable mechanic, then get them to help you out!

That's all for now. The order of my suggestions may not be set in stone except for the first four.

Also, see if you can get a camera so you can post pics. That way we can help better.

QUESTIONS:

-Do you have basic tools?
-Do you have some money to buy some other tools (and parts) when needed?

Karl

PS: DON'T DRIVE YOUR CAR UNTIL IT'S FIXED!! :d

[Safety Guy]

I'll help you get started a bit with some pics and descriptions:



In the above picture, the white can with black lid is the master cylinder reservoir. It holds the brake fluid. It is mounted on the brake booster, which is the larger black round thing on your firewall. See the two brake lines coming out of the MC? They go to the splitter, which in my case is from an Aspire and will be slightly different from yours. Four brake lines come OUT of the splitter and go to each of the four wheels. Trace them on your car to see where each one goes.



This pic shows the right side front brake line. If you look into your wheel well you will see where it comes out and connects to a rubber brake hose that goes to your front brake caliper. (Note that in the second and third pics, I have not yet installed the new MC.)



This pic shows the path taken by the brake line to the left side front brake. Again, my work here may be slightly different from what you see on your car, but it is close. Now look at the spider like splitter on the firewall and follow the two lines that go out to the left side of the car. They then go down and underneath the car on the left side to your rear brakes.



This pic shows how the brake and fuel lines travel from the front to the back, along the left side of the car just inside of the "frame rail." These are the new ones I ran to replace the old rotted/rotting ones, so mine are sometimes slightly different.

I think this is probably enough for now. Go do your homework. I'll help you get started by linking to this info, which looks like it will provide a lot of info:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/brakes/brake-types/brake.htm

I didn't see all of it, so make sure you look elsewhere, too!

Karl

[walth]

+10 Karl!!

[thered56]

+10 Karl!!

:thumbright:

[0z0ne]

Excellent post Karl, i cannot thank you enough for it!
I'll have your know that I've done some of the steps in your post, so be comforted!

Also I am going to NM for a little over a week, but after that I will start working on it for sure. I have money enough for basic tools, but I don't possess any of my own.

I also consulted my ex-ford engineer friend today and he things it's just a soft hose that broke, but he's not sure. I am about to talk to him again in more detail.

I've got a lot of packing to do tonight as well, but I will try to post back before it gets too late!

Thanks again you guys!

btw

+10 karl

[Safety Guy]

You're welcome. Now take a shop manual with you on that trip for a little light reading.

Karl

[thered56]

I have money enough for basic tools, but I don't possess any of my own.

It takes time. You're just starting out on it, but it sounds like you've get the drive to be doing your own work, so I'm sure you'll be accumulating tools in the near future. To me I kind of feel like my tools to me are like shoes to a lady. It's fun to pick up shiny new ones and you can never have enough! It's always a dream to have a room devoted solely to them!

For working on brake lines I don't like being without flare nut wrenches. I believe for a Festiva you just need a 10mm. It's no fun stripping your brake line fittings by using open end wrenches.

[Safety Guy]

+1 on the flare nut wrenches. Get a 10mm x 12mm for the Festiva, but I think you only have 10mm brake nut fittings. Get a good quality one, Sears Craftsman or better.

For tools you'll be using a lot, get good quality. For some others you only need once in a while, or for easy jobs, you can cut corners and go cheap sometimes.

Karl

[CharlieZ]

Karl

Karl,
What is the black canister next to the wiper motor, and why does it appear in only one of the photos?
CZ

[CharlieZ]

^^^^^ Never mind. I read about it in your most excellent AquaMutt thread.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31934&page=1

CZ

[0z0ne]

Hey guys!

I didn't make much progress...

but I linked two videos of the leak in the video section of the forum!
It might help out with this confusion. Please take a gander!

Excuse my ignorance too.

Thanks!