Refine by channel:  Forum (6046)    Ask HJ (2084)    News (830)    productReview (91)    Article (55)    FAQs (10)    Reviews (6)    Good Garages (3)  

Sort by: Relevance | Newest first | Oldest first

• 
  A smart motorway speed limit reduced as I went past the camera. Will I be fined for speeding? 10 Nov 2020 (Ask HJ)
  I was travelling down the M1 on at 70MPH and, as I reached a gantry, the speed limit signs flashed up 50MPH. I started to brake, but on the other side...
• 
  Can I sit in traffic in 'D' with my foot on the brake pedal in a Ford B-Max powershift? 16 Jan 2017 (Ask HJ)
  We recently picked up a brand new Ford B-Max 1.6 powershift and I would like to know if it's okay to sit in traffic with my foot on the brake pedal and...
• Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - Suspension Problems Ford Focus. Any Advice pls? 8 Feb 2010 (Forum)
  Nothing special just a family run around. 64K genuine mileage just had a full service. At the service they changed the front brakes and the front right shock. (apparently the shock had leaked onto the brake causing unusual brake wear?? Anyway. Since the work was done everytime I press the brake it knocks. The noise is intermittent.
• Battery draining itself Tommy Cooper stylee 29 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  Jump start - quick drive, got out, brake lights on, keys not even in ignition. Brake pedal appears to be bordering on triggering the brakelight even at rest, this would explain battery drain. Glad its not a more obscure electrical fault.
• Squealing Astra 1 Feb 2023 (Forum)
  Each time the car is taken to garage for inspection the problem never seems to occur. I'm 99% certain that it is coming from 1 of the wheels on the RHS. I have eliminated the brakes as being the culprit as the car has had new brakes and calipers 4 discs and pads all round under warranty last year due to a fault. They have been inspected on 2 occasions in recent days and 2 garages confirm that the brakes are ok.
• Honda Civic Sport 1.5 - Electric brake failure 22 Nov 2021 (Forum)
  A local Honda dealership has run diagnostics and said there are no faults! What other explanation is there for this to happen? If the brake hadn't been on it would have rolled before I'd even got out of the car. Ive6put in a complaint to Honda UK but haven't heard anything yet. Any advice?  
• 3.0 D - Jaguar XF reliability 27 Jun 2018 (Forum)
  First of all though a bit of history: Back in December 2015 I kept getting a warning saying "Park Brake Fault" - to cut a longish story short it seems that Jaguar positioned the brake computer below the tube from the windscreen wash fluid bottle. When this leaked, water dripped on to the brake computer - Jaguar did pay the entire bill - over £1000.
• Any - Rusty handbrake 15 Jul 2014 (Forum)
  The HJ column in the Telgraph OnLine 12 July has a section "Should the brakes squeal..."   My son bought a car from one of the car supermarkets, (won't don't do that again !!), and the rear brakes were unusable.  The drums were corroded so badly that powdered rust was dropping out.
• 
  What’s causing the scraping noise on my Vauxhall Vectra? 26 Sep 2013 (Ask HJ)
  My 2002 Vauxhall Vectra is making a scraping noise, which seems to be coming from the front wheels. There's no vibrations, or any performance issues, but...
• vauxhall insignia - electric hand brake , whats the problem! 6 Feb 2013 (Forum)
  why does every one moan about electric hand brakes?I was a bit concerned when i went for a test drive before i bought the car as im an enthusiastic driver but now i think its great, i pull the leaver and it comes on i then just select a gear and pull away and it disengages automatically, i can even stop on a hill without even doing any thing as it applies automatically perhaps im getting lazy with old age!
• Vectra P-Reg - Dash & Brake Lights Failure, Not A Blown Fuse 20 Oct 2012 (Forum)
  Speedo, temp guage, fuel guage, indicators...Everything went off. I was pulled by the Police just after it and to be told i had no brake lights either, i told the officer that my dash had also just gone off (the timing was really bad) and thankfully, they let me go but only after following me to the local supermarket car park and parked it there.
• BMW Mini One 05 - Brake pad warning light problem 28 Aug 2012 (Forum)
  Would appreciate any info with this problem, changed the wife's front pads a couple of months back they were well down but the brake pad sensor was not damaged in any way, changed the pads and three weeks later the light on the dash comes on!!! do a search on google info states if you leave the ignition on for approx 30secs the light will go out, it did but came back on two days later, must be the sensor fit a new non gen item same thing but took three days before it was back on.
• Ford Focus - MOT emmissions and brake pads 4 Sep 2011 (Forum)
    I'd be interested to see what readings others on here are getting for CO fast idle on a petrol car? The brake pads are on about 30% tread so will be looking to replace them but I would like to attempt it myself. The only oncern is pushing the calipers back to fit the new pads. Can I use a g clamp for this and do I need to replace the disks at the same time (they're about 50% worn)?
• 1998 ford windstar - ab brakes 2 Oct 2010 (Forum)
    My question is, does anyone know of a way to 'glue' the refuctor ring to the drive shaft without replaceing the shaft?? The auto is in excellent condition and runs and looks like a new one and the brake system is all new.
• Volkswagen Passat (2001 - 2005) - 03 1.9d Am I being taken for a ride? 13 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  It's done about 45,000 miles, and they are replacing the belt (cam belt?) and doing something which is costing about £200 to the front brakes. The guy said that it was the 'brake holders' which he was replacing. But I've never heard of brake holders? Are they made up...? Am convinced he's cheating me, not least because he was trying to charge £350 (inc VAT/Parts/Labour) for the belt, but the VW dealership said they charged £295.
• Mercedes Benz C-Class Sport Coupe (2001 - 2008) - 02? 2.0 Rear brakes 4 Oct 2008 (Forum)
  He recently attempted changing his front discs and pads, and ends up knocking on my door to 'help' him. I know he wants to have a go at his rear brakes, and I've warned him he should read a manual first. Unfortunately there's no Haynes published, and we can't find anything, not even on e-bay. I guess the handbrake operates on the rear discs, and he'll need a retractor to wind the piston back, but I don't know.
• Volkswagen Passat (1997 - 2000) - 00 1.8t ABS fault - intermittent 11 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  I haven't had a chance to plug in VAG-COM yet because my laptop is not working. I get 3 beeps followed by "Brake Fault", "See Service Manual" and then "Stop"!! Accompanied by a yellow ABS light and a flashing brake warning light. It happens intermittently and usually clears itself - sometimes immediately, sometimes up to 40 miles later.
• SEAT Ibiza III (2002 - 2008) - Brake fluid change not in service contract? 7 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  Ended up having a fairly heated discussion with the service manager as they wouldn't do the 2 yearly brake fluid change unless I paid for it. In the end, they agreed to discount the price, but I think I'm most frustrated that I couldn't get them to agree that BF *is* part of the service schedule. Where we were diverging, was that they were entirely focused on mileage and the BF change is time based, so they regard it as an entirely separate thing, not something necessarily carried out as part of a service.
• Escort Encore 1.6 braking problem 25 Mar 2007 (Forum)
  It is fitted with continuously variable transmission (CTX) which itself takes some getting used to if you are not used to it but on 2 occasions now I have gone to brake only to find the car accelerating which isn't a very nice feeling. Its only luck that no other vehicles have been around at the same time. I wear quite chunky boots for driving so put it done to this but then my Dad took it for a test run today and the same thing happened to him!
• No Stoplights = rear end shunt 19 Feb 2007 (Forum)
  I know that nearly always in the event of a rear end shunt it's the driver behind who's to blame as they should have been able to stop in time, but is this still the case if the brake lights of the car in front are defective? I was shunted from behind at a give way onto a roundabout where the driver behind thought I had joined the roundabout but I had in fact only moved forward in the queue to the give way line and there is a possibility that the rear brake lights did not work (I find they are not working now 3 weeks later but whether they were defective at the time, I'm unsure).