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I have a ford focus mk2 2006 1.6l petrol/gasoline hatchback, manual. This morning i was driving normally but the car wouldnt go up 40km/h in any gear no matter how hard i pressed the gas pedal the rpm stayed fixed. On top of that there was a burning smell.

I parked the car for a second and drove it again and there was no problem after. But the burning smell got me concerned.

Any idea what could be the cause of this problem. Thank you.

For information the dashboard didnt show anything.

Update: i checked with a mechanic and we found out that the burning smell was coming from the brakes of the front left wheel. We flushed the breaking oil and it was very dirty. And even that didn't fix the problem. The brakes still getiing stuck for that particular wheel.

It must be something related to the abs or the braking pump. Does anyone has an idea how i can fix this ? Should i flush the abs and braking pump hoes since the oil was very dirty ?

Another Update : The caliper now wont release until i bleed it. does anyone have any idea what could be the cause of the problem ? is it the ABS who is not releasing pressure ? or a bad caliper ?

Thank you in advance.

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    Could you tell where the burning smell was coming from? Inside, the brakes, under the bonnet/hood?
    – HandyHowie
    Commented Sep 4, 2021 at 11:18
  • Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair!
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Sep 4, 2021 at 11:35
  • Hello @handyhowie. The burning smell was coming from the left side of the bonnet. I checked with a mechanic and found out that the front left wheel brakes are stuck. The brakes are always active for that wheel.
    – Hachachin
    Commented Sep 4, 2021 at 14:32
  • Sounds like it will soon be fixed.
    – HandyHowie
    Commented Sep 4, 2021 at 15:04

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If the brakes got stuck, changing braking fluid won't help. Whole brakes have to be changed to new ones or at least completely disassembled and cleaned because the dirt and rust prevents them from working (in your case, brakes won't let go after you release the brake pedal).

Remember to check the brakes on testing machine to determine if they have the same braking force because if not, that might be very dangerous (especially on front wheel brakes).

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  • Hello @Mark , thank you for your reply. I didnt encounter this problem until i changed the braking pads of the front wheels. The caliper now wont release until i bleed it. do you have any idea what could be the cause of the problem ? is it the ABS who is not releasing pressure ?
    – Hachachin
    Commented Sep 6, 2021 at 9:23
  • ABS pump in Focus mk2 has distinctive sound and you are not mentioning it - so I don't think the pump is faulty. Another thing is, you have problems with just one wheel, right? Which braking pads did you change? On both front wheels or just the one you have locked right now? Did you clean everything around the calipers when changing the brake pads?
    – Mark
    Commented Sep 6, 2021 at 12:55

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