2011-2019 Ford Fiesta Brake Job Tools and Torque Specs

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

A brake job on a 2011-2019 Ford Fiesta needs only basic hand tools up front, where a single-piston floating caliper squeezes the pads, but most Fiestas use self-adjusting rear drums that call for a brake drum gauge, a 4 mm Allen wrench and a careful parking brake cable adjustment. The ST is the exception, with rear discs. Ford does not publish its caliper and wheel torque figures in a form we could confirm for every year, so torque every factory fastener to the value in the Ford service manual for your exact model year, and use the published numbers below only for the aftermarket hardware they belong to.

What brakes your Fiesta actually has

Before you buy tools or parts, confirm which system is on your car. According to Brake & Front End magazine, every 2010-and-later Fiesta uses a conventional single-piston floating caliper at the front, and the stock pads use a double floating shim arrangement to control noise. At the rear, the standard setup is a self-adjusting drum system. ST models are different and use rear disc brakes.

The drums are not a cost shortcut. The Fiesta comes standard with ABS, stability control and electronic brake distribution (EBD), and EBD leans on the rear brakes more during normal stops. On small cars with rear discs, that extra work meant rear pads in some cases lasted half as long as the fronts. Ford kept drums because shoes have more friction surface area and outlast pads of a similar size.

If you are shopping by part number, note that many of the performance pads we carry for this platform, such as the Hawk HP Plus front pads for the 2014-2016 Fiesta ST, fit the ST only. Check the year and trim in the product title before you order.

Tools for the front brake job

The front pad swap is the simple half of the job. A floating caliper slides on guide pins, so you remove the caliper, hang it, swap the pads and service the slides. Plan on:

• A floor jack and two jack stands rated for the car, plus wheel chocks
• A breaker bar and a socket that fits your lug nuts
• A metric socket and wrench set for the caliper guide pin bolts and caliper bracket bolts
• A C-clamp or caliper piston spreader to push the single piston back into its bore
• A wire brush and brake cleaner to clean the bracket abutments where the pad ears ride
• High-temperature brake grease for the guide pins and pad contact points, kept off the friction surface
• A bungee cord or caliper hanger so the caliper never hangs on its rubber hose
• A torque wrench that covers the range in the service manual. This is the one tool you should not skip

Because the stock pads rely on shims for noise control, reuse or replace the shims rather than leaving them off. New pads for the standard car and MK7 generation include the EBC Bluestuff NDX front pads for the 2017 and newer Fiesta, and you can browse more options in our brake pad collection. If the rotors are scored, below minimum thickness or pulsing, replace them in pairs from our brake rotor collection.

Tools and steps for the rear drums

The rear drums are where most DIY Fiesta brake jobs go wrong, because the self-adjusters depend on the parking brake cable being set correctly. Brake & Front End lists these extra tools and steps from the Ford procedure:

• Brake drum gauge. After new shoes go in, you must use a drum gauge to set the shoes to the size of the drum. The target clearance between drum and shoe is about 1 mm.
• 4 mm Allen wrench. Used as a gauge against the parking brake actuation lever on the driver-side rear only.
• A cable tie. Used to hold the passenger-side parking brake actuation lever against the shoe during adjustment.
• Trim tools to remove the floor console finish panel, which hides the parking brake cable adjuster nut.

The adjustment sequence, in plain terms:

1. Remove the floor console finish panel to reach the cable adjuster nut, and make sure the parking brake handle is fully released.
2. Remove the drums and loosen the self-adjuster one full turn on both sides.
3. Cable-tie the passenger-side actuation lever to the shoe, and place the 4 mm Allen wrench against the driver-side actuation lever.
4. Turn the cable adjuster nut until the Allen wrench falls out, then remove the cable tie and adjust the shoes.
5. If you installed new rear cables, cycle the parking brake lever to the 10th notch 10 times to stretch them, then pull the drums and confirm there is a gap between the parking brake stop lever and the shoe web. If there is no gap, repeat the adjustment.
6. With the wheels on, confirm each wheel turns freely with no drag, pump the brake pedal fully 10 times, apply the parking brake to confirm it holds, and reinstall the console panel.

Shoes and drums are in our brake shoe collection. Replace the springs and adjuster hardware at the same time if they are rusted or stretched; a brake hardware kit is cheap insurance on a drum job.

Torque specs: what we can and cannot publish

Torque is the part of this topic where guesses are dangerous. Figures for Fiesta caliper bolts and lug nuts circulate online, but the ones we found were reposted without a Ford source and disagreed with each other. We will not print an unconfirmed number for a part that holds your caliper on. For the factory caliper guide pin bolts, caliper bracket bolts, drum fasteners, bleeder screws and wheel lug nuts, use the values in the Ford workshop manual for your model year and trim, and tighten lug nuts in a star pattern.

Aftermarket kits are different, because the kit maker publishes the values for its own hardware. Wilwood's assembly instructions for its 140-11900 rear disc conversion for the 2011-present Fiesta, which replaces the factory drums with a combination parking brake caliper and an 11.75 inch vented rotor, give these figures:

Those values apply to that Wilwood kit's hardware only, not to the factory calipers. The same instructions note that the kit needs at least 0.080 inch of clearance between wheel and caliper, does not include hydraulic lines or parking brake cable hardware, and that OEM rubber hoses generally cannot be adapted because the caliper inlet is an M10 x 1.0 banjo. If you are going the big brake route up front, see the Wilwood Dynapro 6 front big brake kit for the 2011 and newer Fiesta, and follow the torque values in the instructions that ship with it.

Bleeding, bedding and the 2019 caliper recall

A pad and shoe job that never opens the hydraulic system does not need a bleed. If you replace a caliper, hose or wheel cylinder, flush and bleed with the fluid type printed on the reservoir cap and in the owner's manual. For kit installs, Wilwood says to begin with the caliper farthest from the master cylinder, to never let fluid touch the pad or rotor faces, and not to use silicone DOT 5 fluid for performance driving.

Bed in new pads before normal driving. Wilwood's procedure starts with light stops to build heat, moves to medium and firm stops, and finishes with 8-10 hard decelerations from 55-65 mph down to 25 mph, followed by a cool-down drive with as little braking as possible. Do this only where it is safe and legal.

If you own a 2019 Fiesta, check recall 19V629000 before buying front calipers. NHTSA records that some 2019 Fiesta calipers were assembled with the wrong assembly fluid, which can swell the rubber seals and make the brakes drag and overheat. The remedy is a fluid flush and new front calipers and brake hoses at a dealer, free of charge. If a recall repair is open on your car, get it done first; for cars outside the recall, replacement units are in our brake caliper collection.

How hard is the job?

The front pads are a beginner-friendly job if you have a torque wrench and a safe way to lift the car. The rear drums are intermediate: the springs take patience, and the parking brake cable adjustment is what keeps the self-adjusters working. Common complaints on the Fiesta are a spongy pedal, most often from a seized caliper or worn parts, and on some cars a hard pedal that can trace back to the vacuum pump on the exhaust camshaft, which a pad job will not fix.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Ford Fiesta have rear disc or drum brakes?

Standard 2011-2019 Fiestas use self-adjusting rear drum brakes. The Fiesta ST uses rear disc brakes. Check under the car or by trim before ordering rear parts.

Why does my Fiesta's parking brake feel loose after new rear shoes?

The parking brake cable has to be adjusted after the shoes are set with a drum gauge. Ford's procedure uses a 4 mm Allen wrench on the driver-side actuation lever as a gauge; skipping it leaves the self-adjusters unable to do their job.

What is the caliper bolt torque on a Ford Fiesta?

Use the value in the Ford service manual for your model year. The online figures we found were not traceable to Ford and conflicted, so we do not publish one for the factory calipers.

Do I need special tools for a Fiesta brake job?

The front needs common hand tools, a piston spreader and a torque wrench. The rear drums also need a brake drum gauge, a 4 mm Allen wrench, a cable tie and trim tools to reach the parking brake cable adjuster.

Is my 2019 Fiesta part of a brake recall?

Some 2019 Fiestas are covered by NHTSA recall 19V629000 for front calipers with swollen seals that can cause drag. Enter your VIN on the NHTSA recall site or ask a Ford dealer.

Sources

1. Brake & Front End - Brake Job: 2010-2019 Ford Fiesta - front caliper design, rear drum vs ST discs, EBD, drum gauge and parking brake adjustment steps, pedal complaints
2. Brake & Front End - Brake Job: 2014 Ford Fiesta - shim arrangement, 1 mm shoe clearance, 4 mm Allen wrench procedure
3. Wilwood DS-811 assembly instructions, 2011-present Ford Fiesta rear kit - kit fastener torque values, Loctite, clearance, banjo fitting, bleeding and bedding procedure
4. NHTSA recall 19V629000 - 2019 Fiesta front caliper seal recall and remedy