Noisy rear brake

[Zap]

I'm going to guess that the answers are likely similar to those for a V6, but just in case...

My '97 has a crunchy, dragging sound from one of the rear brakes. What is the common culprit for this in the V8? I'm going to pull the wheel off in a while to inspect, and I'll check the grease on the slider pins to make sure that isn't it.

Is there any way to determine if the flex hose has gone bad, and does anyone make stainless lines for the V8? This came out of nowhere, and braking used to be fine... so I'm not sure if that provides any more information.

Thanks!

 

[SHOZ123]

I don't know if NESHO still has the lines but they did make some up at one time.

It's probably the slider pins though. I have to take mine apart every year to keep them moving freely.

 

[jmpSHO]

I don't see why stainless steel lines for a Gen 2 won't work for a Gen 3 with maybe some slight modification. I'm sure someone here has tried it.

 

[SHOMEX]

as previously said: Slider pins or your brakes have worn out and and you're having metal to metal contact.

 

[SHOZ123]

I don't see why stainless steel lines for a Gen 2 won't work for a Gen 3 with maybe some slight modification. I'm sure someone here has tried it.

The fittings on the body are different IIRC.

 

[Zap]

Okay, problem has been identified. The brake on the one side had severe wear on the rear pad, but the front is fine. The lower slider pin is frozen. Inspection of the other side reveals the exact same problem, however the pads still look okay. I may end up just replacing the brackets since I can't get the frozen pins to budge and should be good. Then I'll put new pads on both sides and a new rotor on the side where it is torn up

Do the caliper pistons require a special tool to compress them back down?

 

[SHOZ123]

The calipers screw in clockwise while being compressed. There is a special tool for Ford rear disc brakes but others will tell you alternative ways of dealing with it.

 

[SHOMEX]

My best advice to turn the rear brake piston will be to connect a little piece of rubber hose on the bleeder screw and loosen the bleeder; that way you wont fight that piston to get in and You can rotate the pistons with a round brake tool you can get at autozone for $10.
Dont forget to bleed the brakes really good.

 

[Zap]

Okay, well I managed to use the tool from AutoZone to turn the pistons back in. New caliper brackets with new slider pins, new pads, and new rotors on both sides. It feels great after a little drive - much more spirited and less laggy. Problem is the passenger side wheel is slightly warm compared to the others, so I'm not sure I've solved the entire problem.

Am I dealing with a misbehaving hose, or is this going to happen as the pads seat? Anything else it could be? I'm gathering that is why the driver side pin was stuck, but the pads and rotor were still semi-OK but the passenger side was gone on the back pad.

Thanks again!

 

[jmpSHO]

Did you grease the slider pins and where the pads make contact with the caliper? When was the last time the hoses were replaced?

 

[Zap]

Yeah, the slider pins were very well greased and the pads were in contact with the calipers. I'm not sure when the hoses were replaced as I've only had the car a short time. I'll have to look through the previous service paperwork to see if it's been done.

 

[zak]

My passenger side rear caliper can still be a bit warm after new brackets and pins, as well as putting stainless flex lines on it (Gen 2). Do a search, someone discovered that the springs on the calipers for e-brake release come in two sizes. Still looking for the larger ones myself, as I do not think anyone posed the measurements of the two types.

 

[wymjym]

When I did a major brake job some time ago I noticed that the RR had more drag than the LR. I pulled it all apart, checked carefully and while everything looked good the RR still had more drag. I drove it 500 miles which helped seat the pads but it still had more drag.
SO……
I made up a couple of ‘C’ washers (copper washers with a notch cut out of them).
I placed them on the e brake cable (and then closed the ‘C’ with a pair of pliers) on the LR between the actuator and the cable outer holder. This put a bit more tension on the LR, did not have any affect on the RR. The result, both rear brakes have the same drag. I must say that I never noticed any braking weirdness on dry roads prior to the ‘fix’ but on a couple of wet outings I could feel the RR grab and slightly upset the straight line braking.
Hope this helps.
wj

 

[SHOZ123]

That's an interesting idea.

BTW that is how I remove the cable. A lot easier than messing with the spring.

 

[Zap]

It seems like it isn't as pronounced as it was initially and the wheel feels less warm, so that is a good thing. On the other hand, it is quite frustrating that a day later I now have a metal on metal sound from the opposite corner front brake. Looks like it's time for a repeat expenditure of valuable time and money.

Aren't there supposed to be wear indicators before you run out of pad??

 

[SHOMEX]

Aren't there supposed to be wear indicators before you run out of pad??


Yes those wear indicators are your eyes!

Seriously hope you get them fixed with no more issues, by the way front brakes are piece of cake.

 

[Zap]

Yeah, now that its been a few more days I haven't seen any problems with the rears and the appear to be working quite nicely. I'll be most likely tackling the fronts sometime over the weekend, probably Friday so that I can run errands on Saturday. I don't expect it to be too bad, and I have spare brackets in case I run into trouble with more frozen slider pins that won't budge from the existing brackets.

I just thought there was some sort of metal lip on the other Taurus pads I've worked with that would rub the inside of the rotor when they were low and in need of replacement. That way you have notice and the rotor doesn't get scored by the backing of a fully dead pad.

 

[SHOZ123]

By far the best slider pin **** I have found for the conditions my car sees in Illinois is the copper based never seize type stuff. Compare to the silicon goop it wins hands down. It also makes a great protectant of exposed threads to stop rusting.

 

[stephen newberg]

By far the best slider pin **** I have found for the conditions my car sees in Illinois is the copper based never seize type stuff. Compare to the silicon goop it wins hands down. It also makes a great protectant of exposed threads to stop rusting.

I have had the same results from when I was in Nova Scotia for many years with the car. The copper based Never Seize is the way to go.

pax, smn

 

[Zap]

Interesting .. is there a specific type? I'm gathering it will be labled more as Anti-seize than grease? I presume it is used instead of the regular stuff and not mixed?