WTF is up with my brakes?

Started by SVT_Power, March 17, 2010, 06:50:02 PM

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SVT_Power

March 17, 2010, 06:50:02 PM
My left front brake started grinding occasionally a while ago, but it went away when I changed the LF tie rod end so I thought it was a bit loose or something and fucking around. But it came back permanently a while ago and recently it got so bad that I just stuck the car in the garage until tonight. I had my steelies on so I couldn't really see the damage, but today I realized what kind of FUBAR situation I have here.


Left front which is FUBAR





Right front which is fine for comparison



"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

FoMoJo

#1
March 17, 2010, 06:53:05 PM
Where'd the pad go? :huh:
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." ~ Albert Einstein
"As the saying goes, when you mix science and politics, you get politics."

SVT_Power

#2
March 17, 2010, 06:56:31 PM
On the fucked up rotor? It's there, I can see it in the picture.

But the question is, why the hell is it so far back compared to the other side's outer pad
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

Secret Chimp

#3
March 17, 2010, 07:18:27 PM
It almost looks like the "okay" caliper is seized near the release position, and you've ground down the fucked-up caliper because it's had to do all of the work.


Quote from: BENZ BOY15 on January 02, 2014, 02:40:13 PM
That's a great local brewery that we have. Do I drink their beer? No.

SVT_Power

#4
March 17, 2010, 07:20:35 PM
The okay caliper works fine, that much I know.

Anyway, I just ordered the SVT Focus front brake kit earlier today. As soon as I get this stuff off and get the new stuff on there, I'll try to figure out what the hell happened.
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

S204STi

#5
March 17, 2010, 07:25:58 PM
Wheel bearing wasn't installed properly, is my guess.  Check it out: the caliper doesn't seem to be the problem, its the bracket that's rubbing on the rotor face.  My guess is that the hub flange is too far out from the knuckle.

S204STi

#6
March 17, 2010, 07:27:05 PM
(At least that's what it looks like from the pic... correct me if I'm wrong about what's going on here.)

SVT_Power

#7
March 17, 2010, 07:30:53 PM
I did get the wheel bearings done a while ago. How would I go about checking to see if that's the issue exactly?
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

MX793

#8
March 17, 2010, 07:31:07 PM
My first guess would be that the floating calipers seized on their float pins (happened to the rears on my old Nissan and ground one of the pads to nothing), but that doesn't look like a floating caliper from the pics.  Are these twin piston calipers?
Needs more Jiggawatts

2016 Ford Mustang GTPP / 2011 Toyota Rav4 Base AWD / 2014 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ABS
1992 Nissan 240SX Fastback / 2004 Mazda Mazda3s / 2011 Ford Mustang V6 Premium / 2007 Suzuki GSF1250SA Bandit / 2006 VW Jetta 2.5

SVT_Power

#9
March 17, 2010, 07:38:25 PM
Nope. Single
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

Pancor

#10
March 17, 2010, 07:39:55 PM
Like R-inge said, its not the caliper, it's the bracket.  I can't for the life of me figure out how this could happen though, as there seems to be like 1/4" of interference there. (possibly more!)  How could the mechanic have bolted the caliper back on and not noticed?  I seriously doubt the wheel would have even been moveable with that much force on the rotor...  wtf?

S204STi

#11
March 17, 2010, 07:40:55 PM
Quote from: SVT_Power on March 17, 2010, 07:30:53 PM
I did get the wheel bearings done a while ago. How would I go about checking to see if that's the issue exactly?

When you remove the rotors measure the distance from the face of the hub to some fixed point on the knuckle.  Compare measurements side to side.

Also check the slide pins as mentioned by MX.  This is a floating caliper.

SVT_Power

#12
March 17, 2010, 07:45:12 PM
I just realized if the calipers are really shot, I won't be able to just swap my stock front setup to the rear. How did I not think of this.

Initial setup is 278 front, 260 rear
Planned setup was 300 front, 278 rear

Now I'm gonna have to think of what to do.
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

SVT_Power

#13
March 17, 2010, 07:46:16 PM
When it's light out, I'll make sure to go take a better look.
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

AutobahnSHO

#14
March 17, 2010, 08:00:52 PM
Ouch!

At least you still have rotors..  :lol:
Will

SVT_Power

#15
March 17, 2010, 08:01:50 PM
I'm getting pretty close to that "okay this is nuts. I need a new car" stage.  :lol:
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

AutobahnSHO

#16
March 17, 2010, 08:11:17 PM
Quote from: SVT_Power on March 17, 2010, 08:01:50 PM
I'm getting pretty close to that "okay this is nuts. I need a new car" stage.  :lol:

I'll take it off your hands.   :winkguy:
Will

r0tor

#17
March 18, 2010, 07:22:32 AM
looks like a seized caliper to me
2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee No Speed -- 2004 Mazda RX8 6 speed -- 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia All Speed

SVT_Power

#18
March 22, 2010, 06:43:12 PM
Now I took a quick peek at the rotors today, and it indeed does look like one side is closer to the hub than the other rotor. My axles are both fully in the transaxle, spindle nuts are tight on both side. So it's looking like the wheel bearing might not have been properly pressed in initially. That's something I couldn't do so had done at a garage - a major chain, not just a small indy shop. But my question is, the brakes were fine for months after the wheel bearings were changed. I didn't know wheel bearings could... slide out or something.

I'm gonna pull the calipers and rotors off tomorrow and I'll have a better look.
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

sportyaccordy

#19
March 22, 2010, 06:55:38 PM
Quote from: r0tor on March 18, 2010, 07:22:32 AM
looks like a seized caliper to me
Yep, on the right

SVT_Power

#20
March 22, 2010, 06:59:05 PM
Oh and, I picked up my BBK this afternoon  :rockon:

Also bought a torch tonight. I doubt those caliper bolts are gonna come out without a good fight.
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

SVT_Power

#21
March 22, 2010, 07:03:28 PM
So say my wheel bearing isn't fully in. What the hell do I do then? Call up the garage who did the job and ask them to press it in again? I mean I don't think this is common at all, and it's their fault for not doing the job properly?
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

AutobahnSHO

#22
March 22, 2010, 08:44:56 PM
You should.
But they might fight and say you didn't put something back on right..

And really, the bearing/hub are probably shot by now. IF that's the case.
Will

Eye of the Tiger

#23
March 22, 2010, 08:46:02 PM
Remove the radiator cap, and drive a new Contour under it.
2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

SVT_Power

#24
March 23, 2010, 10:24:02 AM
Got the rotors off.

FUBAR side



Other side



"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

S204STi

#25
March 23, 2010, 10:33:30 AM
Yeah, problem is definitely with that hub/bearing.  I'd suggest bringing that to the shop that did the work and politely requesting that they do it again correctly this time.

SVT_Power

#26
March 23, 2010, 10:35:13 AM
I'm always polite  :lol:   

Well most of the time until someone starts being a dick first...

Time to give them a call
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

S204STi

#27
March 23, 2010, 10:40:30 AM
This is the same shop that normally does work on your cars, right?  Since you have a history with them I bet they'll take care of you.

SVT_Power

#28
March 23, 2010, 10:40:36 AM
I called the garage and talked to the service manager that I usually talk to that knows me.

I was polite and explained what the situation was and of course he didn't jump and say "well it's not our fault" or "yeah it is our fault". He said bring the car in and he'll take a look for me.
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." - Ayrton Senna

S204STi

#29
March 23, 2010, 10:40:58 AM
Well that's a start.
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