While I was deployed earlier this spring my wife noticed a weird smell coming from her Excursion. A friend of ours looked over the truck and found that the R/R caliper had brake fluid coming from inside the caliper and all over the place. He helped us out and replaced it for us with an Autozone caliper which has a Ford stamp on it.

Well, about a month ago I noticed that there was a ton of fluid leaking from the same wheel; sure as hell the caliper had failed again. So this time I replaced it with another Autozone caliper (lifetime guarantee). A few days ago I was crawling around under the truck and noticed THIS caliper has also failed. This is the third caliper on the same wheel.

I looked at the whole brake assembly and the fluid is ONLY coming from inside the caliper (leaking down the rotor). The brake line connecting to the caliper is completely dry.

Has anyone else had any issues with multiple calipers failing? I did a search and couldn't come up with anything solid. The truck is a 2001 Ex Limited V10 with 130K on the clock.

Thanks all.

 

Could it be an axle seal and not the caliper? Did you pull the rotor and check it?

 

Did you ever figure it out? I have the same problem.

 

Gear lube has a very distinctive smell and much stronger than brake fluid.

 

Gear oil does have a distinctive smell and feel, but after it gets heated up by the brakes it would have a thinner consistency so it could possibly be an axle seal. To answer your question no I have not figured it out yet. I have yet to get any further into it than the caliper; we've just been driving the Ex as little as possible.

 

You said it's coming from "inside the caliper (leaking down the rotor)". When you had any of the previous ones removed, could you identify a source? If it were brake fluid, I would think that would mean it was leaking from the seals around the piston(s--can't remember how many we have in our rear calipers). You should be able to see that.

I would not assume that parts from the parts store wouldn't fail on multiple occasions; I've seen it happen too many times.

Kinda stumped on this one...any pics?

 

I've actually got a 2000 E350 diesel, but I think they'd be the same parts. I've got two pistons on mine. I'm also stumped. I guess I'll keep putting calipers on until one works.

Could it be an issue with line pressure blowing out the seals? I'd think the left one would blow out too. The right [passenger] side brake line on my van is the longer one, the left side is the shorter side. The hydraulic system sends the pressure to the rear in a single line and tees off at the axle, so I'd assume it would blow out both of them if the pressure were too high.

It could be diff fluid, but I did bled the brake out with new fluid when I put the new caliper on. The fluid that's leaking out is pretty clean, and doesn't stink like diff fluid.

 

The part # for my van is #18-4748 from O'Reily
Cardone 18-4748 - Unloaded Brake Caliper | O'Reilly Auto Parts

May not be the same part, but seems the same problem anyways.

 

Dimension4: Can you see where the leak is coming from? Is it from the piston?

I wouldn't think it would be line pressure. I'm no brake or hydraulic expert, but I know a little about both. For it to be pressure-related, and only manifesting on one side, I would think that would mean your DS line would be blocked (otherwise you should be getting the same pressure on both sides), but even in that case, I wouldn't think pressure alone would be causing the seals to blow (the MS creates the pressure, which is the same as you've always had).

I'd be more inclined to suspect that the aftermarket parts supplier is using an inferior piston seal, that's creating a systemic problem.

FWIW, Autozone and O'Reilly are both the same parent company, and are most likely sourcing their calipers from the same place. If I were either of you guys, I'd give NAPA a shot, or an independent shop that buys from a different wholesaler/manufacturer chain.

 

My piston seal had a big, fat hole in it.

Cardone, -1

They warrantied with a raybestos, hopefully it holds up. Never had good luck with cardont

 

My hunch is axle seal, I can't imagine three reman calipers failing, if the axle seal leaks its going to show up in this same area.

 

Autozone and O'Reilly are not the same company. Checker, Schuckes, Kragen were bought out by O'Reilly. You can find some cross over in parts between all parts houses.

I worked at Checker and for O'Reilly after the conversion. I used Raybestos calipers when I did my front brakes on the Ex.

 

Thanks for the correction. I always get Autozone and Schucks mixed up, and think that they're part of the 3 guys/brother/whatever.

 

Well ive replaced another 2x by lifetime warranty now the part guy at oreily said he wont replace it again and ill have to go somewhere else.

 

Did you replace the rubber brake lines at any time during this ordeal?