Hey all,

I have a '02 Explorer V6. Just recently there is a 'rotory' squeal coming from the passenger rear wheel (it could be elsewhere in the back end however). When I pull the wheel and look at the caliper brakes (without taking them off), the back side pad is low. I don't see any wear or tear (shiny spots) anywhere on connections. The squeal comes and goes and other than the 'rotory' aspect of it, there is no speed or braking relations that I can tell. My wife says it started within minutes of coming out of an automatic car wash and that she had the underside sprayed. (btw, my wife will run through a car wash, on average, once a month since '02).

Do you think, that over time, the spraying from the car wash has made the rotors warped? Could it be anything else back there and what should a look for? I am going to pull the caliper's off tonight to see if I can find anything wrong back there.

Come to think of it, I just had the front rotors turned during a brake job because the technician said they needed them badly. I wonder if this is based on the same issue? hmmmm.

Well, thanks for the help in advance.

 

I doubt if it's warped rotors. Warped rotors would cause the pedal to pulsate when the brakes are applied. I suggest checking the clips that hold the pads in. Maybe one of them got dislodged in the car wash. Are you sure it's not the wear indicators?

 

I agree with marragtop...water from a car wash won't warp rotors.

I also think that you're hearing the wear sensors. Does the noise sound like a cricket chirping? This is the sound that wear sensors typically make.

 

While you are under there check for even wear, if one pad wearing more than other you have a sticking situation,

• tear down,
• clean and lubricate all the slids and clips

if one set is wearing more than the other look for a tight caliper piston

 

I had my rotors turned this summer on my '02 and within one month they warped.Had to go buy new ones it got so bad.

 

The trick to rotors is torguing the wheels properly. If you over torgue the lugs, heat will warp the rotors (speed and braking). Whenever I have any tire or wheel work done, I re-torgue the wheels before I leave the parking lot. Air guns are great when used properly.

 

I hope its as simple as the wear sensors. I've had the rear differential seals changed twice due to leaking. Hopefully, its a simple rear brake job.

Today, I must have driven 50+ miles, highway and city streets and the only time I heard it was going 10-15 mph (with and without the brakes applied) in the parking lot, and only for two times around a parking loop. It stopped as mysteriously as it started. I would think if it is the brakes, they would 'chirp' most when the brakes were applied.

Brake job on Monday. I will tell you what I find out. Thanks for the help.

 

I've had this same problem with my Explorer, and I have always used a torque wrench to tighten the lug nuts to the specified torque.

Back in the day, I always had my drums/rotors turned every other time I replaced shoes/pads, whether they needed it or not. But after having rotors warp just a few thousand miles after being turned, I no longer have them turned at all. If the rotors are badly scored or warped, I just replace them.

New pads will conform to slightly grooved rotor or drum surfaces fairly quickly, and I've never noticed any reduction in braking capability while they wear in.

 

I just got a call from the service department for the rear brake job and they stated that on the one side, the back pad was down to nothing and I actually tore off the underlying 'doohickeys' (technical word, look it up!), that were loose within the caliper/pad settings. I asked them to save the doohickeys for me so that I can see them but, can anyone take a guess what these doohickeys are and their purpose? There were original pads too, if that helps.

Thanks.

 

Probably the wear indicator.

 

Hi everyone
i have Ford Explorer 1999 XLT 4.0 SOHC , every time when i crank my engine (whenever is engine is Cold) i hear clicking noise or may be more like chain is knocking some metal, but its goes away slowly when engine gets warm and finally gets over when engine get HOT. I went to few Mechanics and couple of them said i need to replace Timing Chain, and couple said it could be Water Pump or some kind of Barring. Can anyone please help me to find out what is actaully wrong with my explorer?

 

Ok, to finally finish this thread off, it was the Emergancy Brake that seemed to be causing my problems and not the regular back brakes. On one side the E-Brake pads were completely down to metal and looked like a piece of the metal had been snapped/grinded off. The most worn regular brake pad was down to an eighth or sixteenth. None of the regular pads had an external wear indicator flange that I am used to seeing. So hopefully this fixes the issues.

Thanks for the help.