Got an odd one here...my teenage son came home yesterday in his Explorer with news that he has ZERO brakes. First, he heard an odd metal popping noise and then a front left grinding noise for a few stops. By his last stopping action, the pedal went completely to the floor. He parked in our driveway and came inside to share his first "no brakes in traffic" experience with dear old Dad. I rather enjoy watching them experience these things as long as everyone ends up safe.

When I check the front left caliper/brake, I noticed brake fluid leaking. When I checked closer, I could see that the inside brake pad was GONE. The piston in the caliper had over-extended and was dragging against the inside of the rotor.

My question is this...where did the brake pad go??? Is it possible for the brake pad to crack (the previous metal popping noise he heard) and fall completely out of the caliper???

I think I will have to replace the rotor since it was damaged badly by the caliper piston head. I definitely plan to replace the caliper since the piston has bounced around inside the caliper cylinder and is probably severely damaged.

Is there anything else I should consider replacing?

Thanks,
Michael

 

My wife came home a few days ago driving my '91 with a horrible grinding noise. The inside pad on the passenger side had no visible lining left and was about to fall out. They are held in place by a bend at the end of the pad--if they get too thin they could slip down. I've not had one fall out but this one was close. If I use "brake caliper grease" on my calipers and pins the inside pad always wears out much more quickly. As bad as it sounds I've been using Vasoline with a little WD-40 to lubricate the calipers and get much better results and more even wear.

 

Are the metal clips that ride on the caliper bracket still intact?

 

Well, I finally got time to tackle the break job. When I removed the left wheel, I could immediately see the missing inside brake pad. My son is a heavy "braker"...meaning, he's 17 and always brakes to hard too late during most stops. He's going to regret this behavior one day!

I have been too busy lately to test drive all the family cars in the driveway to listen for the requisite noises that my family never seem to hear. He had worn the pads down so badly, he was grinding metal on metal for a while. The inside pad was worn to the point it slipped out of its mounting in the caliper and slid forward...lodging itself between the rotor and thin metal shield. His next few stops involved the caliper piston dragging against the inside of the rotor. Needless to say, I had to replace everything on the left side...rotor, caliper, pads. Since I had everything apart, I decided to clean up the whole area and added new inner/outer bearings as well. I figured I should just also to the same to the right side. At 175K and 15 years on the original parts, it's probably the safest thing to do. Besides, the parts are very reasonably priced at the auto parts store.

Now, he's complaining that the brakes are too good...

Thanks for your help...

Michael

 

Mine are probably still attached to a previous set of pads, now probably somewhere in China or on another Explorer. I went and got new pads yesterday and forgot to ask if they had the clips. Gotta got to Ford parts soon anyway.