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brake problems...explorer is down

viper1314

Member
Joined
January 27, 2003
Messages
37
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City, State
weston,wv
Year, Model & Trim Level
98 sport
My 98 explorer sport was needing new brakes so I got them all replaced a buddy of mine who is a mechanic did them for me while I was there. We went and bought advanced auto parts brakes , It was either the silver or the gold series. When fitting them in he had to grind them a little bit to get them to fit right. This was about 6 months ago

Well ever since then my front right brake has been making an awful noise when applied. Sounds like a rubbing noise , doesn't happen unless brakes are applied. We took off the brakes again the other day and it looked like the spacers had been rubbing so we thought easy fix just get rid of them as they were bent to hell. well next day the sound is back again. We take off the tire and brakes again yesterday and we can't find anything that would be rubbing. he got beside the car and ran ahead and listend as I hit the brakes, he says it sounds more like a rubber to metal sound instead of metal to metal. I don't know if its rubber or not but dang its loud and embarrasing when hitting the brakes. Its not a constant rub either, its like a rotational rub.

Well anyhow as I am going to the golf course that evening the brake light comes on and brake pedal goes to the floor. I am guessing the leak is on the side we were working on , but can't find the leak. But while I was under there I found another problem :eek: tie rod on the drivers side is chewed all to heck. Just put the one on the passenger side when doing the brakes.

Any ideas on what the sound is ? This explorer is starting to get to where its a PITA with something going wrong all the time.
 



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Buy new CALIPERS and PADS and DO THE WORK YOURSELF! You shouldn't have to grind anything when replacing you Pads, Rotors or Calipers.
 






Starting to sound like you got the wrong set of pads or maybe the wrong pad in the right box or something like that because you're mechanic should have never had to grind on them to make em fit at all. As far as the pedal going to the floor and no visible leaks then maybe it the master cylinder has gone bad check to see if maybe there fluid leaking from between the master and the brake booster.
 






Yea I didn't like when he had to grind the pad to get it to work. Advance auto parts is where I got them from. Just gave em the specs of my explorer and they went and got them. It wouldn't be the first time they gave me the wrong part though, they gave me a thermostat from a SOHC engine instead of my OHV one time.


I will have to check around the master, I didn't see any fluid leaks becasue the ground was wet from the rain, I thought I heard something hisisng out when my dad hit the brakes for me , but he started the engine and could not hear any longer. I am just going to go buy the cheapest can of brake fluid and try to find the leak. I know its going to hit the ground.
 






found the leak this evening. Its the main brake line that goes back to the driver rear. Right where the connection is for it to go the rubber brake hoses. Tire looked wet and my shock looked wet so I put in some brake fluid and had a buddy hit the brake and sure enough , pin hole leak right near where the connection is.

I tried finding to see if there is joint connection anywhere along the frame, but could only see the one line and it looked to be one piece ??? I couldn't see when it went behind the gas tank.

Anyone know what parts I need for this? right now I am guessing just two 60" lines and then all the fittings I need. I am going to search on here for that, but if someone knows it quicker thath would be appreciated.
 






well I got the brake line fixed.. $67 . Went to buy a caliper today at advance auto and they didn't have the one in stock that I wanted so I just told them Id order it from the website. but I went home and wanted to check for any rubbings or anything else to know for sure I need a new caliper.

Pulled the caliper off and looked for any hot spots, nothing to be seen. But then I checked the brake pad on the inside and found the problem. still not sure what is rubbing , but its got a heck of a grinded out spot. Heres the pics.



here is another picture from dif. angle. THis pic makes it looks like its completly worn out on the bottom, but there is still about 1/4 pad left at the very bottom where its rubbed out the most.



any ideas ? there was a little bit of rust build up on the rotor on the back side, but I wouldn't think enough to cause that.
 






Yeah Viper, that fizzing sound is the brake fulid leaking out, it is like a windex spray, it goes everywhere. I just left my X at the mechanic to get the brake lines replaced.:salute:
 






that looks like the pad wasn't seated right, or the piston wasnt flat against the back side. i would definitely not let that guy do your brakes again!
 






Yeah Viper, that fizzing sound is the brake fulid leaking out, it is like a windex spray, it goes everywhere. I just left my X at the mechanic to get the brake lines replaced.:salute:

yea man it for sure is like a windex spray. I was under there and it was going all over the place. between that and the salt I am sure its going to be super rusty back there for a while. I sprayed the water hose under the entire truck a little bit ago, and it was dripping almost sudsy from the salt I am guessing.
 






I just replaced my rear rotors/pads/calipers with parts from Advance with no fitment issues. Double check that you've got correct parts for the front. They should fit.
 






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