Hot rear wheel

[wbattaile]

I just bought a 2004 Mountaineer V8 AWD with 72000 miles. The rear brake pads were recently replaced and the left rear rotor was replaced as well. After driving 10 miles or so in town the rear wheels are quite warm (not too hot to touch) and the front wheels are just barely warm. After highway driving the left rear is hot... you can leave your hand on it for maybe 10 seconds before you have to let go.

I did a very scientific test first with my hand and then with droplets of water. I flicked some small water drops off my fingers onto the rotors after 15 miles highway (cruising with no brake use and coasting/downshifting to stop); both front rotors the drops just sat there and I could touch the rotors with my hands. The right rear was too hot to touch and the water drops evaporated very fast. The left rear was extremely hot and the water drops actually sizzled.

I took it in and had the brakes inspected for wear and dragging. The shop said that there were no problems. I know this is wrong but now where should I look? Would a sticking parking brake cause the rotors to heat up that much? I don't feel or hear dragging while driving and don't smell burning brakes but it can't be good for the wheels/rotors to heat up that much!

 

[jh2056]

My 2003 ex does that sometimes, parking park is the problem. I have a friend that has removed his, I am thinking of doing that to mine also.

 

[wbattaile]

I have inspected the parking brake (at the wheel) and the cable/spring does release when the brake is released.

Also, when the left rear wheel is jacked up, the transmission is in neutral and the parking brake is off (all other wheeks chocked) you can feel brake pads dragging when you turn the wheel by hand.

The wheel will only turn a slight bit because of LSD i'm assuming. At that point the drive shaft starts moving and then stops you from turning the wheel any more. Either way, with the amount of travel I had it was obvious that the pads were dragging.

I am getting 19mpg on the highway so it's not an extreme amount of drag, but we're going on a 14 hour trip this weekend and I don't want my brakes cooking the whole way.

 

[jh2056]

A Ford mechanic told me that all disc parks drag a little, I took mine on a trip last month and had the same worries as you. The problem is the parking brake not releasing as it should. Funny thing is, it never use that parking brake. Next time mine needs a brake job I plan on disconnecting the Parking brake since mine is an automatic and I never use it anyways.

 

[wbattaile]

A Ford mechanic told me that all disc parks drag a little, I took mine on a trip last month and had the same worries as you. The problem is the parking brake not releasing as it should. Funny thing is, it never use that parking brake. Next time mine needs a brake job I plan on disconnecting the Parking brake since mine is an automatic and I never use it anyways.

I can understand dragging a little, but to me that means barely warm. This rotor is blazing hot and causing the wheel to be too hot to hold my hand on for an extended period of time... The wheel is hot enough to concern me about causing the tire to fail from overheating.

 

[clarks2001]

Wonder if thats why only my driver side parking brake was the only bad one when they changed all my brakes.. hmm.. hopefully it dont happen this time around (I have new rotors, pads from R1 all around and new parking brakes too)

 

[Rofocowboy84]

Funny thing is, it never use that parking brake. Next time mine needs a brake job I plan on disconnecting the Parking brake since mine is an automatic and I never use it anyways.

Good way to screw up the parking gear in your tranny.....

 

[Carguy3J]

Have you checked the wheel bearings? A bad bearing can generate ALOT of heat.

 

[Carguy3J]

Good way to screw up the parking gear in your tranny.....

Agreed. It amazes me; the things people do, thinking they are "fixing" their vehicle.
1st: Like he said, not using the "parking" brake puts a ton of stress on the tiny little parking pawl in the tranny, and it can break. This will ruin your trans.
2nd: When #1 occurs, you now have no backup, and you have a runaway vehicle.
3rd: In most states, not having a "parking brake" means you fail inspection
4th: Some people still call them "emergency" brakes. Guess why? If/when you have a failure of the hydraulic primary brakes, you can prob. still safely get off the road and stop with the EMERGENCY brake.

Not using the "parking"/"emergency" brake for an extended time can contribute to it's failure. They need to be used for the adjusting mechanism to, well, adjust. Repair it properly, do the initial adjustment properly (or take it to someone who can),maintain it properly, and USE IT.

 

[wbattaile]

not using the "parking" brake puts a ton of stress on the tiny little parking pawl in the tranny.

You ever see someone put their boat trailer in the water without using the parking brake, then load the boat and try to get their truck back in gear? It makes me cringe just to hear the huge thud when they muscle it out of park...

 

[wbattaile]

Have you checked the wheel bearings? A bad bearing can generate ALOT of heat.

I don't hear noise while driving, and can't make any noise by turning one way or another. I also asked the Ford dealership to check them and they said all was fine.

I took it to Midas today to get a 2nd opinion on the brakes and they said all is OK as well. This is now two shops that say everything is fine so i'm inclined to just drive it. I don't think it will get any hotter on the highway than it did in the 20 highway miles I drove at 75mph on Sunday, and if that's the max temp I guess it will be fine. There is no burning or unusual wear on the pads or rotor; it must be just a very small amount of drag. I don't like my brakes that hot when i'm not doing any braking but don't know where else to look!

 

[Carguy3J]

I don't hear noise while driving, and can't make any noise by turning one way or another. I also asked the Ford dealership to check them and they said all was fine.

I took it to Midas today to get a 2nd opinion on the brakes and they said all is OK as well. This is now two shops that say everything is fine so i'm inclined to just drive it. I don't think it will get any hotter on the highway than it did in the 20 highway miles I drove at 75mph on Sunday, and if that's the max temp I guess it will be fine. There is no burning or unusual wear on the pads or rotor; it must be just a very small amount of drag. I don't like my brakes that hot when i'm not doing any braking but don't know where else to look!

Did they actually take the rotor off and look inside? Until that's been done, I wouldn't call it good. If they did pull the rotors, then I guess there's nothing else to do. If there is a problem, you'll just have to wait for it to become more noticeable.

 

[jrford]

the rear parking brake has to be checked with the rotor off. Couple of things about these parking brakes,
-the pad material has been know to delaminate, might just be enough to drag, might be hard to see too.
-some rust might have broken free and is now wearing down (this should go away in a day or so).
-parking brake adjusted to tight.
-one rotor was replaced, having done mine i would be tempted to do both, i found a large amount of rust inside the drum portion, was it turned?
i would keep an eye on it, if its the parking brake i would expect to wear to the point that it doesn't drag,

 

[wbattaile]

the rear parking brake has to be checked with the rotor off. Couple of things about these parking brakes,
-the pad material has been know to delaminate, might just be enough to drag, might be hard to see too.
-some rust might have broken free and is now wearing down (this should go away in a day or so).
-parking brake adjusted to tight.
-one rotor was replaced, having done mine i would be tempted to do both, i found a large amount of rust inside the drum portion, was it turned?
i would keep an eye on it, if its the parking brake i would expect to wear to the point that it doesn't drag,

Yes, that one rotor was replaced. All other rotors were not. New pads on all four wheels.