Front end noise 2001 Escape

tempfixit · 02-17-2009, 08:45 PM

2001 Escape V6 4x4 91000 miles, neighbors car

When driving you can hear a noise similiar to brakes metal to metal, it does increase with speed. To me it sounds like the brake pads are worn out, but I replaced the pads on the right front today but it got dark out so I did not get to the driver side. The pads on the passenger side had about 1/3 of the pad left.

One thing I did notice was that the inside outer lip of the rotor has a build up of about 1/4" on it which I think is rubbing on the inside top portion of the pad from what I saw. Alos the hub bearing seemed to be fine , no play.

Has anyone come across this on these vehicles?
Do the front do most of the braking on these vehicles or the rear??

I will replace the driver side when the snow quits again, hopefully this will tell more. IF that doesn't solve the problem I will check out the rear brake shoes and drums.

Any other ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

cam 540 · 02-18-2009, 08:45 AM

Did you have the rotors turned before you put the new pads on? If you don't turn the rotors or replace them when needed it will wear the pads faster and you need to give the pads a clean smooth surface to grip to. This maybe part of you problem. All vehicles use the front breaks for at least 80% of stopping power.

tempfixit · 02-18-2009, 09:01 AM

thanks cam540, No I have not turned or replaced the rotors, it was smooth except for the build up on the outer edge. That may have to be done but she is layed off at this time and can not afford more parts, but if I can't get rid of noise that will have to be the next step.

cam 540 · 02-18-2009, 09:11 AM

Your welcome most part stores only charge around $8.00 a rotor to clean them up. Good luck

theoldwizard · 02-20-2009, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tempfixit

...One thing I did notice was that the inside outer lip of the rotor has a build up of about 1/4" on it ...

Not unusual

4re · 02-20-2009, 10:01 AM

You may want to double check the outer pad. I believe the outer pad can be installed backwards and the brake pad rivets are rubbing on the rotor.

tempfixit · 02-24-2009, 07:21 PM

Well today I removed the calipers and rotors, had the rotors turned. The rotors were at the .860 (I believe they need to be replaced when thinner than.860) after they were turned and not warped. New pads without any rivets and the pad side that I could see but the noise is still present acutally it seemed worse with the new Pads. Front wheel bearings did not have any play in them so I do Not think the wheel bearings are bad.

When installing the inner pad (one attached to caliber piston) the outer clips that hold the pad to the caliber piston had to be bent towards each other in order to install. The pads did not want to seat against the caliber piston uniformly leaving small gap between psiton and pad. This caused problems bolting the caliber to the holding bracket ( I have never had such a hard time getting the caliber to line up and bolt on in my life). Is bending these attaching fingers NORMAL to get pad stay on caliper piston on these vehicles????? Never had any trouble with Mercury, Dodge/Plynouth or Chervolet before.

The pads installed were Carquest Semi Mettalic pads and rotors were turned also by Carquest. I believe these are the wrong pads to fit these caliper pistons thus are continually rubbing on the rotor or the calipers are bad crating the noise. (Calipers did not have any excess resistance when using c-clamp to retract piston with out opening bleeder.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

discnik · 02-24-2009, 10:57 PM

Have you considered trying the mid range ceramic pads. I know when we used the semi-mettalics from Carquest customers would complain about the noise so we quit using them and went to the mid-grade's.

Just a thought, but have you checked to make sure the dust shield is not rubbing on the rotor ?

Good Luck

tempfixit · 02-24-2009, 11:55 PM

Thanks discnik, I was to PO'ed to think of looking at backing plate for rubbing. I"ll check that out tommorrow and look into the ceamic pads.

Have you had trouble with the tabs on the inner pad during installation??? Or am I doing something wrong??

thanks again for suggestions

tempfixit · 02-25-2009, 05:24 PM

Thanks for advice discnik.

Today I removed the semi-mettalic pads and installed ceramic pads, they attached to the caliper piston like they should and took no time at all to install. Earlier I went to Carquest and measure the clips on the inner pad on both the semi-meattalic and ceramic pads with the ceramic clips being 1/8th to 1/4" narrower helps with the proper installation.

Problem is it did not solve the problem.

It is a low growling noise that has gotten worse and more noticeable with increase of speed. Putting into 4 wheel drive does not make a difference. I can feel a vibration on the steering wheel. WHile driving approx. 25 MPH and turniong the steering wheel back and forth it seems to be more noticeable when turning to the left which makes me believe it is the right front wheel bearing, with the wheels, calipers and rotors off it did not feel like they was any play or roughness to the bearing on either side.

I am going to see if I can get a friend to drive and see what he thinks it is withoout mentioning any thing about changing brakes just to see if his intial thoughts are the same as mine.

Any ideas and suggestions are more than welcome, she can't afford to just be throwing parts at it.

Thanks

65comet · 02-26-2009, 07:37 AM

Sounds like the wheel bearing. Look for a post back in 9/26/2006 for similar problem. I gave a response detailing the process I went through to replace mine.

tempfixit · 02-26-2009, 04:51 PM

Thanks 65comet, I read your post great info.

How were you able to determine which side it was without tearing apart? When I did the brakes I checked for play on the hubs and did not feel any? I also did the swerve left to right at 20-25MPH but was hard to determine difference in sound maybe I need to get on a open road instead of side street and check it out by swevring left to right at 40 to 50 MPH?

I think I am going to also place rear end of vehicle on jack stands and operate vehicle to pinpoint the noise to make sure it is not a rear wheel bearing or tranny related.

It's raining and sleeting here today so I have not worked on it.

I am more familiar with the GM front bearings, as a rule the ABS will activate with a bearing failure is this the same with this vehicle? There is not a ABS lite coming on or activation at this time.

Also do you need to do a alignment once the strut has been disconnected??

Could this be a possible dry or bad driveshaft u joint??

Thanks for any advice.

AlohaBra · 03-01-2009, 02:24 PM

I thought it was a wheel bearing on mine, but it turned out to be the four wheel drive transaxle.

Jack the the car up on all four corners or run it while on a lift to verify.

tempfixit · 03-01-2009, 09:10 PM

AlohaBra did the sound change also when doing the left to reight swerve at 45-50mph like a wheel bearing will. Reason I ask is when I trun left I can hear a difference in growling noise from right bearing.

thanks for input.

tempfixit · 03-03-2009, 07:42 PM

Replaced the right front wheel bearing today. Sound's much better, no vibration in the steering wheel anymore. Tires seem to be noisey (new tires). Owner said it is much quieter so we will see. Once she gets back to work and can afford it we will change the left side bearing also.

Thanks again for everyones input and help.

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