Brakes

[Lincoln Jealous]

If the outer break pad is a little movable would this mean the caliper piston is not applying full pressure? the brake works when break pedal is pushed, but makes a metal grind noise, and while driving it makes a tiss tiss tiss tiss sound, like a uneven noise.. im going to take the brake pads off right now to check them and the little pins, but if its not that, could i need a new caliper? i hope not, thanks!

 

[Tru-Blu]

It could be that the caliper is stuck, but could also be that you're actually well below the brake lining's depth for replacing. Normally, you should hear a chirp or a squeak when the brake pad lining wears down to the metal sensor, which is what lets you know that it's time to replace the pads. However, this doesn't always work. So you may find when you take them apart that your brake pads have actually worn past most of the linings. I've seen a few where people have actually gone all the way through the lining, and were actually into the rivets that had held the lining onto the metal backing plate of the pad.

Good luck, and hopefully it won't be too bad. It might be a good excuse to look at some upgrades in the brake dept. I'm pretty much set on going with the R1 Concepts zinc drilled/slotted rotors when the brakes need replacing. I may go with a better caliper too, but don't have a lead yet on a decent one that's going to be reasonable in price.

If you do have to replace your pads, I'd recommend going with a ceramic lining as opposed to a semi-metallic for several reasons:

1. They're quieter
2. They generate far less dust/debris than the metallics - much easier on your rims
3. Semi-metallics will wear a rotor down much faster, so ceramics will keep your rotors around for a bit longer as well

TRU

 

[Lincoln Jealous]

ok man , imma go check it out now, ill let you know what i find thanks

 

[ZB00B00LSv8]

The metal grind noise your referring to.. does it feel like when you brake your pushing a metal bar into the pavement while you skid? I remember my mercury did that all the time and my ls has done it once but it feels like the brake pedal is just a long metal pipe being drove into the ground.. Is the occurence even normal if only once?

 

[Tru-Blu]

BooBoo, I wouldn't think so. Braking should be fairly smooth - I'd normally say smooth as silk since it's a Lincoln, but that might be going a bit far.

You should not feel any resistance (especially pulsing) in the pedal unless your ABS kicks on (which you would also see by the indicator in your dash).

If you're "feeling" a grinding when you brake, then something's not right. If there's a major problem, chances are you'll be able to see it directly in the rotor's surface without even having to pull the wheels.

If you're feeling a pulsing in the pedal, then it's a strong possibility that one or more rotors are warped, normally in the front ones. Heat and a stuck caliper are the usual culprits for causing a warped rotor.

Make sure your fluid levels are good in the master cylinder, too. Sometimes brakes will feel a bit off if the fluid is really low. This is my first LS, so I can't really comment on how the brakes act if the fluid is low.

TRU

 

[rainjacks]

the "tiss tiss tiss" is possibly caused by a warped rotor.

 

[Tru-Blu]

Agree with Rain on that - forgot to mention that from the original post

TRU

 

[Lincoln Jealous]

ok update people..... took the brake pads off, pumped the brakes a few times and in the caliper , only one piston is moving, : ( how can i get the other piston unstuck? it made a uneven wear on the brake pad alittle, half is getting burned down, i just might need to replace the caliper, unless i know a way to get it unstuck

 

[Tru-Blu]

I haven't pulled a caliper off of an LS, so I don't know what the pistons look like, but you can try taking a small C-clamp and compress both pistons back flush with the caliper itself (it's normally a good idea to take the cover off of your master cylinder when you do this). You may have to put a small board or something similar across the pistons and then put the C-clamp around the board and back of the caliper eventually to get both of them compressed evenly.

Then you can have someone sit in the car and push the brake pedal (or push it yourself if the problem is on the driver's side) to see if both pistons start moving. NOTE - only press the brake pedal half-way to start movement of the pistons. If you push too much, you may have to compress the pistons again to get the caliper back over the rotor.

If only one piston moves, then the caliper is toast and will either need to be rebuilt or replaced. I don't know too many people that do the rebuild kits, anymore. Better to go ahead and replace it.

TRU

 

[joegr]

ok update people..... took the brake pads off, pumped the brakes a few times and in the caliper , only one piston is moving, : ( how can i get the other piston unstuck? it made a uneven wear on the brake pad alittle, half is getting burned down, i just might need to replace the caliper, unless i know a way to get it unstuck

I'm sure that you (like all of us) are trying to do this as inexpensively as possible. However, brakes are very important. The piston has stuck. Even if you get it loose, it will very likely just stick again soon. You need to replace the caliper.

 

[Tru-Blu]

I'd probably agree with Joe on this. I've had a caliper piston stick due to the dust boot/seal getting itself in a weird position as the piston extended. I recompressed them and put a little oil on the boot after it was back in the proper position, and that did the trick for me. Caliper worked fine for another 3 years before I sold the car.

However, I don't think I'd risk it either. If it were my LS, I'd be looking for a new caliper.

Like I mentioned in a previous post - it's a good excuse to think about some brake upgrades if the pocketbook can afford it. Your significant other can hardly balk at you wanting to be safe, right?

TRU <looks over shoulder to see if wife is nearby - "yes, dear I'm coming">

 

[Lincoln Jealous]

I'd probably agree with Joe on this. I've had a caliper piston stick due to the dust boot/seal getting itself in a weird position as the piston extended. I recompressed them and put a little oil on the boot after it was back in the proper position, and that did the trick for me. Caliper worked fine for another 3 years before I sold the car.

However, I don't think I'd risk it either. If it were my LS, I'd be looking for a new caliper.

Like I mentioned in a previous post - it's a good excuse to think about some brake upgrades if the pocketbook can afford it. Your significant other can hardly balk at you wanting to be safe, right?

TRU <looks over shoulder to see if wife is nearby - "yes, dear I'm coming">

i agree with both you guys, i got the pistons to be even, then when i put everything back, the one gets alittle stuck again, so i will be replacing the caliper soon, i havent gone on a test drive yet to see if the noise is gone, i am missing one of those metal brackets for the break pads, so i just put a thin strip of tin foil to stop the noise, but ll be gettin a new caliper when i can afford it, thanks!

 

[kingtonghsp]

Guys I apologize for bringing back an old threat, but I have a serious problem similiar to this. If you would take a few minutes out of your time to read this and help me out I would greatly appreciate it.

I have a 2005 Lincoln LS. 2 years ago before I deployed to Iraq, my LS was squeeking very badly, so I replaced the brakes myself. I must've not done something right because it continued to squeek. I used ceramic break pads, but they didn't wear even. So I took my car after Iraq to a Brake SHOP, and they replaced them and the rotors because they were warped. It still didn't fix the problem, so I took it back because it was under warranty. They said the brake on the left side wasn't wearing even, and I could see how uneven it was rubbing on the rotor from the marks. I came to a conclusion it could be that the brakes are not engaging all the way. I can press the brake pedal down all the way even after pumping the brakes. Isn't that bad? What can be my problem and how will I be able to remedy this. The brake shop I went to seems to be out of ideas, besides the caliper being bad. The guy said it should be ok. What do you guys say?

 

[Lincoln Jealous]

Guys I apologize for bringing back an old threat, but I have a serious problem similiar to this. If you would take a few minutes out of your time to read this and help me out I would greatly appreciate it.

I have a 2005 Lincoln LS. 2 years ago before I deployed to Iraq, my LS was squeeking very badly, so I replaced the brakes myself. I must've not done something right because it continued to squeek. I used ceramic break pads, but they didn't wear even. So I took my car after Iraq to a Brake SHOP, and they replaced them and the rotors because they were warped. It still didn't fix the problem, so I took it back because it was under warranty. They said the brake on the left side wasn't wearing even, and I could see how uneven it was rubbing on the rotor from the marks. I came to a conclusion it could be that the brakes are not engaging all the way. I can press the brake pedal down all the way even after pumping the brakes. Isn't that bad? What can be my problem and how will I be able to remedy this. The brake shop I went to seems to be out of ideas, besides the caliper being bad. The guy said it should be ok. What do you guys say?

if pedal goes to the floor, you must bleed your brakes, RR-LR-LF-RF

the uneven wear on the pad might be from the SLIDE PIN on the caliper seizing up and not sliding properly, these are located on the bottom brackets of the caliper