thanx again for the quick reply on my last post. i have one more small issue though. i have a abs and trak off light. i thought that i needed to have the brakes changed so i brought my car in to a local mech to have that done since i couldnt get one of the wheels off. they told me that i didnt need pads just yet but the bearings and the seals were totally gone. they replaced those and told me that i will need to replace the rotors. the car has brakes but barely and i can also hear a slight rubbing of the brakes i guess on the rotors. my question is can this be normal due to the rotors and i also still have the abs and trac fail as well. even though they replaced the bearings will it still rub like that with hardly no stopping power?? what should i do to remedy this problem, thanx again.

 

P4nth4,
You say the car has been sitting for sometime. With regard to the trac and abs light, check the condition of the battery and make sure it is fully charged. Then carry out a hard reset and hopefully the lights should go off.
As to the brakes, be safe and get them changed, also the brake fluid may be a good idea if you don't know when it was last done due to the mileage.

Hope this helps,

 

Can you elaborate on bit?




The pads do lightly drag against the rotors at all times so you'd hear a faint "ssshhh" noise if you, let's say, had the car on a hoist and turned the wheels by hand. You shouldn't be hearing anything more than that. A dragging noise loud enough to be heard while driving merits investigation

It's possible, even probable, that your ABS/Trac light situation has nothing to do with pads and rotors. It could be a sensor problem (faulty or dirty), a module circuit board problem, or various other things.

Cheers
DD

 

thanx for the response guys. tes, i can hear the pads rubbing slightly when i drive and even more when i apply the brake. in regards to hardly having brakes, i have to almost push the pedal to the floor before the car even slows down. what i dont understand is how they told me that i didnt need pads when ive had the car for 3 years and never changed the pads. also, i never changed out the brake fluid either. if i didnt need pads then how is there damage to the rotors? all they did was change out the bearings and seals and charged me $282.00. changing out the brake fluid might be a thought though. id appreciate any more input if you guys have any to offer, thanx again.

 

If you have to push the pedal to the floor you have air in the lines. Try pumping the pedal and see if it hardens up. This is almost certainly a problem caused by the shop when they did the bearings. They should fix it without charge.
Then I would find another shop for future work.

 

I'm with RJ237. I would not expect yopu would necessarily need pads after 3 years, BUT, if you hear noise and it ain't the pads, something is seriously screwed up. And if it was not that way before you had the bearings changed, then thats what screwed it up, since they would have had the brakes apart.

 

Not right. You might have glased rotors or pads or perhaps a dragging caliper



As mentioned, air in the system. Possible failing master cylinder



That in itself isn't too alarming. They probably observed that the pads have adequate thickness remaining. My pads are 6 years old. Lots of variables on brake pad wear



Should be changed every 2-3 years



Perhaps they're not "damaged" .....that is, scored from worn out pads...but perhaps worn too thin and/or warped



Front or rear? Just curious.

Either way, that would've been a good time to replace rotors as changing the bearings means removing the rotors.



Obviously the brake system needs attention right away and for whatever reasons no brake repairs were not done on the most recent service visit.

I'd get the car back to into a repair shop !

Cheers
DD

 

Than guys, as usual, all great advice. I will look into all of it and repost. By the way this is the rear brakes. I will call the shop and possibly bring her back in.

 

AHA, the plot thickens.

I reckon you got handbrake drag, since its the rears you are talking about now.

As for stopping ability, FLUSH the brake fluid, TWICE.

Just did our S Type for the second time in the 3 months we have owned it, and now the brakes are as expected. NOT bad before, but just not quite right.

 

Wow!!, thats something i didnt think of. how would i fix that? also, by having the abs and trac fail, would that also affect the performance of the brakes as well? i also remeber when i was trying to get the rear right wheel off i accidently took off the hub and stretched a cable a tiny bit which afterwards gave the abs and trac fail. could that be the handbrake cable i pulled?

 

Dragging calipers can also be caused by damaged/worn flexible brake lines. Usually an easy fix on any car.

 

OK, I have had a drink or 2, or is it 3, no matter.

When the rear hub came off there are numerous items that could have been damaged.

The handbrake cable is one, as is the handbrake mechanism "inside" the rotor, meaning you possibly stretched the workings so much that it no longer returns to "off", so the shoes drag, and make a noise, and will possible smoke a tad after some kms of driving as well. Try applying the handbrake, and releasing it, this "may" resettle things, then again, it may not. If it were mine, I would be "carefully" dismantling the brakes again, remove the rotors, check the handbrake shoes/return springs/cable integrity/etc.

The second thing that gets damaged is the ABS sensor, and the wire from it to the loom plug of the car. You state you "may have stretched it", so I reckon you may be right, and you have broken the wire/cable, so a new ABS sensor will be required.

Just to sort my thinking, you have 3 distinct problems:

Scraping noise = brakes, either main, or handbrake.

ABS light = sensor, and/or wire has been broken.

Then the fact the damn thing wont stop properly. This is #1 brake fluid, followed closely by pad quality, rotor wear, master cylinder failing, booster failing, and so on. Bite the bullet, flush that stale old neglected brake fluid, as I said before, and see what gets better. It will NOT fix the scraping, or the ABS light, but it might stop the car.

 

ok, cool. great tips. i will do all the suggested checks. i still have the brand new pads that the shop didnt put on the car and i have to buy new rotors. those sensors are quite steep in price so im hoping to get away with a cheap second hand one. i will try to change the fluid this weekend and also check that abs cable for dirt and whatever else. i also need some 02 sensors as i have a check engine light which i cleared yesterday before saving the codes (P0411 and P1400) if thats the wrong fix for those please correct me. if any other tips you guys can share with me would be invaluable. thanx again so much and i will post results.

 

How does one perform a hard reset?.

 

Take the black (negative) off the battery and touch it to the red (positive) post for a few seconds. If the cable doesn't quite reach, use a wrench or screwdriver to connect them, anything metal works. You need a 10mm wrench for the cable connection.
Make sure the terminal and connector are clean when you reassemble.