[nothingbutford]

I am posting this for my brother as I am the mechanic of the family - sort of!!

His car is a 1999 Taurus SE, Vulcan, Auto, completely stock.

Over the last couple years he has had his rotors turned, re-turned and replaced and they never lasted more than 10,000 miles before getting warped again. So this time around we decided to replace them with EBC rotors and GreenStuff Pads. We did the job ourselves. The old pads were completely gone all the way down to the metal plate. His right rotor looked like somebody had taken a torch to it on the inside surface. The other three rotor surfaces had grooves in them.

The installation went fine, I scraped all of the rust off of the hub behind the rotor, cleaned up the calipers, greased everything and all. We used a C-clamp to compress the caliper. At first we cracked the bleeder screw and squeezed the fluid out, but we ended up just leaving the screw shut on the second caliper and letting the fluid go back into the fluid canister . I hope we didn't get any air into the system by cracking the bleeder..??

After getting everything back together we test drove it and the steering wheel vibrates just as bad as it did before when you brake!! I don't have a torque wrench, but I did my best to torque each lug the same by using my weight on the wrench. Is there something I didn't do or could the shaking actually not be caused by the brakes? Thanks for any input!

 

[silvapain]

Does it vibrate with the brake off? It could be an alignment issue. Did your brother run into a curb or anything recently?


I never heard of an SE with the Vulcan. Are you sure it's not the DOHC Duratech? It makes no difference for your question, I'm just interested.

 

[klm-607]

I've got a 98 SE w/a Vulcan... in fact most SE's I've seen /worked on have Vulcans.
We (Ford Dealership Service staff) see ALOT of Tuaruses!!!!! Mostly 96 & newer these days. Were you talking about older ones??

 

[spridget]

Are you tightening the lugs in a star pattern?

When was the last time the car was aligned?

Have any of the suspension components been replaced?

Does the car vibrate under braking only, or all the time? When were the wheels balanced?

Usually when I see brakes that are worn all the way down to the rotor, the car is not very well maintained in general.

 

[nothingbutford]

The steering wheel vibrates ONLY when the brakes are pressed. He hasn't run into a curb, but he did hit a light pole a couple years ago. That wreck only did cosmetic damage though.

He had his tires replaced about ~10,000 ago and an alignment at the same time. The car rides perfect untill you hit the brakes. It doesn't pull one way or the other.

I DID tighten the lugs in a star pattern (NOT circular).

The car has never had any suspension work done, he is at 80K miles and I keep telling him he needs to get some things checked and replaced. The struts are on their way out I know because bumps in the road are being transfered to the passengers worse than it used to.

So, with the exception of the engine oil being changed it hasn't had any servicing. The tranny was worked on by FORD right before he bought it (~55,000 miles).

The brake thing really gets me though, because I did everything the right way, as far as I know!

Oh, BTW, his car is a Vulcan - he wishes it was the D-tec!! Thanks for your replies!

 

[spridget]

are there any noises associated with the vibration? could be a bad hub bearing...

 

[nothingbutford]

The only noise that I can hear is the pads breaking in. They make sort of a swishing sound. If the bearings were bad wouldn't you notice it even when you are just driving down the road? If you think it is possibly a hub I can jack the car up and try to wiggle the wheels.
The last two times he had his rotors turned the car drove and braked perfectly fine for about 1000 miles and that is when it would start shaking when he braked again.

 

[silvapain]

Are his rear brakes functioning properly? It sounds like the front rotors are warped again. IF the rears aren't working right, then the fronts will have to do too much work to stop the car.

I had to replace the rear drum pistons about two years ago. I don't know if it is a habitual problem with the taurus, but it might be worth looking at.

 

[nothingbutford]

If the rotors are warped then they must have come warped from the factory. Immediately after installing them we took it for a drive and the FIRST time he hit the brakes the steering wheel wobbled. He also has not done any hard stopping since we put these on. If they are warped is it possible to get EBC to honor their warranty?

As far as I know, the rears are working fine. I know that when you put the E-brake on they hold really well.

 

[silvapain]

The E brake is actuated by a cable, and the service brakes are hydraulically actuated. the E brake can work fine even when the service brake don't work at all.


I didn't realize that the EBC rotors wabbled the first time after installation. Rotors are blueprinted before shippment, so the chances are VERY low that they would be warped from the factory.

It might be a bad tie rod end. Does it clunk at all in a turn, or during accelleration or decelleration?

 

[mwt]

What kind of shape were the calipers in?
Were they floating ?
Are the pistons rusty?

Mike
B)

 

[nothingbutford]

I'll have to get him to ride me around while I listen for clunks tonight when he gets home.

The calipers were in fine shape except for brake dust that I brushed off. They moved in and out freely.

The pistons were also in good condition, no rust that I saw. And when I pushed then in to allow room for the new pads I didn't feel any hesitation or hear and scraping noise.

I am thinking the wobble must be in the suspension or steering. I remember now that he said the wobbling went away just before we replaced them - that is also after the pads had completely been worn down. So, would it make sense that the wobbling would go away after the pads wore down and there wasn't as much stopping stress on "a certain suspension part"?

 

[nothingbutford]

I was talking to my brother and we remembered that he had his rack replaced a while ago and he doesn't remember the wheel ever wobbling before they did the work. So I am guessing that something in the suspension wasn't bolted back correctly? Does anyone know what I should look for? I haven't had a chance to ride with him and listen and he is gone off for the weekend.