I have been having a problem with my Contour SE pulling to the left whenever I brake. I suspected the caliper or a warped rotor. Not knowing a lot about brakes I took my car and had it checked at the local sears where my dad and I have had good service. They found nothing. I took it to meinike a week later and they told me that I have contamination in my brake system. The tech said that an oil based fluid got in the brake system and this causes all the rubber parts to swell. His theory was that it probably happened when someone was doing an oil change (or perhaps if they topped off fluids while doing an oil change). Long story short he said it was limited to the front portion of the brake system for now, and flushed the system. Then he replaced the front calipers and front brake hoses. He also said my rotors and pads needed to be replaced (which i didn't have him do). The car pulls fairly hard to the left when I first apply the brake, then the rest of the time holding down the brake is straight. This happens each time i apply the brake and is very noticeable over 30 MPH. It also has a vibration while braking which makes sense to me since the tech also said the rotors were pitted and worn down. The car still pulls fairly strong after all these replacements. I still need to replace the rotors and pads according to the tech, and he did say that that will remove the rest of the pulling. My question is if this story makes sense, and if i should have noticed a bigger difference if that really was the problem.
Secondly, if all of the above is true then the tech said that hopefully we caught the problem in time, otherwise he said it might come back and at that point I would have to replace the entire system (ABS computer, master cylinder, hoses, calipers, etc) and flush the system with denatured alcohol. He also said there would be no guarantee on the work. Is this likely and if so at that point since my car has $150k on it will it be worth doing? I am also curious about the two completely different brake checks - sears who said nothing seemed to be wrong (even though I could tell there was something wrong), and meinike who found all this and said my rotors and pads needed to be replaced.
Secondly, if all of the above is true then the tech said that hopefully we caught the problem in time, otherwise he said it might come back and at that point I would have to replace the entire system (ABS computer, master cylinder, hoses, calipers, etc) and flush the system with denatured alcohol. He also said there would be no guarantee on the work. Is this likely and if so at that point since my car has $150k on it will it be worth doing? I am also curious about the two completely different brake checks - sears who said nothing seemed to be wrong (even though I could tell there was something wrong), and meinike who found all this and said my rotors and pads needed to be replaced.
