terrible noise when braking

[Kyle98SVT]

Whenever I brake, I hear this "rubbing" noise. I tried braking really slow to see if my car is just diving and rubbing the wheels on the wheel well or when I'm turning, but the noise is still consistant at slow speeds. I mean, I guess I could have it looked at, but I'll get ya'lls opinion first. Any ideas?

 

[ZeroHour]

I would guess you have a sticking/stuck caliper, but...

...is there a shudder when your break? as in noticable vibration in the steering wheel? If there is, check to make sure the spring clips are properly seated on the caliper. They are the long metal wire on the outside of the caliper (aka you can see them through the rim).

Are you sure its not the ABS unit? Cause your discription seems a little vague, but I don't think it would be the ABS.

Fill in a little more info and we'll help!

 

[Tony2005]

What does the rubbing noise sound like? Metal on metal? Front or back. Does it happen everytime you step on the brakes or just when you start driving for the first few minutes (after not driving the car for a few days)?

Open one window at a time and see if you can tell which is louder. If metal on metal, your brake pads are gone and you will need new pads and maybe new discs.

 

[Kevinm]

Wear sensor touching the the disc, brakes pads are worn down, check and /or replace pads!

 

[irmati]

Pads must be gone badly...

 

[Big Jim]

Wear sensor touching the the disc, brakes pads are worn down, check and /or replace pads!

Contours do not have wear sensors.

Yes, get it looked at.

 

[Kevinm]

You can get them aftermarket with wear sensors, been there done that! Who's to say these are the original pads!!!!!

BTW:
Motorcraft Brake Pads/Shoes - Front

Part Number: BR1267
Vehicle:

2000 FORD CONTOUR SVT

Engine:

V6 2.5 Liter FI

Brake Pads: Front; With Wear Sensor; Organic; Integally Molded; Front; 2 Requ

 

[todras]

You can get them aftermarket with wear sensors, been there done that! Who's to say these are the original pads!!!!!

Hey smart guy where are the sensors going to plug into? There are no provisions on a Contour. On a Mondeo, yes. Some Contour pads have come with pigtails but they need to be clipped off due to them being for the Mondeo.

 

[Kevinm]

todras,
Obvious you don't know what a wear sensor is! So for your education "smart guy" it's a piece of spring steel that is conected to the back side of the inside pad and sits off the rotor at a designated distance! When the pad wears to a certain designated spec, the spring steel sensor rubs on the rotor creating a scrubbing noise to tell you the pads need to be replaced! So consider this an education!
There is no electrical connection!
This has been around for years! No new news here!

 

[Tony2005]

Keep it civil or I get diplomatic. Thank you.

 

[Big Jim]

todras,
Obvious you don't know what a wear sensor is! So for your education "smart guy" it's a piece of spring steel that is conected to the back side of the inside pad and sits off the rotor at a designated distance! When the pad wears to a certain designated spec, the spring steel sensor rubs on the rotor creating a scrubbing noise to tell you the pads need to be replaced! So consider this an education!
There is no electrical connection!
This has been around for years! No new news here!

I have never seen an aftermarket "squeeler" brake sensor for Contours. The only Ford product I remember with them was the 91-96 Escort.

The 99-02 Cougar had an option for brake sensors, but it was an electrical wire. When the pad wore down, the path to ground was destroyed and it turned on a light on the dash. It was also an option on some Mondeos. I have installed a few sets on Contours without sensors, and as Todras noted, the sensors wires needed to be cut off so they wern't dangling in the air.

 

[Tony2005]

My Contour disk brakes were aftermarket this previous time (45K miles ago) and it does not have the "squeelers".

But my previous Celebrity and Cavalier had "squeelers" for the front disk brakes. However, they only "sounded" when you reverse (when the pads were worn out).

 

[Kevinm]

BigJim - Go back to my post and see the Motorcraft PN for the 2000 Contour SVT with wear sensors.
Just because you went to an auto parts dealers and never got them doesn't mean they don't exist! Also see below!
Better yet go to the Motorcraft website or see below!
The Motorcraft PN for the pads with sensors BR 1267.
http://www.motorcraft.com/catalog.do

Motorcraft Brake Pads/Shoes - Front

Part Number: BR1267
Vehicle:

2000 FORD CONTOUR SVT

Engine:

V6 2.5 Liter FI

Brake Pads: Front; With Wear Sensor; Organic; Integally Molded; Front; 2 Requ

 

[Big Jim]

I know what Motorcraft brake pads are. They are not the same thing as Ford OEM. Motorcraft brake pads are supplied by Wagner, and they are a very low level Wagner at that.

I had a set of Motorcraft pads given to me by Ford as an introduction to Motorcraft brake pads. They wanted Ford service people to be able to say that they are good pads, I have a set on my own car. It didn't work out that way. They did not brake as well as OEM, and they were useless when wet. I eventually changed them out. The ones they sent me had sensor wires built into them. Since there is no provision for the sensors on my car, I cust the wires off. The sensors were not the squeeler type.

But then, you know more than I do. You read an inaccurate catalog. Ford has a lot of those. My many years as a Ford technician and Service Manager were of no effect. You know more from reading an inaccurate catalog than I learned from actual practice.

Good luck to you my friend.

 

[Tony2005]

This thread has run its course. Thank you to all who contributed.