HELP!!! Car Is At The Dealership Right Now

[Broken04MM]

Took my 2004 MM into the dealer the other day for an unrelated repair and the dealership calls me on Friday saying the rear brakes are shot and everything needs to be replaced.

The service writer said the parking shoes were metal on metal, the rotor was rusted/worn through on the left side, both calipers no good and bad brake fluid. Of course they said they could fix everything for $600

I looked around here and saw a few others having issues with the parking brake shoes falling apart but didn't see what the cause was.

My car has just over 30k miles and for it to need new rotors, calipers, shoes & pads on the rear brakes is just nuts. About every car I've owned for the las 20 years has never needed any rear brake work at least not until the mileage reached 100k or so. Front pad replacement and fluid change, yes but nothing on the rear brakes.

So my question is what's the problem with these rear brakes? The Panther body has been in production for so long how can Ford not have the rear brakes dialed in by now.

I also need advice on what's the fix? I'm not thrilled with the idea of having the dealer replace all these parts so I can go thru this again in another 30k miles.

Any advice is appreciated.

Broken 2004 MM

[FordNut]

Two Marauders here, 120k on one and 140k on the other. Never a problem with rear brakes.

[Glenn]

Pick up the car ASAP - take it to a local garage and ask for a quick brake inspection - do not tell them anything the dealer told you. I doubt very much you need this level of brake work on a 30K car especially living in CA unless you live on a mile long dirt road.

Good Luck,

Glenn Ford

[O's Fan Rich]

Don't know, why.
I don't think I've put rear pads on mine .... 84k on it.... or did I?.... I don' remember doing them....

I recall replacing the rears on my 99 vic ....
Traction control works by engaging the rear brakes, that's what I figured did it.

[O's Fan Rich]

Pick up the car ASAP - take it to a local garage and ask for a quick brake inspection - do not tell them anything the dealer told you. I doubt very much you need this level of brake work on a 30K car especially living in CA unless you live on a mile long dirt road.

Good Luck,

Glenn Ford

Yeah, somethings not right.... go see it for yourself.

[O's Fan Rich]

Thought... have you been doing power brake burnouts alot?

[MM2004]

Yeah, somethings not right.... go see it for yourself.

What ^^ He ^^ said!

Take pics as well.

Mike.

[Pops]

Or was the E Brake stuck on!

[ctrlraven]

Almost a 140k miles on mine and the rear pads/rotors are stock and just fine. I know I need to have the parking brake adjusted but that's it.

[O's Fan Rich]

Well, you're offline now, no comments back after this your first post and plea for assistance... so I'll asume and say...

"You're welcome!"

[Broken04MM]

Or was the E Brake stuck on!

That's what I'm wondering. I thought one of the posts I saw in the archives mentioned the cable seizing up.

I'll bring a camera with me when I go over there. It will probably freak out the service tech but oh well.

Does anyone know of an online parts explosion pic of the rear brake parts?

[GordonB]

Hi all,
Rear E-Brake shoes are EXPENSIVE -- more so than the common pads for front/rear. Mine were bad at 55K ('04) and the tech felt bad for me so he cut me a break on labor. Wife's rear regular pads got replaced at 68K ('03) back in March '09, but she had to stp/start all the way to school each day. If an E-brake cable freezes up, then that is a big cost as well.
I get my local dealer to do a once over every mid/late March with my Winter wheels still on -- check brakes, align frontend, and anything else the tech finds while on the lift. I know the tech and he only does what is necessary. Normally a dealer tech will machine the rotors whenever the brake pads are changed, but my guy checks for runout/pulsing and ONLY does was is needed -- I appreciate his honesty and good work.
Bronken04MM, I'd take my car to another shop and get a Second opinion.
GordonB

[Broken04MM]

The only thing I ever noticed about the brakes is that sometime in the last couple of months is that I noticed that the parking brake pedal would go down to pretty much the floor and if I was on an incline I could tell that the parking brake wasn't holding the car. I never felt the brakes dragging while driving or noticed any smells from the rear pads/shoes.

I'm waiting for the Monday morning rush at the dealership to subside before I head over there. I need to inquire why my Ford Premium ESP warranty wont cover this.

I know the ESP warranty doesn't cover brake pads & rotors but if a sticking caliper caused the problem to the rear brakes then shouldn't they be covered?

[justbob]

They might not release the vehicle if they can't put it back together unless a tow truck is called...

My sister had a $900.00 quote for brakes, said hell no, went to pick it up and the police were called because she drove off when told it had to be towed because of unsafe brakes.

It sounds as if your parking brake was stuck, and there is no way a Ford dealer will reinstall the rotors without parking brake shoes.

Find a way to get it to a known local garage and get a second opinion. Whats the reasoning for needing new calipers? Did they say?

[Broken04MM]

Whats the reasoning for needing new calipers? Did they say?

Have to get into that more with them. They said the left rotor was worn thru actually I believe they said rusted thru but we all know that's impossible but its part of my complaint. If a sticky caliper worn the rotor thru then shouldn't the warranty cover it?

When they called Friday I was 100 miles away on the road so I just listened and said I would get back with them on Monday.

More to come.

[jonroe]

I could buy the parking brake problem but the rotor problem sounds fishy to me. I had to have my parking brakes completely replaced on both sides at about 60K because (I guess) they were adjusted too tight. There was no collateral damage though. Then I replaced the rear pads because one of the four pads was worn quite a bit because it wasn't sliding properly. I carefully lubed the sliders with the new rear pads. The parking brake set-up is totally bogus as far as I'm concerned and I expect to have trouble with it again. I had the parking brake work done at my local trusted mechanic - not Ford since it wasn't a warranty issue.

[Marauderjack]

I got 171K miles on my OEM brakes but NEVER used the parking brake......when I changed the rear rotors the little bitty parking brake shoes looked new??:cool:

I'd either take it apart myself or find someone you trust to do it for ya and get the TRUE story!!:beer:

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

^I don't understand the problem. Take your brakes off to inspect them at least a few times a year, depending on the mileage you drive. Especially if you noticed ahead of time that the e brake pedal was not acting right, don't just let it slide and not take a look at it. These are your brakes. If you don't take care of brakes they do tend to eat themselves. My original rear rotors were extremely scored at 23k miles and had to be changed (stock pads too). If you drive these cars like they were meant to be driven, the brake ain't gonna last. If you use your parking brake every time you park like you are supposed to (give the trans pawl a break!!) the e brake won't rust either. Inspect, evaluate, replace. The rules of brakes!

[W4LTD]

Does anyone know of an online parts explosion pic of the rear brake parts?

http://www.silverstatefordparts.com/schematics/L/LA03490.gif

1) 10 bolt hole 10 bolt hole Back
2) Caliper Right
3) Anchor plate Back
4) Brake hose Right
5) Abs sensor Back
6) Abs Abs Back
7) Brake pads
8) Park brake shoes

[Jolly Roger]

Replaced my rear rotors and pads at 24,000 mi. only because of an upgrade to hawk pads and drilled and slottted rotors.
Oem pads and rotors looked new.
Replaced e-beake shoes ($29.95 + core deposit from Advanced auto parts) since I had the rotors off.
Calipers were OK.

[Broken04MM]

Well I went over to the dealership. The service advisor I was dealing with wasn't in so I had to explain to another advisor the situation.

Basically he couldn't tell me much except to says the price is $720 and not the $600 I was told Friday. I asked him if he could get the car up on a lift so I could see the damage and basically was told no. He says there is nothing to see unless the brakes are taken apart. So I left with no pics and asked him to have the first service advisor call me.

Just got off the phone with the first service advisor. I asked him directly what parts need replacing. He says both rotors, parking brake shoes and rear disc pads.

I asked him why the rotor couldn't be machined and he says they can't turn the "hat" portion of the rotor. I don't know if that is true or not. He says that rotors need to be replaced in pairs.

I again asked how this situation occured when I've never used the parking brake to slow or stop the car. It has only been used for parking so how can the shoes be down to metal on metal along with the rotor so scored it needs replacing?

The parking brake shoes being replaced is understandable as are the disc pads.

I'm prety sure I'm taking the car out of there, mainly for the price. Ford wants $130 for a set of parking brake shoes and another $170 for the rotors. Along with $125 for the pads. That's $425 in parts that the local parts store only charges $125 for. It's not worth $300 more dollars to get Motorcraft parts when Raybestos parts will do the same if not better job.

Another reason I'll probably take the car out of there is because this dealership performs all the maintenance on the car so why didn't they ever catch this problem in their 100 point inspection? My opinion is because the brakes were never inspected although they sure checked the box off each time the car was in for service. Some lazy tech see's the low mileage and goes its got to be ok and just checks the box off.

And of course the Ford ESP warranty wont touch this as they claim its all normal wear items. I'm not arguing with the fine print because it is in there but sorry Ford a car should not need over $700 of rear brake work at 30k miles. Not good for Ford to have this on my mind when I'm considering a Taurus SHO purchase.

Still broken :(

[blazen71]

This summer I was working on a fellow members Marauder changing the axleshafts. I too noticed the parking brake shoes had no brake material left on them :confused:. The regular pads were fine.

[Mr. Man]

Take it somewhere else. If the same dealership is giving you two different prices for the same work on two different days they may be one of the bad ones. The "hat" part sounds like where the emergency brake shoes ride, if all this is as bad as the guy says I'd buy new rotors. If you look closely at the caliper area you should be able to get an idea how your pads are wearing or you could take the tires off and inspect them that way. If you don't have a "guy" ask one of your neighbors you trust and go see their guy for a second opinion.