I am seeking advice from people who may know more than me about automobile brakes. I have a 2011 Ford Edge, now on to the story.
In the fall I got new front pads and rotors. Premium pads and value rotors (I'll never get value again). After about 10,000 kms one or both front rotors got a bit warped, but it didn't get any worse so I wasn't worried. I drove another 10-12k kms or so on it until last weekend when I got the premium rotors and put them on. I of course made sure the pads were still good and worn evenly as far as I could tell. They were flawless as far as I can tell from eye. I did the standard service, sand them with 80 grit til it was all virgin pad material, cleaned the old grease off the slide pins, re-lubed them and put it all back together like I have done 100 times before on about 12 different vehicles. Brakes feel amazing now, of course the wobble in the pedal is gone and they actually seem to brake harder with less pedal pressure and they also come on a lot smoother. Then I notice almost the same day that my mileage tanked hard. I usually got about 11.5l per 100km mixed and on my normal work route I was now getting 14.7l/100km. I noticed after driving around that my passenger side caliper and rotor is noticeably hotter than the driver's side. Not overheating, just a decent amount hotter. No idea if this is normal. Just to be sure, today I took both front calipers off, pushed both pistons in each caliper all the way in to make sure it wasn't seized, cleaned the slide pins and re-lubed them again and put it all back together. Went for a drive around and the passenger side was still hotter and I still seemed to get crap mileage.
Now, I don't know whether the pads play a roll in this or not. They shouldn't, I have even done this same thing years ago when I had my Mazdaspeed 3 and it was perfectly fine. Dude at the Napa didn't say anything at all when I got rotors without pads, either. I'm thinking it may also be the brake lines, but the front has never given me problems before. I have had to replace the rear lines before because the car is designed incredibly stupidly, which is a known problem with my generation of Edge, but only the rear. The rear soft line mounting points on the chassis is pointing straight up in the air and they are so short that with the back jacked up even without the calipers off the rubber line is pinched enough it can collapse the tiny metal tube that is within. This causes the fluid to get "stuck" in the caliper and not release it properly, which caused a constant drag on the brake that would severely overheat it. Basically a false caliper seize. The fronts are mounted in the proper downward facing position, so I find it hard to believe the front line would be pinched. I am also very careful with the caliper when I take it off, as to not pinch the rubber line. I never let it hang by the brake line or anything.
Any advice anyone could give would be appreciated. I'm really hoping I don't have to pay another $150 for lines. I had a really bad couple years managing money and am losing my bike over it, actually. I'll never finance a toy again, that's for sure.
Anyway, thanks to whoever reads this all.
In the fall I got new front pads and rotors. Premium pads and value rotors (I'll never get value again). After about 10,000 kms one or both front rotors got a bit warped, but it didn't get any worse so I wasn't worried. I drove another 10-12k kms or so on it until last weekend when I got the premium rotors and put them on. I of course made sure the pads were still good and worn evenly as far as I could tell. They were flawless as far as I can tell from eye. I did the standard service, sand them with 80 grit til it was all virgin pad material, cleaned the old grease off the slide pins, re-lubed them and put it all back together like I have done 100 times before on about 12 different vehicles. Brakes feel amazing now, of course the wobble in the pedal is gone and they actually seem to brake harder with less pedal pressure and they also come on a lot smoother. Then I notice almost the same day that my mileage tanked hard. I usually got about 11.5l per 100km mixed and on my normal work route I was now getting 14.7l/100km. I noticed after driving around that my passenger side caliper and rotor is noticeably hotter than the driver's side. Not overheating, just a decent amount hotter. No idea if this is normal. Just to be sure, today I took both front calipers off, pushed both pistons in each caliper all the way in to make sure it wasn't seized, cleaned the slide pins and re-lubed them again and put it all back together. Went for a drive around and the passenger side was still hotter and I still seemed to get crap mileage.
Now, I don't know whether the pads play a roll in this or not. They shouldn't, I have even done this same thing years ago when I had my Mazdaspeed 3 and it was perfectly fine. Dude at the Napa didn't say anything at all when I got rotors without pads, either. I'm thinking it may also be the brake lines, but the front has never given me problems before. I have had to replace the rear lines before because the car is designed incredibly stupidly, which is a known problem with my generation of Edge, but only the rear. The rear soft line mounting points on the chassis is pointing straight up in the air and they are so short that with the back jacked up even without the calipers off the rubber line is pinched enough it can collapse the tiny metal tube that is within. This causes the fluid to get "stuck" in the caliper and not release it properly, which caused a constant drag on the brake that would severely overheat it. Basically a false caliper seize. The fronts are mounted in the proper downward facing position, so I find it hard to believe the front line would be pinched. I am also very careful with the caliper when I take it off, as to not pinch the rubber line. I never let it hang by the brake line or anything.
Any advice anyone could give would be appreciated. I'm really hoping I don't have to pay another $150 for lines. I had a really bad couple years managing money and am losing my bike over it, actually. I'll never finance a toy again, that's for sure.
Anyway, thanks to whoever reads this all.
