[Silver Bullet II]

*Please bear with me as I'm sure this post is going to be tough to read. I was going to simply scan the invoice but it wouldn't work which only added to my frustration. I recommend just scrolling to the bottom for a simple question/answer type thread.*

So here it is:

A few days ago, after absolutely no warning, my brake pedal went to the floor backing out of the driveway. After pumping it once or twice pressure came back but my front right was grinding. So I brought it to a local Ford dealership for an inspection. They say I need the brakes done all around but all the lines and everything are fine. I still don't get why the pedal went to the ground that one time, but that's besides the point. I'm not willing to spend $921.98 plus tax for a brake job so I took the invoice and went home.

I already ordered rotors and pads so that's no trouble. I just can't make sense of what they were going to be ordering for me. This is what's on the invoice:

"ROTOR ASY" - easy one. 2 for $112 each, 2 for $85 - front and back obviously.
"KIT - CALI" - What? Calipers? there's two of them, different product numbers, each $105.

I'm just all kinds of confused. I know they'll overcharge for the parts, but $112 for a single rotor??? I paid that for a pair. And maybe what I think is calipers is just pads, that seams to make sense. But again, $105 for pair, twice the cost from buying elsewhere.


The easy part:
I have a 2003 SVT with under 60K on it. What would I typically need to do all the brakes? Is there more I need besides rotors and pads? Can I assume that the calipers don't need to be replaced? I've never done brakes before but I'm going to give it a shot in the interest of saving $600.

Sorry for the post, hope it makes sense, and I really appreciate all the help.

 

[bluefront]

It's not unusual to wear out the pads by that mileage. But that doesn't explain why the pedal went to the floor. Normally with completely worn-out pads, you will start to hear grinding noises, but the pedal won't go to the floor.

Perhaps you were really low on brake fluid.....hard to say.

I seriously doubt you need two new calipers, unless they were leaking. Rotors and pads only, usually fixes that sort of problem.

 

[stilix]

at that mileage i would also flush out your brake fluid.

 

[metallicnotazx5]

if the calipers are frozen the pedal can go to the floor. but will usually happen all the time.

sounds like you might have a master cylinder starting to leak.


even though 60k isn't unusually high you also have a 6 year old car, which is bound to have rust issues.

When i got my focus new I lubed the caliper slides to prevent the such from happening.

You can do brakes yourself though. They are not overly difficult and will save you 100's in labor.

also you are paying markup. The junk you get from autozone and napa is made using inferior metal

 

[Silver Bullet II]

Yeah. I ordered a set of Centric rotors and Hawk pads last night based on all the recommendations around here, I just didn't get out to the shop until today. The toasted pads on there now are EBC Green stuff. I bought the car with them and have had it for 8,000 miles now and they stopped great every time.

I'm sure I can handle the brakes on my own, it's just a matter of how long it'll end up taking and if I can survive the cold for that time...

I assume it can't be all that hard to flush the brake fluid either but I'll have to look into that.

I've got a car to drive until Thursday so if I can track my package I'm going to take that day off work and (hopefully) get everything done.

...Now back to the search button

 

[Captain Moonpie]

My buddy had this hapen to his 99 cougar. WHat happened is one of the pads tore the "pad" part off and just had the main metal slab left. With that extra room between rotor and new pad face, it makes sense that it takes some extra pressure to get back to contact. That will also explain why you had brake pressure again after pumping it.