Few General Problems........

Jarrod

Member
Apr 2, 2014
19
0
11
Logan, Ohio
So I'm finally getting everything together for my lady, Lzzy. I recently corrected the jerking that was happening while cruising in gear. I assume that it was either the PCV that was bad, or it was my right-rear O2 Sensor (Reason being... I unhooked it right after I installed the new PCV. I might be wrong.) But anyway, here are a few problems that I'm having right now...

1.)Braking System:
  1. Rotors: While driving under highway speeds, when I start to brake my steering wheel shakes ridiculously. I have been told that my rotors are warped. True? If so, just replace rotors and problem solved?... (Hypothetically speaking)
  2. Caliper: While driving under any speed, the car will pull to the right. I've been told that I could have a caliper sticking, which seems very likely because one sides pads were almost non-existent. There's also a slight noise that I can hear while driving, that sounds like metal scraping coming from the front right.
  3. Emergency Brake: Doesn't work. Followed the lines and it seems to be stuck open at the rotors on the back but doesn't engage or stop the car while pulled or not.
2.)Steering Wheel:
I have no idea on this one, but the steering wheel actually clicks when it returns to straight center. Any ideas? I was told there may be a broken clip inside of the box directly behind the wheel.​
 
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On your question about high speed shakes at the wheel when braking, it could be a warped rotor, but it also could be a bad balljoint or tierod ends or a combo deal, and or a bad hub bearing. The metal sound you hear could also be a hub bearing. What I would do is jack up the front and once it is jacked up with the tires off the ground, grab with one hand at top of tire and one hand at the bottom and pull in and out from top to bottom and see if there is any excessive play or movement, and do the same with your hands at 9 and 3 o'clock position and see if you have excessive play. If you do from side to side then most likely you have a bad tierod, or top position a bad balljoint. You can also take the tire off and check for warped rotor by using a pencil or pen and hold it against the caliper and the tip of the pen or pencil slightly not touching the rotor and rotate the rotor and see if the rotor touches the tip of the pencil or pen at anytime. Or just spend $40 bucks and have them turned at your local auto shop. By what you wrote, it sounds as if it is time to do the brake shoes and if so you should have the rotors turned anyway if there is enough rotor to be turned within spec tolerance.

The pulling to one side while braking or letting go of the wheel could also be from caster being off on your alignment.

Or you have bad tires or mix-matched tires up front.

Your e-brake may be sretched and not applying or broken in its sleeve somewhere to the shoe. Or is bound up and or needs to be lubricated.
 
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Okay. The warping is the first thing that came to mind. I had no idea about checking the ball joints and tie rods. It was actually the old ball joints that caused this damage to occur. Thanks for the tips on checking the rods/joints. I'm going to do that my next day off, but for the time being I think I'll just invest in some new rotors, rather than turning them. which I assume replacement is the easier method with the E-Brake as well?. And to get rid of the pulling... get another alignment?

Any idea on the steering wheel?
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Well I would not just go and get an alignment right off the bat. I would first do some trouble shooting first with all the mentioned ideas I gave previously. Going right to an alignment might be a waste of money if that is not the fault. When you get your next day off, check the ball joints and tie rods first and then the pull and push method on the tires in the air. If you got excessive play, then go from there to fix what is bad. But also check the hub bearings too. In the end a alignment will be needed once you are all done. Rotors are cheaper to get turned than buying new ones, but if you want stock oem rotors than it is not that much more than a rotor turn. I think I paid something like $24.00 a rotor at Autozone a couple years ago. But while you are at it, get new pads also and do it right the first time. If the pads are in that bad of shape as you mentioned, you may not want to drive it till you get it replaced. But you know that I assume. Are your tires in good shape and are the front ones of the same model tire? I have witnessed myself what 2 different tires up front feel like and what they can do.
 
Okay. I'll do the tests. How do I check the bearings? And I've already replaced the pads. I was really shocked that someone let them get that bad. Lol. And yeah, the tires are the same on the front (Size, model, wear, etc.)
 
Don't forget the rack and pinion. The inner tie rods can go bad and some times the side to side test does not reveal it. They are replaceable but usually it's time for either a new set of rack Bushings or a whole new rack. If it were me I would replace the rotors, brakes and calipers all at the same time.
 
From my experience the car wanders a lot in one direction or the other especially in in town driving. The inner tie rods if bad will be loose in the socket. If you recently changed it even in the last couple years it should be good to go unless something is causing unexplained premature wear. IE the car is slammed with cramps or cut Springs with no Cc plates and On or worn struts. For the pic it looks like your car is at factory ride height. Tie rods and ball joints that are bad also create inside or outside tire wear that is very notable.
I'll try to better help u with the original post.

If under braking conditions only does the car shutter and pull like you said it is most likely the brake rotors are way out of spec. And now the brake pads have worn to the uneven rotors so they are toast too. Usually you can almost feel the steering wheel being pulled in one direction or the other when you start braking, especially when going around corners while braking like when your getting off an expressway ramp that curves right at a stop light or sign.

On my 96 GT, about a year after I bought it I encountered two stuck calipers. One while I was 200 miles away from my house and one right after a brake job, the next day it stuck driving home from work. I ended up just replacing them all. If I remember right the 96 to 98 GTs use the single Pistons calipers on both the front and rear. My 2000 has twin piston on the fronts.

As far as the steering wheel goes it sounds like it may have a bad clock spring. I have not been into the steering column at all on the SN95 cars like I have the Fox Mustangs.

Hope some of this helps. I'm sure there is a brake and suspension guru here somewhere. The only other aspect of this I can think of as far as wear and tear items are the front control arm bushings. But I assume if you installed new ball joints it's likely that you replaced them as the control arm has to be removed to press the new ball joint in unless you have a special rig. If it were me i would just start in the rotor department.
 
Well the 3-9 test could reveal bad tierods, did you inspect the tierod ends and see if the boot is torn or if you grab the tierod itself and try to go side to side is there play? Also whileyou are under there take a look at the lower balljoint and see if the boot is there. Replacing a balljoint does not require taking the control arm off to replace as mentioned by previous member. A common balljoint press kit will do the job while the control arm is in place. Once you get your list of parts in, especially the rotors, take the rotors and wipe them down with some sort of solvent, to get the anti corrision off of the front and back brake pad surface. Let me know how it goes.
 
Okay. All my parts came in earlier today, and I started immediately. Got the old off, put the new on, and proceeded to bleed my brakes.... And they won't build pressure :( Other than that... Tie Rods are solid and and it was just the joint that was replaced.
 
I did... And will later today. We already tried bleeding them. The pedal just wouldn't build up pressure to bleed the new calipers, and I have no idea why.

I think what happened is that I let my brake fluid run out while swapping calipers. I just let it hang while I got the old out of the way and the new on. Then I hooked them up to the new calipers and that when I realized all my fluid was out of the reservoir. Added fluid, and tried to bleed again. Still a pedal straight to the floor every time.
 
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Whenever you bleed brakes, especially when the system is dry, you should always start the bleed process from the furthest point from the reservoir. That would be the passenger rear bleed valve. Then you go the driver rear, then to the passenger front and then lastly the driver front. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times as the air needs to be out of the lines completely before pressure can build. So if you have no pedal pressure, you still have air in the lines. And make sure when you start the process, all the bleed valves are closed, then work your way around as I described. You may have to refill the reservoir in the middle of the process of bleeding since the system was dry.
 
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Okay. Update. I have finished the rotor and caliper upgrades. Eventually even had all the brakes bled and had decent brakes for once. And with the luck that I am known to have, I noticed that my rear/passenger caliper is now leaking. Slowly... but still enough to still drain the Master Cylinder. I'm confused as to why it's doing this. I replaced the old washers surrounding the banjo bolt. I've also been hearing a rattle in the front end while going over bumps.