Rattle and Not Stopping Like Before

[yellowsubmarine]

I took my car to a shop to have new brakes put on it. About a week later a rattle started in the right rear of my auto. Took it to get new tires put on and that shop said the rattle was from a clip not being put on the brake. Called the "brake man" and he said that wasn't it (after he looked at it) that it was the rotors (I believe). Took to dealership to have check engine light checked out and they said the brakes were great and the rattle was fixed -(it wasn't).

So, my question is - anyone know what the rattle could be (it happens when I go over potholes/bumps in road). Also, I have the new brakes but my car doesn't seem to stop as well as it use to and they squeal sometimes - could that be because of the rotors?

 

[MustangLX-5.0]

Did you have new rotors put on as well? Or did they just resurface them? The squeal could be from the type of pads you had installed. Were they ceramic pads? Ceramic pads btw are noiser and sometimes squeal a little. Think metal to metal contact. Regardless if they are ceramic or not, unless a special backing material was already on the back side of the pads, a little caliper grease is used to quell the squeal.

I don't know what a brake man is. Never heard that term used (and I worked in a Ford shop for 3 years). The rattled could be a loose caliper mount, or one or more of the pads could be missing guide clips. These are clips that keep the pads in their correct position when the piston compresses them to the rotor. The clips are at the very side edges of the pads where they fit into a groove on the caliper ass'y. One other possibility is the e-brake return spring mounting bolt. I doubt it would be this, but it's possible that it may rattle on the caliper ass'y if not bolted down properly. There's one of these on each rear caliper, where the e-brake cable is secured. Might want to take a look at this yourself, since the shop's don't seem to be diagnosing your rattle correctly.

 

[GDTrumbo]

Sound like a problem I had. I replaced the rear pads with the ceramics and installed an aftermarket hardware kit (anti-rattle clips, rubber bellows, etc.) and had a rattle at day one. I went back to Ford for the OEM hardware kit and the rattle has never returned.

The aftermarket clips are not the same gage thickness as the OEM's. They heat fatgue much quicker too. This is just one of those things you just have to go back to Ford for.

GT