I used some cheap brake pads back in March when I did the brake job. One of them cracked. So today I put some new brake pads on. Get them on and everything and go to pull out of my driveway and they seem a little spoungy. Get down my neighborhood some and go to slow down for a speed bump and when I hit them something just makes strange "clunk" sound and the car does not slow down. Hit them again, clunk. Start pumping them and the clunk slowly goes away until the car slows down as usuall. Turn around and go back to my house. Hit them before I turn in my driveway.. "clunk". Figgured maybe I need to bleed them or something so I bled all 4 wheels. While bleeding them something made an very strange sound that I can't explain. After I bled them all the wheels the pedal just go to the floor and pumps up very slowly and keeps makeing the clunk sound. I pulled the drums back off, everything is normal. What the heck is going on now?
Jamie, I don't know what the problem is, but I'd say you officially now own a "Clunker". (sorry - couldn't resist) Where is the sound coming from and can you feel it in the pedal?
Fronts cylinders have less then 10,000 on them, rears have less then 5,000. Car stopped fine earlyer this afternoon before I changed the pads. The pads are exactly the same that I put back on except they are the higher dollar ones, diffrent brand. Rick, the car was a clunker long before I ever bought it.
I think the answer to the problem you have is in the first post of this thread. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=19378
LOL yea, worst yet, I almost hit a tree at the top of my driveway because I couldn't stop! Swerved into the yard and grabbed the emergency brake. Left 2 nice marks in the grass where the wheels locked up. Dad's going to be happy about that...
Take your drums back off and check the auto adjusters and cables attached to them. also make sure the pieces that hold the shoes on didn't pop out. Did you adjust the adjusters? probably too basic to be the cause but just in case
for the drum there is a cable that goes to the adjusting arm to activate the auto adjuster. the arm has snapped on me as well as the cable it hangs on(two different instances)
Those little cables were rusted in half when I got the car. They have never been on there as long as I have had the car. Guy at the auto parts store looks at me like I'm speaking a foreign language when I asked for them. After bleeding the brakes again, they work better then ever. I can tell a big diffrence in these pads. They work great. Has a slight pull to the driver's side but that seems to be going away more and more each time I hit the brakes. Still don't know what happend but it seems to be fixed now.
If you want, my grandfather was a ford mechanic and a pastor for years. i can have him say a little prayer to cleanse your car. i would definately put those cables back on cause they activate the auto adjusters and keep your brakes even through the whole pad. i also like to put some high temp grease(very sparingly) on the adjuster threads. after you get the brakes back on, adjust the adjuster with a screwdriver till they are almost rubbing but not quite. then you can use the screwdriver to adjust out the pull also. let me know if im just repeating what you already know.
