Replaced the rotor and pads on the other rear wheel this evening and the wear was uneven but not as uneven as it was on the other side. I'm starting to think that maybe the rear brake design on the FEH is just lousy. Either way, I think I'm going to replace some of the guide pins and lubricate them with some silicone grease and hope for the best. I'm also going to get a replacement guide pin boot kit but I don't know if I'll actually replace it or not.

Sort of unrelated... Does anyone know where I can get replacement inner tierod boot clamps or what they're even called? The company I work for just happens to have the special pliers you use to install them but I can't seem to find the clamps anywhere. AutoZone had some clamps I could use but they're a different style of clamp and since I have the tool I think the OEM ones would be easier to reinstall.

 

Tie rod boot clamps: you can use zip ties, just pull them real tight. Make sure the heat shield is in place on the Pax side. If a zip tie melts off use a thin metal hose clamp.

When you do the calipers use hi temp caliper lube. I found that the typical lube sold is good to 500ºF and will burn up on the hybrid unlike any other car I have had.

I now use Permatex "Ceramic Extreme Brake Parts Lubricant" pt # 24125.

What I discovered the hard way is that the way we brake with regenerative braking causes an extended application of light braking that raises the caliper & disc temps far more than with any other car I own.

I've had quizzical looks from folks in NAPA & other stores when I asked for it. But after rebuilding calipers several times because the pads wore at an angle I began looking into just why that happened. Answer: The caliper guide pins were caked with burned up caliper lube because I used what I used on other cars.

 

After reading this, I think I'm going to replace my guide pins as well. I get a very mild vibration and buzzing noise when braking beyond regenerative. It feels like mild ABS kicking in, but occurs all the time. On my last set of new pads it gradually developed into pulsating brakes at low speeds as well.

I put installed slotted rotors and had flawless braking initially, so I doubt runout or heat-induced warping is the problem. Swapping pads instantly fixed it as well for a little bit, but it has returned.

Thanks for the tip about that lube, man. I never considered the pins themselves failing due to heat buildup.

 

Thanks, it's taken me several sets of brake pads to figure out the caliper lube temp thing. Just never saw that on any other car. You should have seen the look on the Counter guy's face when I told him the caliper lube they had wouldn't cut it... But a little bit of research on the internet turned up several brands of caliper lube with a far higher temp rating than most typically use.

To be frank the evidence was right in front of me all the time (eg burned lube on the caliper pins...) I just didn't recognize its significance. Had just never seen that before with standard lubes. Took a while to reason it through and realize the caliper temps had to be higher and then connect it with regenerative braking patterns...

Oh well...

 

I'm waiting to see if your buddy will jump on here to point out how wrong you are

 

Hey, thanks, I'm a big boy so guys like that are on my block list, and at any rate people on here can form their own opinion.

I'm also of the opinion that people, for the most part, are able to recognize the trolls on here.

 

Since that it the case that would make brake fluid flushing more important in Hybrids also. Brake fluid absorbs moisture with age lowering its boiling point turning into steam.

 

Found this TSB, but some of you probably already know about it...

TSB 09-2-4

ISSUE
Some 2005-2008 Escape and Mariner Hybrid vehicles may exhibit a cyclical rear brake noise during low speed driving, going around corners and/or when driving in wet conditions. The noise results from a lack of parking brake use causing corrosion buildup inside the drum-in-hat parking brake surface and parking brake shoes becoming off-center. The parking brake should be set each time the vehicle is parked to prevent this concern.

 

Worth noting: when I put the car up on jackstands, I place the jackstand under the wheel bearing knuckle joint. So the weight of the car is felt on the suspension since the wheel doesn't hang down. This has baffled me on this clunking since I have thought the suspension was seeing the weight of the car. In this configuration the only thing not seeing the weight was the wheel bearing and caliper.

Any further ideas?