Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting draking issue

got a new problem today. When braking the car pulls right and needs about 1/16 turn on the wheel to correct.

I have the contour se v6 2.5l with atx, disc and drums.

ANy thoughts?

How many miles on the front brakes? Maybe time for new front brakes (pads and maybe rotors)

Or a sticking caliper. I agree most likely badly worn pads.

Maybe one pad broke partly off, or the brake lines need a bleed. Also check the rear brakes are not dragging, like from a stuck parking brake cable.

OK....details....
156000km
rotors, pads and calipers under 1 year old.
I am about due for new shoes and possibly drums.

I did a visual inspection on the front brakes and they look OK from the outside...no odd wear marks and such. I guess I'll have to get in there and see what is up.

Any other issues that might cause same symptom?

ok...spent some quality time with my brakes last couple days.

while I was picking up drums and shoes, I got an amazing labour deal from service manager at dealership to change rear drums and shoes...$60!! That was the morning after the snow in Toronto...not one customer at the shop in the morning! So, there are no probs there.

Since I knew the rear drums and shoes needed to be changed, I was hoping that would solve the problem, but I was not so lucky.

So, I removed each front caliper and cleaned lubed slide pins. There is no leakage at all. The only sign of any problem was the inboard pad on drivers side was a bit glazed (which I removed). Rotors looked OK and there was not any play in the bearings. I reassembled and tested...but still have the problem.

I inspected the piston seal and they were in fine condition. There was not any corrosion under the boot. I did not disassemble the piston as they are OEM and 1 year old. I figure that they should be fine for years.

After some driving and careful attention to the problem, here is a better description of what I am experiencing.

When driving, the car is pulling left and needs 1/16 turn to right to correct. When braking, the car will pull right while I am holding wheel steady, so I then need to correct back 1/16 turn (which is what the wheel should be at normally). If I let the wheel do what it wants when I brake, it turns to left 1/16 turn when I apply brakes.

Here are my questions: how much force is required to push a piston back in? Can do by hand or is a clamp needed for sure? I used channel locks to push them in. I observed that they pushed out easily when I reassembled and tried brakes.

If it is not pistons, then what else could do this?

See if the caliper is sticking, jack it up, apply/ release brake pedal, check for drag, try other front wheel. Both front wheels should have equal drag (very little to none). Maybe your tire pressure,wear or alignment could cause, because it pulls left under braking or not.

thanks. Will check the drag.

Tires checked OK and I doubt that it is an alignment problem as it started between one night to the next morning sitting in the driveway. Also, if it was alignment, then I think that braking won't change the direction.

Your test on the caliper pistons was appropriate. You were able to push them in and they came back out when applied.

You should also do as someone else suggested above by jacking up the car and seeing how the two front wheels spin to see if one the calipers is hanging up.

What is strange is the pulls right under normal driving and then left when you apply the brakes. The only thing that I can think of that could cause this is a restricted brake hose or brake line so that the right brake doesn't fully release and then doesn't properly apply when you brake. Look for a kinked or rusted line or a deteriated brake hose, probably on the right front.