Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting do i need new rear calipers?

not sure if anyone has had this problem...seems like my ebrake was hanging up...easy enough i read the FAQ and began my quest by disconnecting the ebrake cables...ebrake shouldn't hang up anymore because it's essentially non-functional, right? wrong. still seemed like it was hanging up, mostly in cold temps while in reverse (i live in central ohio---snow/ice/salt). i put it on the rack at work and me and a tech noticed that the driver side brake bad metal mounting backplate has become disconnected from the actual brake pad. this we believe is causing the wheel to stop spinning when it gets caught up/hung up. however, i lubed the actual ebrake arm where the cable used to connect, along with all the inner moving parts, although there was plenty of factory grease still in there, but its still hanging up. the driver side ebrake arm (where the cable connected) doesnt seem to have as much free play as the passenger side, and the passenger side doesnt seem to be hanging up like the drivers side. i ordered brake pads (the current ones are almost done) and i'll be replacing those next week, but my concern is that the ebrake unit on the drivers side caliper might be fubar'd in which case i'd have to replace the whole caliper, being that the ebrake is part of the caliper itself. any thoughts can you guys help me out???

thanks

bobby

Hard to argue against your conclusion here. Do you have the external helper springs installed on the ebrake levers that were part of Ford's TSB fix? Has caliper slider pin been lubricated? Separation rare but not uncommon, I've had it occur once on a relatively new front pad (set replaced, n/c n/?s) and once just before scrap thickness.

Personally, with the dragging ebrake reversing noise problems I've had, I wish my Contour had rear drums like my Mystique. I had the cables replaced and springs intalled under warranty in '99 at 59k km, subsequently gave me less than 1 yr of noise free operation. Cleaning up and pad replacement at that time gave even shorter relief. Inspection/pad replacement, probably rotor and perhaps cable replacement, on my "do when spring comes" list. Spring is coming isn't it?

unfortuneately i think the problem is that the ebrake components within the caliper are somehow malfuntioning. however, it could just be that the metal bracket has separated from the brake pad, and im planning on replacing the pads this week to see if that solves it. if that doesnt solve my problem i'll know its the calipers themselves, since i've already detached the ebrake cables.