Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Brake pad help!

Alright so my brakes start making this noise i don't know what exactly but i know they're low and need new pads. So i go to Autozone and the the lady asks me if i have and electronic sensor. I have know idea i know i have front 4-wheel abs, is that what she meant, how would that affect the brake pads? Anyway she asked me if i had abs i siad yes and she gave me new pads, but they didn't fit and were shaped different thatn the old ones slightly, but enough to make the sit higher in the caliper and not allow the brackets to go into the piston. She gave me albany brand part #MKD 762. Is that right for a '99 SVT. Something ain't right here but i don't know what. They prolly should let chicks work at an auto parts store, espically the ones that don't know what they are doing (because some do). Thanx

It's probably not her fault. She is limited to the quality and accuracy of the catalog.

I had a near argument with a very young Pep Boys parts man once about the front brake shoes I needed for my 1965 Mustang. He insisted that the car had front disc brakes. I told him no, it had drum brakes and I needed shoes. To prove his point he showed me in the catalog where the front brakes were listed under "pads". The catalog (Raybestos) listed ALL front brakes under "pads". I pointed to the part number and told him to get me that item off the shelf. He did, and they were shoes. I resisted the urge to tell him "I told you so".

Take a look at the BAT catalog to see the two different types of front brake pads that you might have on an SVT Contour. www.batinc.net

The sensor that she was asking about is used on some Cougars and some Mondeos. It is embedded in the brake pad and provides a path to ground to turn on a light on the dash when the brake pads are worn out. Such pads often cost a little more. They can be used on cars that are not equipped by just cutting the wire off.

I have a set of Motorcraft pads for my 98 SVT that have the wires on them, even though no US spec car ever had these larger pads with the sensor system. If Ford cannot keep it straight, how can the aftermarket keep it straight, especially when they rely on specs provided by Ford?

I also have a 99 contour SVT and faced the same problem. What it is is that Ford put on the regular contour SE brake pads on 99 SVTs that were made after May of 99.

Aren't the SVT's supposed to have larger front brakes than the SE's? Therefore they couldn't use the same pad.

For some messed up reason the '99 SE one fit perfect and are now on and goin fine, ne one know why?

All SVT's have larger front rotors and calipers.

SVT's through 5/99 have different pads. Wider & shorter

All others use the same pads

The actual date of the change over to the smaller pads is in question. An informal survey taken here a few months ago show that it may have been much earlier. The only ones that you can be certain of having the early SVT calipers and pads are the 98 E0 (that is the ones built before 2/98)