Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes L/Frt wheel brake problem

I have a 1997 Contour GL - V6/Manual 5-speed. I have 78,000 mles on it, and have replaced the rotors on one previous occasion. I am noticing the same "warped" rotor feel coming from the L/frt wheel. It started about 3 months after the last time I had the rotors turned. The previous time, the problem was corrected by turning the rotors. Now the same wheel seems to be warped again. What could be causing this problem..... Help....

There have been a lot of discussions about this in the past. According to the posts, some possibilities seem to be (1) improperly torqued lug nuts (2)improperly broken in rotors/pads (3) sticking/unlubricated caliper pins.

Turning warped rotors only postpones the problem as the metal morphology is already in the warped crystalline structure. Thus when you turn them you're just removing the peaks and leaving the "wavey" metal form behind....ad heat and viola, warped again.

Plus turning rotors only makes them thinner and that reduces their mass, which in turn reduces their ability to act as heats sinks (which is part of the design) thus the excess heat that they cannot disspate quick enough causes meatrial expansion.. and as the rotors were warped before they'll warp again.

solution buy new rotors. Simple as that.


The fact that you turned your rotors and the problem return should be enough proff of this phenomenon.

Warped rotors are like a cancer. You can treat the symptoms temporarily but unless you cut it out completely it comes right back.

There is merit to Stazi's response, but that is not always the case.

Many times a rotor that has been "seasoned" by many heating and cooling cycles and then machined (as long as there is still plenty of thickness remaining) is a more stable rotor than a new "green" rotor. Green meaning that it has not been "cured" from heating and cooling.

Another answer for a persistant problem of warped rotors is to have you new premium quality rotors cyrogenically cured before installing them. You can read about it a www.frozenrotors.com If you shop around you can find a local source and you may even be able to find better pricing. We have a local ambulance company that supplies us with rotors for their vehicles when we do their brakes. They have them treated before we install them. They claim that they get much longer rotor life because of the treatment. It isn't cheap.