2013 Taurus SHO PP brake issue

SMITHN10SHO · January 09, 2016, 10:51:36 AM

I purchased my SHO a tad over a year ago and have had no issues thus far. It had 21,000 miles on it from its previous owner and I have put 11,000 on it so far. Monday, on a routine 5 minute drive that I typically take two times a day I was greeted with a horrible burning smell as I exited the car. I looked around and noticed smoke billowing out from the driver side rear wheel well. The brake disc was extremely hot, enough to burn skin in a split second. I suspected that the brake locked on the short drive, so I depressed the brake fully and released fully a few times to see if that was enough to release it. I looked again and it appeared to be normal. I decided to take the short drive again to see if I had a repeat and to my surprise I did not. I then decided that I could make it back home and then attack the problem on the weekend. Well, my buddy and I took part the brake to see if I could clean it up and diagnose the issue. We found that the outer pad was fine and looked normal while the inner pad had actually broken into two pieces. We then decided to check the rest of the brakes and see what the rest looked like. The same pattern of outer pad looking normal and inner either starting to break apart or broken. I am assuming these are the original pads that came with the car, so am I wrong to think that they should be lasting a lot longer than 32,000 miles? Has anyone else seen their pads deteriorate like this? I am quite agitated with this issue and hoping it was a bad lot number or just bad pads. The rest of the brake system looked fine and didn't show signs of malfunction, just rusty rotors and terrible pads. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for any and all help! I also have pictures of the pads if that helps.

derfdog15 · January 09, 2016, 10:59:45 AM

I haven't had any issues with my 15, but it only has 1100 miles on it. I know a few members have had issues and have had brake pads/rotors replaced under warranty. Other members have replaced everything with EBC red pads and power stop rotors

SHOdded · January 09, 2016, 12:39:20 PM

OEM pads/rotors can be problematic. Better luck with EBC and Powerstop (for the street) as mentioned above. Track use dictates a different setup entirely.

It is a fairly common problem for the rear pads, especially the inners, to show up as "defective"/"weak". Happens on the Edge as well. I believe this is due to the way Electronic Brake Distribution works, and the fact that the rears also carry the burden of being emergency/parking brakes. Brake lines & hoses have not been an issue on this platform, AFAIK. BUT, if you check the calipers, check the slide pins and pistons for rust/scoring. That may be the actual culprit.

AJP turbo · January 09, 2016, 01:52:25 PM

Sounds like an isolated issue...I've done quite a few stops from 140mph with my stock PP brakes. Mine is a 14'

SHOdded · January 09, 2016, 02:11:06 PM

Is it possible the brakes were nonPP? Maybe they were replaced by the previous owner.

SMITHN10SHO · January 09, 2016, 03:46:29 PM

Thanks for all the replies!

The Pistons look good, just some brake dust build up and the pins look great too. The previous owner could have replaced them, but I doubt it just because of the low miles. Unless I am mistaken don't brakes usually have about 50,000 miles on them? I have easily put 30,000 on pads before without needing to change them. I have some EBC rotors and yellowstuff pads on order ( money which I didn't want to spend) to make sure I get a fresh start. I do live in Germany and the weather here is mainly rainy, and the car sits exposed all year because I don't have a garage or carport. Do you think that could have anything to do with it? I used to live in Missouri and Wisconsin and didn't have any pads breakdown like these ones.

SMITHN10SHO · January 09, 2016, 03:52:22 PM

One thing I saw was the right front outer pad was worn roughly 50% more than the left side. But all outer pads looked like they were wearing normally. I will upload pictures when I can get them off the iPhone and on my laptop.

AJP turbo · January 09, 2016, 04:33:59 PM

I bet they are garbage replacement pads...my PP fronts are only going to last me about 18k

RAYJAY · January 09, 2016, 10:08:14 PM

I'm on 22,000 on my 13 pp now,will replace the pads this spring no mater what mileage i have on the car,

mileage is only one factor on brake pads for wear, heat cycle, age, are 2 other factors on wear of pads or brake discs,

i never in my life got 50,000 miles out of a set of brakes, and I'm old.......

SMITHN10SHO · January 10, 2016, 03:23:21 AM

Good to know, so maybe the life of the pads was the issue. I am including the pictures to show just what i am working with. these are the outer pads.

SMITHN10SHO · January 10, 2016, 03:43:11 AM

These are the inner pads.

SMITHN10SHO · January 10, 2016, 03:44:48 AM

More of the inner pads.

SHOdded · January 10, 2016, 06:33:17 AM

There they are, boils & carbuncles and all! Yikes! How long was this car sitting on the lot before you bought it, BTW?

Here's a pic of what the EBC pad looks like on the front for the 2010-12:

top = non-PP, bottom = PP
http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,5251.msg83737.html#msg83737

Motorcraft Rear Disc Brake Pad BR-1377B

SHOdded · January 10, 2016, 07:18:34 AM

Even the PowerStop Top Cop pads look more substantial:

ZSHO · January 10, 2016, 07:37:11 AM

To the OP what buildate is your car??could be a bad batch of pads for that month period 11/12 because mine were replaced under warranty at 22k but did not look like a piece of well done spare rib,mine had more of a meduim well pigment with signs of the pad material shoing decomposition and deterioration,think this isolated issue might be more common than we all might think. Z