'04 mountaineer brake pulsating

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I replaced the front rotors and pads this AM and still getting some pedal pulsing. After looking at explorerforum.com it seems possible that it may be a bad wheel speed sensor tripping the abs system. They say to pull the ABS fuse to check it. Trouble is, there are at least 3 different ABS fuses to pull. What one do I pull. The module? The pump? Is it possible that the rear rotors and pads would cause pedal pulsation? It has 85,900 miles on it FYI.
 
yes, rear rotors and pads cause a pulsation all the time.

In fact, if you had a pulsation but didn't have any steering wheel vibrations, or had a "Wandering feel" of the car when you were braking hard with the vibration, It's 90% going to be rear. Rear will cause a pulsation in the pedal but no vibration of the steering wheel.

Remember, brake lines all feed to one central point, the Master Cylinder. If one rotor has thickness variation, it will cause that to transfer to your master, which would transfer to the pedal.

If it is a front-disc, rear-drum set up, you can check if it is just the rear by lightly applying the Parking/Emergency brake at cruising speeds. The parking brake on a rear drum set up uses the same brake shoes to stop the vehicle, unlike a rear-disc setup. So pulling it applies the rear brakes, but not the front.

We have used cars all day in the shop have pedal pulsation at 30k miles. it can even be less, but most of our cars we will recondition for sale have around 30k average on them. Diagnosing whether it is front, rear, or both is part of the job.



What kind of pulsation is it? Is it from the car itself, or just in the pedal? Or both? or is it generally when your slowing down that it causes a vibration? Details will help
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ABS pedal pulsation is quite different from issues caused by pads and rotors. You will need to distinguish what you are feeling.

ABS pulsing is generally felt only at the pedal, and usually are sharp, small pulses of a distinct frequency. If the vehicle is braking straight, but the pedal is "rattling", it's likely ABS related.

Pulsation caused by pads/rotors generally shakes or vibrates the whole vehicle, and if at the front end, may also cause the steering to flick left/right.
 
Originally Posted By: chrome
ABS pedal pulsation is quite different from issues caused by pads and rotors. You will need to distinguish what you are feeling.

ABS pulsing is generally felt only at the pedal, and usually are sharp, small pulses of a distinct frequency. If the vehicle is braking straight, but the pedal is "rattling", it's likely ABS related.

Pulsation caused by pads/rotors generally shakes or vibrates the whole vehicle, and if at the front end, may also cause the steering to flick left/right.


Yep, this exactly. Depending on the vehicle the ABS motor can also be heard when it kicks on. On my vehicle, the ABS Light also flashes while it is currently in use. It is solid when it is deactivated due to malfuction, and the ABS light is off when the System is OK, but not in use.

Disabling the ABS will definitely tell you whether that is the problem or not, but I highly doubt it is and see the rear brakes as the issue.

Also make sure your slide pins and brakes are lubed properly. A stuck pin can cause brake issues to repeat.
 
Check your rear wheel bearings carefully. The bearings they use on the rear of those body style Explorers and Mountaineers for the IRS are very prone to failure. I have seen instances of both bearings showing play and causing damage to the rear uprights and the rear driveshafts.
 
its the rear rotors. Dang it. I shoulda looked before. Stupid mistake. Great, I hear they are a PITA to get off too. Something about the parking brake set-up rusting them on. Fingers crossed, I'll get to them some time next week.
 
Did the rears this AM. Piece of cake, thank the good Lord. All is better now. The inboard pad on the driver side rear was gone, worn down to the backing plate. The rest were grooved but not worn too low. Weird.
 
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