Ford Fusion brake vibration

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My Mom's 2009 Ford Fusion has 27k on it and the brakes vibrate.
Varies with pedal pressure from just a noise at light braking to sounding/feeling like driving over rumble strips at moderate pedal and gets worse from there.
I made an example video:

Does not show it as well as I was hoping it would, but you can still hear it.
Once I took it out to burnish the pads in, and it did get better but never totally went away. Then I accidentally got too aggressive so ABS intervened and it was right back where I started.
Think a pad slap and a good run-in will fix it? Or should I get the rotors shaved too? Im thinking it will be worth it to get rid of the vibration.
 
Have you seen if the rotors are slightly warped? Take a wheel off and put a gauge on the rotor.
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Its slight for sure. (or the video does not show it too well)

Bill
 
Before you do anything take each wheel off and make sure the face of the hub is clean and corrosion free. Also make sure the part of the wheel that contacts the hub face is clean and corrosion free. Make sure your air pressure is up to spec in each tire and inspect each tire for any uneven tread wear. Then re-mount each wheel and torque to factory spec. Test drive. If you still have judder then it is time to remove both front rotors and have them checked and most likely resurfaced if they are not too warped. When you have each caliper off check for a stuck piston and/or uneven wear on the brake pads. Re-assemble front brakes and re-mount and torque wheels.

Test ride.

If it is still juddering have the balance on both front wheels checked.
 
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What kind of gauge should I put on the rotor?

We got it used, but ever since then its either been me or people I trust putting the wheels on. So they have been properly torqued. Now before that, who knows?

Before this video, I had taken the front wheels off and checked every thing out. Tires were rotated/balanced a couple thousand ago.
It only shakes during braking. The rest of the time its smooth as butter.
 
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Is there any brake or ABS warning light on?

I once worked on a Pontiac Montana that had a failing wheel sensor, and the ABS would activate even during a normal stop.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Is there any brake or ABS warning light on?

I once worked on a Pontiac Montana that had a failing wheel sensor, and the ABS would activate even during a normal stop.


+1 if the sensors or abs rings have corrosion they can cause issues as well. I had that happen on a Suburban once.
 
Lightly apply the emergency brake while traveling 30-35mph with nobody behind you. If the noise is exactly the same, it's the rear rotors. IF not, it's the front.
 
Originally Posted By: beast3300
Lightly apply the emergency brake while traveling 30-35mph with nobody behind you. If the noise is exactly the same, it's the rear rotors. IF not, it's the front.


The problem with this is that on some cars there's a seperate parking brake mechanism. On my Hyundai the parking brake is a tiny drum brake in the hat of the rotor. This test wouldn't work on my car.
 
It works on this one. The mechanism works the caliper piston directly.
My CrownVic has the same setup as your Hyundai, so it wouldnt work on that either.
 
Usually brake pulsation is caused by brake rotor thickness variation. The rotor may have had lateral run out, and over time the pads wore down the high spot and now the rotors have thickness variation or lack of parallelism. If you checked the run out with a dial indicator it may or may notnow look ok. The best way to measure thickness variation is with a micrometer at several equally spaced points along the rotor perimeter.

So I think replacing or turning the rotors are the only thing that will fix the pulsation. The problem is if there is rotor lateral run out from the hub or corrosion, the problem could come back. Having the rotors properly turned on the car would be the best fix. Although it might be cheaper to do it yourself and get new rotors and a dial indicator and verify lateral run out is within specs.
 
If it's pad deposits, I think a few decent-pressure stops could be worth a shot. I think in some situations that can help scub off the high spots. I'm too lazy to search the forum for it right now, but it could be worth a shot. It'd be free, too.
 
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I think the 2009 Fusion has the same front brakes/susp as my 2009 Mazda6, I noticed when I did a brake rotors and pads a couple months ago, that there was quite a bit of rust on the hub that I had to clean off before I felt that the rotor and hub met flat and well. I could see how rust can cause enough run out to make the noise you are describing.

Does the car brake straight? Like it doesn't pull left or right when you let go of the steering wheel and brake? If it doesn't brake straight possibly stuck caliper pins/caliper itself or even bad suspension bushings. Is it making pulsing felt in the pedal, the steering wheel, or a combination of both?
 
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