Ford Five Hundred

[02SilverStroke]

Can you tell me why numerous Ford Five Hundred/Freestyle and Mercury Montego owners are having problems with their rear brakes so soon? My 2005 Five Hundred SEL recently began to have a "grinding" noise coming out of the left rear wheel with a tremendous amount of brake dust on the wheels. I took it to a shop today and found grooves in both rear rotors and the pads will be replaced tomorrow at only 27,000 miles! I've never had a vehicle to have brake problems this soon!! According to this forum, one Five Hundred owner had to replace his rear pads at only 19,000 miles! This is something that Ford should cover in their bumper to bumper warranty. Can you tell me when Ford will be finding a solution to this problem and issuing a recall on it? Maybe there should be some adjustments to the caliper assemblies and stronger pads installed at the factory? I think this is something that should be addressed not only with the next "refreshening" of these vehicles but immediately before accidents start happening due to failed brakes.

[fastracing]

I totally agree in problem stated about the brake issues with the Freestyle. My 05 Freestyle SEL has 19k on it and it already needs rear brakes. I would not even thought about checking rear brakes. So yes maybe when there are some accidents FORD will listen that there is a problem, but I can only HOPE that they will do something before that happens. This is the 5th Ford that my husband and I have owned and we have never had something like this happen.

 

 

 

Current Vehicles:

2005 Ford Freestyle SEL

2004 Nissan Titan LE

 

 

Past Vehicles:

1997 Ford F-150 XLT 5.4

2000 Ford Taurus SEL

2002 Ford F-150 Supercrew 5.4

2003 Ford Escape

[Scot T.]

I think there's a brake industry issue in general with short pad life. We have a '04 Nissan Quest minivan, and they are notorious for premature brake pad wear. Some owners are going to aftermarket replacements using ceramic compounds, extending life and reducing dust. Although a nuisance, brake pads are a minor issue if you like the car otherwise. Toyota is being killed with transmission issues on their new Camrys, customers furious after having paid a premium for perceived perfection.

[Ron W.]

Ford is aware of this issue and has released a T.S.B. with an updated part number for the rear pads. Downside is that brakes are considered a wear item and as such do not receive the full 3/36 warranty coverage. If you have noisey rear brakes and are under 12m/18k take the vehicle to your local Ford dealer.

 

Oh and be aware the pads are on backorder.

[nibyak]

Ford is aware of this issue and has released a T.S.B. with an updated part number for the rear pads. Downside is that brakes are considered a wear item and as such do not receive the full 3/36 warranty coverage. If you have noisey rear brakes and are under 12m/18k take the vehicle to your local Ford dealer.

 

Oh and be aware the pads are on backorder.

 

If the TSB you are talking about is (TSB 05-4-7) it's only for Freestyles and 500s manufactured between 5/17/2004 and 2/9/2005. It was to replace the pads with new part number 5F9Z-2200-B and came out in February 2005. That TSB was to replace the pads that reacted/corroded with the rear disks and caused a lot of noise and vibration. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the current problem of premature wear is with the new revised pads. My 2006 Freestyle had its rear pads replaced at 25,000 miles. The replacement was covered by my extended warranty. I purchased the extended warranty because I wasn't sure about the CVT, not the brakes. My pads were replaced two weeks ago and my small rural dealership had no problem getting the pads.