FerdinandF150

I went for a short drive; 20-30 minutes with a stop in between. I hit a mud puddle and shortly after I could smell a burning rubber scent.

I checked for something dragging underneath, leaks around coolant, oil etc. Then I looked at my rotors because I've had problems in the past. The wheels spokes were too hot to touch for longer than a couple of seconds.

I had to have the rotors resurfaced, pads replaced, and calipers replaced shortly after I purchased it some 2 months ago.

In looking at my paperwork for that most recent work it looks like they used ceramic pads.

Under the caliper replacement it says

"F LT REB Calip w HDWR"
"F RT REB Calip w HDWR"

To me that means they rebuilt the faulty calipers vs replaced them, but they are closed now so I can't call.

Here is what my rotors look like:





When I run my finger over them I can feel slight grooves from top to bottom on both sides, not enough I could catch a finger nail.

I remember the brake shop showing me and letting me feel the grooves from the original sticking calipers and they were more focused in certain areas of the rotor and deeper.

I also feel like there is a slight loss of power. After they did the work previously I accidentally spun my tires leaving their parking lot. Now I can't do it even if I try.

All of this has been over a span of about 1500 miles.

Aj06bolt12r

Rotors look normal to me. Jack the truck up and with the engine off and trans in neutral try spinning the wheels by hand. Then stand on the brake and try spinning the wheels by hand again as soon as you let off the brake to make sure the calipers are releasing instantly as they should.

FerdinandF150

Such a simple and genius idea. I'll probably have to wait until AM or I'll be eaten by skeeters.

RLXXI

I'm seeing a little blue on the rotors, or is that just the flash? Wheel spokes too hot to touch along with odd burning odor raises a huge red flag that either the calipers (if rebuilt by them) are hanging up due to dry slide pins and/or defective internal seals.

Your description of loss of power coupled along with everything else says to me your brakes are not releasing properly and I mentioned a few of the reasons already, what I haven't mentioned is it could also be the hoses, sometimes the inner layer will collapse creating a check valve effect, let's fluid in but won't let it back out which is essential for operation, Another possibility is kinked brake lines, ABS HCU malfunction etc....

Take it back to them and explain everything you have here and let them fix it or find someone qualified to do the repairs before you kill your self or others when they fail completely.

Yes I'm well qualified, 30+ years auto tech, 11 as a Ford master tech.
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FerdinandF150

I'm definitely not the type of person to let an issue carry on, I plan to go in tomorrow; a mere 12 hours after the incident so the roads should remain safe.

This is all good info, I like to know a bit before I go in.

The blue could be the flash, the sun was going down though so could be either.

FerdinandF150

The brake shop is about 20-25 minutes away and I had no issues getting there. I checked for heat once I arrived and once I got home and nothing significant. They couldn't find anything abnormal, but I still did some more research on master cylinder etc. so I can pay close attention for the future.

Looks like I should clean my throttle body and see if I get a little bit of power back.

joe mcmillan

If your wheels were too hot to touch after a 20 - 30 minute drive with only one stop, there was and is still a problem that may e intermittent - it will not fix itself.
Using the brakes will cause the temperature to rise and will increase the wheel temps.
I once suspected a caliper of not releasing so I used an infrared thermometer to measure the rotor temps after driving 10 miles with only a stop at the end. The rotor temps were 120 - 130 degrees F. Hot but not too hot to touch. The wheel temps were not measured as they were not even hot enough to raise any concern.
Rnlcomp has posted the possible issues.

FerdinandF150

While I only made 1 stop, I was in town and stop and go traffic. I have yet been able to recreate the issue and the brake shop had it for 45 minutes and took it on a joy ride in the 8am commute stop and go so I'm not sure what else to do. I asked about brake lines, cylinder, caliper and all was well.

joe mcmillan

So just be cautious and check them frequently to see if something shows up again. The once in a while issues are a PIA that may bite back at any time.

FerdinandF150

I'd much rather have found an issue to resolvd, I hate not knowin . For now I'm just gonna keep an eye and see. It's been awhile since I've had a brake failure, but I think with the refresher course I can keep an eye.