1999 Mercury Station Wagon

1999 MERCURY SABLE STATION WAGON
136,500 MILES • 6 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
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PKAT34
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My 1999 Mercury sable wagon has started to make a grinding noise when I back up or pull forward, soon followed by the smell of burnt rubber.
I had the wheel bearings fixed several months ago. Plus had tires put on in october. Have not really had any problems since.
I can't drive it at all because I'm worried about a fire starting because of the smell.
Any advice in the right direction would be great.
Thanx
Mar 23, 2010 at 5:48 PM
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CARADIODOC
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Time for a brake inspecton. Ford products use relatively soft metal for their brake rotors to reduce the amount of normal noise transmitted to the passenger compartment when braking. The trade-off is that by the time you hear the grinding, it's too late. You will likely need new rotors along with the new pads. The smell is most likely just the remanants of the linings getting hot, although I had a relative who drove with grinding brakes for so long, one of the pistons fell out of the caliper and she smelled the hot brake fluid when it ran onto the hot rotor. That smell went away when it cooled down.

caradiodoc
Mar 23, 2010 at 6:15 PM