2001 Forrester Brake Problems

Though it is possible to actually warp rotors, it is much more rare than folks realize. Also, if the servicing that was done did not include replacing the rotors, it is also possible the old problem was only treated but not 'cured'. read this;

Carl

My 2000 Forester did not need brakes until ~80,000 +miles. OEM pads are very good pads. Rotors can be warped by driving through water after the disks are very hot due to braking from high speed. Warping is most often caused by not tightening the lug nuts in the proper sequence and not to the correct torque. Glazing can be caused by riding the brakes which you say you don't. If the new pads were a "hard pad" and or anti squeal goop is not applied then you have your problem. Just my observations Ed

My 2001 Forester S Ltd is from Providence, R.I. and had some nasty salt water air corrosion on the calipers (and under the hood). I, for what it's worth, recommend disassembling, cleaning, and lubricating the entire caliper on each wheel. I can't find a Hayes or Clymer manual for this model. Can anyone recommend a good "shop" manual for this car?

Fairly common. Where we live, in eastern Ontario lots of mechanics recommend avoiding vehicles with 4-wheel discs due to the vulnerability of calipers, particularly the rears, to salt in winter.

The combination of disc fronts and drum rears on our old '99 Fartster seems like a good, workable compromise. Several folks we know with discs on all

4 corners go through a lot of cash getting the rears massaged back to life each winter. It seems a lot of salt-laden debris gets kicked back to the rears, and they are much more affected than the fronts. KH

The most common problem is that the floating caliper can't float due to corrosion on the pins that the caliper slides on. Remove the wheel (19mm or

3/4 socket)and then with a 14 mm wrench (sometimes a 12mm on the rear) remove the bottom bolt from the caliper. After removing this bolt, you can swing the caliper upwards and then slide toward the middle of the car and the caliper will be free. You will see the top pin. It should have some high temp silicone grease already on it. If not then lube it with said grease (dialectric grease is a high temp silicone). the bottom pin will now have to be pulled out and lubed also (the one the bolt came out of). if either of these pins become stuck due to corrosion, it will cause overheating and rotor warpage because the pads stay pushed against the rotor even after you remove your foot from the brake. this is definitely the case if the inner pad is completely worn while the outside pad still looks good. If you have heavy corrosion, you will prob. have to replace the pins. I recommend a qualified Suby tech do this, because sometimes the pins break while trying to remove them and require special tools and technique to remove. While you are in there go ahead and remove the pads and then pop out the stainless steel clips from the caliper. There are 2 per side, one on top and one on the bottom. Clean the area where you removed the clips with a flat blade screwdriver and some brake clean. The bottom will be especially dirty. Clean the clips thouroughly also. Lube the clips on both sides with antiseize (the copper kind works better) and reinstall clips. Now you will need to clean the little ears on the top and bottom of each pad with a tooth brush and some brake clean. You are trying to insure that the pads can move freely on the stainless steels clips. Now reassemble and you should be good to go. Some older model pads don't have the little ears on the top and bottom of the pad, but instead have recessed ears. the same cleaning procedure applys though. You must insure that everything can move freely.

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