brakes

Fun with Brakes

Front

>>REVISION<<
The 1989 model may use 17mm bolts to hold the calipers on.

REMEMBER TO SWITCH OFF YOUR AIR RIDE SYSTEM

The Lincoln Mark VII is equipped with front disc brakes. This helps when it comes time to replace your brake pads. Once the front wheel has been removed (and the car is on jack stands, not bricks ...RIGHT?) the caliper is right in front of you. Dont be afraid. Whip out your torx (T-45 I believe) and feel for the two caliper bolts. These may take a little oomph to loosen due to the heat cycles of the brakes. Once the bolts are out you should be able yank the caliper free of the disc. Now using a brake caliper piston compressor (or C-clamp), push the piston back into the caliper. It should stay there until you are done. Hopefully your discs should still be smooth. They may even be nice and shiny. Shiny is bad. Take a piece of fine sandpaper and using a circilar motion ("sand da floor, Danial-san") give the disc a light once-over. I do this to my car every other month or so because of my stop and go commute to work (85mph to 0 in about 10 feet). This just gives the pads a good gripping surface. The inside pad should fall right out while the outside pad will be held in place by a 3-prong clip. Just give it a good yank and off it comes. Now take your new pads and give them a good coat of Brake-Quiet (blue sticky stuff, I recommend the spray) and go get a sandwich/beer/coke. When you get back (about 10 min.) the Brake-Quiet should be nice and set. Take a good look at your old pads and compare them to your new pads. Make sure the new pads go on just like the old ones came off. The new outside pad may not want to go in. Bend the prongs on the back of the pad in just enough to ease installation, but not enough to keep from holding the pad firmly. Don't forget the rattle clips (coat hanger wire looking things) that go on the end of the caliper. Carefully slip the entire caliper and pad assembly back over the the disk. Double check that everything is where it should be (rattle clip in place, pads installed correctly in caliper, etc...) and insert your caliper bolts. Thread the bolts in by hand. You don't want to strip these bolts (read $$$) or the caliper (more $$$). Tighten the bolts (use your good judgement) and smile. The pads are on. Lather, rinse and repeat for the other side (you don't want to only do one side, you'll go in circles when you hit the brakes)

Rear Brakes

The method is almost the same as the front brakes except that the car may have active calipers. What does this mean, boys and girls? It means that the parking brake is really a cable actuating the rear calipers. What does this mean? SPECIAL TOOL TIME!!! That's right, unless you can rig something from your garage, you will need a tool to SCREW in the rear caliper piston. I was able to buy a little tool that looks like a cube. It has different hole patterns on it for different cars. I had to file a little off side so it would fit my LSC. Price: about $7. If your rear caliper has two holes in it (about .25 inch in diameter) you need to rotate the piston counter-clockwise to seat it in the bore. You will notice that Ford has been so gracious as to place the rear shock in the way of the bottom caliper bolt. Unless you have a flex socket you will need to get creative. I used a pair of Vice-Grips to hold my Torx bit and used it like a wrench. It took a few minuted but it worked. You can probably figure out something better. The rear pads go on like the front. I would recommend doing one side at a time so that you can use the untouched side as a reference if you forget how to reassemble something.

How to Bleed an ABS Brake System

And now for the news that Ford does not want you to hear: you CAN bleed your ABS brakes at home. If you feel fairly confident in you mechanical abilites then this should be cake. (thanks to Kurt for providing this valuable info).

Front Brakes:

The Front brakes are bled just like a normal car, except for the fact that they will be under pressure (even if the key is off) unless you preform the following. With the key in the off position, pump the brake pedal at least 20 times to ensure the accumulator is completely discharged. Do not turn the key back on as this will re-charge the accumulator, in which case you would have to repeat this process.

Rear Brakes:

The rear brakes must be bled under pressure, this can be done either using a pressure bleeder or the installed boost pump.

1. Find a piece of rubber hose that fits snugly around the nipple on the bleeder screw, if you can find one small enough, A spring type clamp on it isn't a bad idea either.

Direct the other end of this hose into a container to catch the brake fluid as it will be coming out under a lot of pressure(around 2600 psi.).

2. With the ignition switch in the on position(to keep the accumulator charged), depress the brake pedal and open the right rear bleeder screw for 10 seconds at a time until a

clear, solid stream of brake fluid emerges. Note: Check the brake fluid level often, as it goes down really fast.

3. Repeat on the left side.

Home Mark VII Mark VIII Links

Fun with Brakes
Front
>>REVISION<< The 1989 model may use 17mm bolts to hold the calipers on.
REMEMBER TO SWITCH OFF YOUR AIR RIDE SYSTEM
The Lincoln Mark VII is equipped with front disc brakes. This helps when it comes time to replace your brake pads. Once the front wheel has been removed (and the car is on jack stands, not bricks ...RIGHT?) the caliper is right in front of you. Dont be afraid. Whip out your torx (T-45 I believe) and feel for the two caliper bolts. These may take a little oomph to loosen due to the heat cycles of the brakes. Once the bolts are out you should be able yank the caliper free of the disc. Now using a brake caliper piston compressor (or C-clamp), push the piston back into the caliper. It should stay there until you are done. Hopefully your discs should still be smooth. They may even be nice and shiny. Shiny is bad. Take a piece of fine sandpaper and using a circilar motion ("sand da floor, Danial-san") give the disc a light once-over. I do this to my car every other month or so because of my stop and go commute to work (85mph to 0 in about 10 feet). This just gives the pads a good gripping surface. The inside pad should fall right out while the outside pad will be held in place by a 3-prong clip. Just give it a good yank and off it comes. Now take your new pads and give them a good coat of Brake-Quiet (blue sticky stuff, I recommend the spray) and go get a sandwich/beer/coke. When you get back (about 10 min.) the Brake-Quiet should be nice and set. Take a good look at your old pads and compare them to your new pads. Make sure the new pads go on just like the old ones came off. The new outside pad may not want to go in. Bend the prongs on the back of the pad in just enough to ease installation, but not enough to keep from holding the pad firmly. Don't forget the rattle clips (coat hanger wire looking things) that go on the end of the caliper. Carefully slip the entire caliper and pad assembly back over the the disk. Double check that everything is where it should be (rattle clip in place, pads installed correctly in caliper, etc...) and insert your caliper bolts. Thread the bolts in by hand. You don't want to strip these bolts (read $$$) or the caliper (more $$$). Tighten the bolts (use your good judgement) and smile. The pads are on. Lather, rinse and repeat for the other side (you don't want to only do one side, you'll go in circles when you hit the brakes)
Rear Brakes
The method is almost the same as the front brakes except that the car may have active calipers. What does this mean, boys and girls? It means that the parking brake is really a cable actuating the rear calipers. What does this mean? SPECIAL TOOL TIME!!! That's right, unless you can rig something from your garage, you will need a tool to SCREW in the rear caliper piston. I was able to buy a little tool that looks like a cube. It has different hole patterns on it for different cars. I had to file a little off side so it would fit my LSC. Price: about $7. If your rear caliper has two holes in it (about .25 inch in diameter) you need to rotate the piston counter-clockwise to seat it in the bore. You will notice that Ford has been so gracious as to place the rear shock in the way of the bottom caliper bolt. Unless you have a flex socket you will need to get creative. I used a pair of Vice-Grips to hold my Torx bit and used it like a wrench. It took a few minuted but it worked. You can probably figure out something better. The rear pads go on like the front. I would recommend doing one side at a time so that you can use the untouched side as a reference if you forget how to reassemble something.
How to Bleed an ABS Brake System
And now for the news that Ford does not want you to hear: you CAN bleed your ABS brakes at home. If you feel fairly confident in you mechanical abilites then this should be cake. (thanks to Kurt for providing this valuable info). Front Brakes: The Front brakes are bled just like a normal car, except for the fact that they will be under pressure (even if the key is off) unless you preform the following. With the key in the off position, pump the brake pedal at least 20 times to ensure the accumulator is completely discharged. Do not turn the key back on as this will re-charge the accumulator, in which case you would have to repeat this process. Rear Brakes: The rear brakes must be bled under pressure, this can be done either using a pressure bleeder or the installed boost pump. 1. Find a piece of rubber hose that fits snugly around the nipple on the bleeder screw, if you can find one small enough, A spring type clamp on it isn't a bad idea either. Direct the other end of this hose into a container to catch the brake fluid as it will be coming out under a lot of pressure(around 2600 psi.). 2. With the ignition switch in the on position(to keep the accumulator charged), depress the brake pedal and open the right rear bleeder screw for 10 seconds at a time until a clear, solid stream of brake fluid emerges. Note: Check the brake fluid level often, as it goes down really fast. 3. Repeat on the left side.