2005-2007 Ford Five Hundred Brake Job Guide: Symptoms, Costs and the Right Parts

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

A brake job on a 2005-2007 Ford Five Hundred means replacing pads, and usually rotors, on a four-wheel disc system with ABS. The part of this car that surprises owners is the rear axle: on this sedan the rear pads have a well-documented habit of wearing out as fast as, or faster than, the fronts, so any inspection or quote should cover all four corners, not just the front.

How the Five Hundred's brakes are laid out

Every Five Hundred from 2005 through 2007 left the factory with disc brakes front and rear and four-wheel anti-lock brakes, whether it was the front-wheel-drive version or the all-wheel-drive version. The engine is a 3.0L V6, and the AWD Limited weighs 3,814 lbs at the curb, which is a lot of mass for a mid-size-looking sedan to stop. That weight is part of why this car eats brake parts faster than owners of smaller Fords expect.

At each wheel the wear items are two pads and one rotor, plus the caliper hardware (abutment clips and slide pins) that lets the pads move freely. The hydraulic side is a master cylinder and power booster feeding the ABS unit, and from there hoses to each caliper.

The rear brake wear problem

On most front-drive cars the rear brakes last through two or three front pad changes. The Five Hundred is known for the opposite. Owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2005 model describe rear brakes worn out at 15,500 miles, rotor problems at 19,500 miles, and one car that needed rear brakes at 29,976 miles and again at 46,691 miles. Owners reported dealers telling them they commonly see the rear brakes go about every 20,000 miles. Others noticed the rear wheels were always black with brake dust, a visible sign of the rear pads doing more than their share of the work.

What that means for you: if your front pads still look fine, do not assume the rears are fine too. Pull a rear wheel and check pad thickness on both the inner and outer pad. The inner pad often wears faster and cannot be seen from outside the wheel.

Symptoms that a brake job is due

• Squeal when braking - usually the wear indicator tab touching the rotor. The pads are near the end.
• Grinding - the friction material is gone and the steel backing plate is cutting the rotor. At this point the rotors need replacing, not resurfacing.
• Heavy black dust on the rear wheels - on this car, a reliable early hint that the rears are wearing fast.
• Pulsation in the pedal or steering wheel - uneven rotor thickness or pad deposits. Pulsation felt mostly in the pedal and seat rather than the steering wheel points at the rears.
• Pulling to one side - often a sticking caliper slide pin or a seized piston on one side.
• A hot, smelly wheel after a drive - a dragging caliper. A brake that drags will destroy a new set of pads quickly.

If the brake warning light is on, the pedal goes low, or the pedal feels soft, stop driving and have the hydraulics checked. Those are not pad-wear symptoms.

What to replace, and what to replace together

Always replace pads as an axle set (both wheels on the same axle), never one side. Beyond that, a proper job on this car usually breaks down like this:

• Pads: brake pads for your axle. Ceramic brake pads are the common choice for a daily-driven Five Hundred because they run clean and quiet, which helps with the dusty rear wheels.
• Rotors: if a rotor is scored, grooved from metal-to-metal contact, or causing pulsation, replace it. With the short rear pad life on this car, rear rotors often wear to the point where new brake rotors make more sense than machining.
• Hardware: new abutment clips and fresh caliper-pin grease. A brake hardware kit costs little and prevents most noise and uneven-wear complaints.
• Calipers: if a piston will not retract smoothly, a boot is torn, or one side runs much hotter than the other, replace the caliper. Replace calipers as a pair on the axle so braking force stays even. See brake calipers.
• Fluid: Ford specifies Motorcraft High Performance DOT 3 brake fluid for the Five Hundred. It is a glycol-ether based fluid that absorbs moisture over time, so a flush during a four-wheel brake job is good practice on a car this age. It also causes serious eye irritation, so wear eye protection when bleeding.

Buying front and rear as matched pad-and-rotor kits keeps the friction material consistent at both ends and is simpler than piecing parts together. Browse all brake parts to see what fits.

How hard is the job

The front brakes on the Five Hundred are a standard sliding-caliper job a home mechanic with basic tools can handle: remove the caliper, remove the bracket if replacing the rotor, clean and grease the slides, fit new pads and clips, and torque everything to the values in the factory service manual. Use a torque wrench on the lug nuts as well, tightening in a star pattern, since uneven lug torque is a common cause of rotor pulsation.

The rears take more care. Before compressing a rear caliper piston, check how your caliper retracts: some rear calipers with an integrated parking brake must be turned in with a caliper wind-back tool rather than pushed, and forcing them damages the caliper. Open the bleeder while retracting a piston so old fluid is not pushed back toward the ABS unit, then close it and bleed as normal.

After the job, pump the pedal until it is firm before moving the car, then bed in the new pads with a series of moderate stops from moderate speed, without holding the brakes at a standstill while they are hot. Proper bedding lays down an even layer of pad material and reduces vibration later.

What drives the price of a Five Hundred brake job

The bill comes down to a few choices:

• Pads only vs pads and rotors - pads alone are the cheapest job, but on a car that has been driven on worn rear pads, rotors are usually needed too.
• One axle vs both - because the rears on this model wear so quickly, many Five Hundreds need both axles at the same visit. Doing both at once saves a second round of labor.
• Parts vs labor - doing it yourself removes the labor cost. Shop labor on the rear is typically higher than the front because of the extra caliper steps.
• Extras - a seized caliper or a fluid flush adds parts and time. Catching a sticking caliper early is cheaper than replacing ruined pads and rotors twice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do the rear brakes on my Ford Five Hundred wear out so fast?

It is a widely reported pattern on this model. NHTSA owner complaints describe rear brakes needing replacement as early as 15,500 miles, and owners reported dealers saying they commonly see rear brakes go about every 20,000 miles. Check the rears at every tire rotation rather than waiting for noise.

Does the 2005-2007 Ford Five Hundred have rear drum brakes?

No. It uses disc brakes at all four wheels with four-wheel ABS, on both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions.

What brake fluid does the Ford Five Hundred use?

Ford's owner guide calls for Motorcraft High Performance DOT 3 Motor Vehicle Brake Fluid, kept between the MAX and MIN marks on the reservoir.

Should I replace rotors every time I replace pads?

Not automatically. Replace rotors when they are scored, grooved, below the minimum thickness stamped on the rotor, or causing pulsation. On the Five Hundred's rear axle, fast pad wear often leaves the rotors worn enough that new ones are the better choice.

Were there brake recalls on the Ford Five Hundred?

The recalls on record for the 2005 Five Hundred cover door latches, aftermarket fuel filters and fuel tank straps, not the brakes. The rear brake wear shows up in owner complaints rather than a recall.

Sources

1. CarSpecs - 2005 Ford Five Hundred Limited AWD specifications - front and rear disc brakes, 4-wheel ABS, 3.0L V6, 3,814 lb curb weight
2. Ford 2006 Five Hundred Owner's Guide - refill capacities - Motorcraft High Performance DOT 3 brake fluid, fill between MAX and MIN
3. Motorcraft High Performance DOT 3 Brake Fluid safety data sheet - glycol-ether DOT 3 fluid, causes serious eye irritation
4. CarComplaints - 2005 Ford Five Hundred service brake complaints (NHTSA data) - rear brake wear mileages, dealer comments, rear wheel dust
5. Center for Auto Safety - 2005 Ford Five Hundred recalls and complaints - recalls cover door latches, fuel filters and fuel tank straps, none for brakes