A friend needs help please-09 taurus se

A couple weeks ago a friend comes to me about his 98 ford Taurus. seems it was jerking pretty hard when it shifted gears. I told him to check his fluid and probably would find out he had tranny or torque converter problems. Not sure --do they still use converters in these cars???

Anyway he checked his fluid and it was ok. Still jerks now and then but not all the time as it shifts.

Now tonight he calls and wa coming in on the freeway and his car started vibrating treally bad in the steering wheel. He pulls of to see if he could see anything wrong and reaches down and touched the center of the wheel and it is red hot. He goes to the other side and same thing. He sets on highway for awhile to let it cool. (he had been running 65 mph when this happened) so he gets back on highway to try and limp it home-about 35 miles-- and only runs at 45 mph..no problems -no vibration-no heat after 25 miles.

He pulls over and checks and all is cool. He now speeds back up to 65 for next 10 miles and when he got home felt wheels and they were just a little warm.

Anyone know what may be causing this or know which way to direct him. I would like to help him if I can as he's retired and not loaded with money.

Thanks very much for your help.

Dad

Did he check all four wheels, just the front two, just the rears, just the left side, right side?

If the rears were the only ones that were hot, then I'd suggest he make sure he didn't have the parking brake on by accident. Also, rear drum or disc brakes? If drum, make sure there isn't a leaky wheel cylinder or improperly adjusted set of brake shoes. If disc, replace the rotors and install new brake hardware along with new rubber brake hoses.

If just the fronts were hot, then I'd suggest the same as above for rear disc brakes (new rotors, new hardware, new rubber brake hoses).

Flush and bleed the brake system once the new hoses are installed. This should be done every 1-2 years anyway.

He may have a brake hose or two that has collapsed and is acting like a one-way valve. He applied the brakes while driving, but the collapsed hose did not allow the caliper to release all the way, so the pads were dragging. This dragging caused severe heat to build up at the high speed, which in turn caused the rotors to warp. The warped rotors and not released brake calipers caused the vibration in the steering wheel.

These symptoms could also occur if the brake hardware is corroded and not allow the caliper to float freely.

Either way, considering how hot the braking system must have gotten, the safe way is to replace all hardware, pads, rotors, rubber hoses, and flush the system.

-Rod

Rod thanks very much for the input. I think all the heat was in the front end but I'll check with him tonight.

It was the front wheels and not the back that he checked. You do have a possible here for us to check though as he is up there in age and may have just left the emergency brake on a little or it may have hung up or it could be the hoses.

Thanks again for your input--it will give us a place to start.

Dad

Rod thanks very much for the input. I think all the heat was in the front end but I'll check with him tonight.

It was the front wheels and not the back that he checked. You do have a possible here for us to check though as he is up there in age and may have just left the emergency brake on a little or it may have hung up or it could be the hoses.

Thanks again for your input--it will give us a place to start.

Dad