I just got this car from my mom for my daughter and am going over it making sure that everything is in good working condition. One thing I noticed is that the brakes have a good stiff pedal but it feels like the old time kind of brakes before power brakes were invented. Not that bad really but close. I checked the rotors and they had a lip on the very outer edge from uneven wear, so I got new ones. Before replacing the pads I noticed that the outside pads on both sides only touch the rotor at the outer edge in a patch about 3/4” wide. I figured that it was the brake pads so I bought new ones and when installing them I noticed something very interesting. There is a rounded tab that extends out from the brake pad that looks like an oval split down the middle sticking out from the top (or bottom depending on which way you are holding it). In the caliper there is a cutout for that tab to fit into. It looks like it was designed to help keep the pad from moving back and forth and making noise. The tab on the brake pad (new and old pads) was just slightly too big to fit in that slot and it was causing the outside pad not to fit flush in the caliper. This caused it to sit at an angle in the caliper with only 3/4” of the pad actually touching the rotor. The inside pad is already flush but the outside definitely was not fitting in there right. I took a grinder to the tab and made it a little smaller….after a couple of tries it fit perfect and flush against the rotor. I called my mom to let her know her mechanic missed this causing damage to the rotor and pads….found out the brakes were the factory originals. Now even before the pads are worn in, the brakes feel much stronger. It was a good catch. Anyone with a 2002 (possibly other years) 2.7L Sedan could have the same problem. The guy at AutoZone acknowledged that he knew there was a problem with some brake pads on Dodge/Chrysler, if course nothing was mentioned to me at the time of purchase…I am just glad I noticed it when I was working on the car. I apologize for not taking pictures, this would have been something really good to document with photos.

 

Anyone else see this problem?

 

No, Just the normal brake squeak after replacing brake pads with a V-line kit.

 

Wow, I thought I was on to something here. Factory pads and OEM replacements have the exact same problem and I am the only one apparently. We'll leave it out here in case someone comes across this in the future.