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A Braking Issue!!

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Old Oct 18, 2010 | 07:16 PM
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A Braking Issue!!

On my '99 F350 2WD SRW. If I push the brake pedal down fast and with force, I have good brakes. If I just push down so so, the pedal may catch while still plenty of brake pedal, but with light foot press on the pedal, the pedal will release and continue to move downward to within one inch of the floor. This is kind of scary as the truck starts to roll forward again! My first thought was a bad power booster, but changed this out with no major improvement. Then I thought that I may have air in the lines so I bleed the brake lines. Still not working right. Now what??
 
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Old Oct 18, 2010 | 07:20 PM
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Is it a diesel? Only reason I ask is that the diesels have a Hydraboost system using hydraulic fluid and pressure from the power steering pump to boost the braking system? How is the level in the Power Steering resevoir? And is the cap on the brake fluid resevoir snuggly?
 
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Old Oct 18, 2010 | 07:22 PM
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Originally Posted by tommyl
On my '99 F350 2WD SRW. If I push the brake pedal down fast and with force, I have good brakes. If I just push down so so, the pedal may catch while still plenty of brake pedal, but with light foot press on the pedal, the pedal will release and continue to move downward to within one inch of the floor. This is kind of scary as the truck starts to roll forward again! My first thought was a bad power booster, but changed this out with no major improvement. Then I thought that I may have air in the lines so I bleed the brake lines. Still not working right. Now what??
If your foot slowly goes to the floor and you have no leaks I would have to say its the master cylinder.
 
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Old Oct 18, 2010 | 07:40 PM
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Yes the truck is a Diesel. I flushed the power steering pump while I was right there. Also, the reservor cap seal was torn, but I swapped it out with another truck.
 
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Old Oct 18, 2010 | 08:17 PM
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Unfortunately I will have to agree with Frank. Sounds like a master cylinder. Check all your brake lines to make sure there is not a leak somewhere there also
 
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Old Oct 18, 2010 | 08:36 PM
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^^^^^2x on what Frank said, had this happen on a corvair mainy years ago.

 
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Old Oct 18, 2010 | 08:52 PM
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The pedal doesn't go clear to the floor(maybe an inch), truck does come to a stop, but not with the force of a power boost. Could a rotor be worn beyond its limits, letting this happen?
 
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Old Oct 19, 2010 | 01:31 AM
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Check your rotors, check all 4 wheels for leaks, check the brake lines for leaks and be sure you are not leaking. Be sure your master cylinder is full and not sucking air. If you are not leaking but are still full then they are correct above. More than likely your master cylinder is going out and that is DANGEROUS!
 
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Old Oct 19, 2010 | 08:35 AM
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master cylinder.
 
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Old Oct 19, 2010 | 10:02 AM
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IF the fluid got low enough you could have sucked some air into the lines also. If all the other stuff checks out it wouldn't hurt to flush the brake lines and resivoir with new fluid and see if that firms things up.
 
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 01:57 PM
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R&R brake master cylinder, this was the problem. Now my dash brake light is staying on.
I have had the two lines diconnected on the master cylinder(now they are oilly) and the wire on the brake pedal.
 
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 02:19 PM
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Originally Posted by tommyl
R&R brake master cylinder, this was the problem. Now my dash brake light is staying on.
I have had the two lines diconnected on the master cylinder(now they are oilly) and the wire on the brake pedal.
im not sure what the hell you're trying to say here... but the light is on in the dash now because there is air trapped in the system somewhere. how'd you bleed it? did you bleed the entire system?
 
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 02:28 PM
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All that I done so far was to bench bleed the master cylinder. Sounds like I need to bleed the wheel cylinder also. Thanks..
 
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 02:46 PM
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You did use ATF fluid and NOT power steering fluid, right??
 
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 02:52 PM
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Originally Posted by tommyl
All that I done so far was to bench bleed the master cylinder. Sounds like I need to bleed the wheel cylinder also. Thanks..
yea you did the right thing bench bleeding the master but anytime you open the system you need to bleed it. Start with pass rear wheel, then do driver rear, the pass front, then driver front. BAM, DONE. light is off.
 
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