Problem started with R/R dragging every once in awhile, went out the other day and it got bad enough where it was smoking. Brought her home and decided to replace both rear calipers, pads, and rotors. Was kinda late in the day, pulled everything, even pulled rear lines off calipers (yeah I know shouldn't have done this) and put lines in plastic bags with rubber bands to seal. Went to finish job this morn, everything went good, bled both rears, did fronts also. Master fluid level was way down when I started this morn.

Problem is pedal still spongy and goes to floor. Bled them 2 more times and still same pedal. So figured the master was the culprit, replaced the stock 13yr old master, bench bled, installed, re bled 4 corners and still same pedal! Local parts guy said there is a ABS bleed sequence for vehicles with ABS (never knew this, always did my truck the only way I know... r/r, l/r, r/f, l/f) and never a problem. Ford tech said ABS has to be bled... WTH!

Anybody had this problem before?

 

I had the same symptoms you had-I left the tubing open with baggies over the ends. Master cylinder bled down. After doing the brake work, I could not get proper pedal. So I drove it down my unpaved driveway, slamming on the brakes several times, then went back and bled them again, using a mighty-vac the same as I had before driving it. The problem was solved. It would not be wise to do this on a paved surface!

If you do not want to drive it, the only other solution is to have it towed to a shop. They can activate the ABS system and bleed the ABS for you.

Larry

 

Did you by chance replace the caliper brackets too? I had spongy brakes myself until an old rotor on my L/R finally ate up a pad and I decided to replace with new rotors and pads all the way around.
The slide pins were seized in the caliper bracket so I took em off and to a shop. They broke the slide pins off in the bracket so I bought new brackets n pins and am now kicking myself for not doing that earlier. Brakes are very firm and require little to hold the truck at a stop. Just make sure to grease em up real good before putting them in. They need to move freely for the brakes to work correctly.

 

ABS only needs to be bled if the anti-lock brake (4WABS) hydraulic control unit (HCU) has been replaced or if you think air somehoe got in the HCU.

Please see the brake bleeding procedure I posted in the Excursion forum Tech Folder sticky thread, as well as the master cylinder bleeding procedure thread posted by Housedad.

Both threads are in the "Brakes, Wheels, Etc" section of the tech folder sticky thread.

Stewart

 

Have you checked for DTC's? An issue with the ABS would more than likely be seen there.

Is the ABS Light On?

The absence of both of the above "for the most part" eliminates the ABS.

Failures which would cause the Pedal to go to the floor would be a defective dump valve in the ABS Module and/or a defective "O" Ring, plunger or scored cylinder wall in the Master Cylinder (or of course an open in the circuit).

That being said, the most probable cause is air in the system.

Here is some general information from an In Service Tech Class I've taught in the past (some of it may be outdated now).

There are essentially two ways to evacuate air from the system. One being pressure, the other being vacuum. Fluid can be added static at the reservoir, or using pressure at the reservoir and/or at the Caliper Fitting. Both require "special" tools (not really, most can be fabricated for little or nothing, about $20)

I use a vacuum Pump for A/C attached to a 1 Gallon container (Lowe's) on the Caliper Fitting while adding fluid at the reservoir, completely flushing the system. Which is a good idea every couple years as DOT 3 & 4 brake fluids are hygroscopic, meaning they absorb moisture. And, even though the systems are "closed" it does not prevent moisture from building in the system. So buy in quarts and gallons, not pints and not more than you need. Because, once the bottle is open, its shelf life is only about 6-12 weeks. Testers are available for about $25 to test fluid. DOT 5, and 5.1 are Synthetic and CAN NOT be interchanged in other systems or visa-versa. The drawback to Synthetics is they have a lower boiling point and require additional pressure to reach the same performance of DOT 3 & 4 Systems.

I have also used pressure at the Reservoir but it's to intensive and requires several different adaptors (caps). It sits mainly on the shelf.

Bleeding your lines completely should eliminate the pedal to the floor.

Another issue you may experience is the brakes feel as though they're not doing anything for the first hundred miles or so dependent upon the type of pad, rotor or combination thereof.

Organic is clearly the best for light trucks which Tow. The main complaint is Brake Dust.

Ceramic fade quickly and generate a great deal of heat (but less dust). But, perform almost flawlessly on other type vehicles such as sedan based frames.

Pairing both New Rotors and New Pads can cause extended breaking distance until seated.

A local Brake Shop, which does only Brake work, stated they had a come back rate of 28% with the advent of ceramics and cryogenic rotors on later model vehicles in the early 2000's. Of the 28% of returns, 99.95% was the operator not allow mating surfaces to seat to one another.

They began to provide a single page hand out describing the process to customers and the service advisor went over each point with the person who picked the vehicle up following repair. Comebacks have dropped to less than 0.01% and are Labor related issues rather than parts used. Customer Sales increase 4%.

They're not ASE Mechanics, you must learn them of the processes.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. ABS light not on, will hook up my AE and try the ABS bleed. Crossing fingers!

 

I seriously doubt you need to do that.

Again, please see the Excursion tech folder. Detailed steps and illustrations straight from Ford are in the thread I directed you to.

Stewart

 

Will do, thanks!

 

i gravity bleed.
never ever had any problems, even with an empty master cylinder after blowing a hard line and emptying the system.