Hey guys,


I'm about at my wits' end here. I'm in the midst of a grueling experience with the front brakes on my 1993 E350 Econoline motorhome (7.5L gas, DRW, 2WD).


The left front was down to bare metal (happened very quickly).


I replaced the bearings and races, and the calipers and pads. Got it all together (after some trial and error here and there), bled the system, and now the left side is sticking. It takes a lot of force to spin the rotor after bleeding the brakes.


I had one torn boot and stuck caliper pin on the other (right) side, so I cleaned out the bore, replaced the pin and boot, and cleaned, lubed all the other pins and replaced all boots on both sides. The pad slippers are also new and lubed on both sides.


Other than running the reservoir dry and having to start over, I had no problems bleeding the brakes. I bled the front only (so far).


I think the only thing I didn't replace are the brake hoses and pins on the left side, but the pins were sliding very freely even before I cleaned and lubed them, and certainly afterwards.


I haven't followed the lines, but since both front lines drained fully, and there was still some fluid in the rear portion of the master cylinder reservoir, I am assuming there is a front and rear circuit (there are only two lines coming out of the MC). If that's true, the problem shouldn't be with the MC, since the right side seems fine, correct?


Now what???


Mike

 

Your problem is likely a collapsed rubber brake hose. They can break down internally and appear fine from the outside, but not allow fluid to pass back up the line to retract the pads. This is why the left side worn down quickly - the hoses weren't allowing the calipers to retract.

Secondly, you have to bleed brakes in the correct order and follow the correct procedure. If you run the reservoir dry, you have to start all over again.

I would suggest a google search on how to bleed brakes.

 

Thanks. I bought new hoses today, will try that for sure. May also try filing the ends of the pads to make them fit better.

Google searches haven't been overly helpful. Most of what I find is for much newer trucks. I can't even find torque specs for the caliper bolts.

Mike

 

I did some more Googling. There's a lot more info on bleeding and associated problems than I found when searching for torque info!

I'm going to replace those hoses, file the pads and bleed: RR, LR, ABS, RF, LF.

Hopefully, that will take care of it.

This vehicle has been on jack stands for almost a month, and we need it for the 4th of July.

Mike

 

Is there a special trick to bleeding the ABS valve on a 1993 system? Chilton manual seems to call for a special tool to exercise the valve?

Mike

 

Probably should have seen this coming...

Sheared a metal line while removing it from the LF rubber hose. It's the one that crosses from the LF to the RF. It was very rusty and is exposed as it routes over the frame. The right side of this line was fine, as was the line coming from the MC, both of those connect to the hoses on the inside of the frame.

Now I'll be on the hunt for a steel line and fittings, and will fab it up. It measures out to about 80 inches, with tons of bends.

I installed the new LF hose, and connected the MC line. That seems to have gone well, won't be sure until I get the steel line in for the RF.

The LF caliper came off easily. The pads didn't need to be filed, they were plenty loose. I added a bit more lube to the slippers while it was apart.

I used an old pad and a C-clamp to compress the pistons, realizing that I hadn't done that before installing it.

Stay tuned...

Mike

 

Weather hasn't been cooperative, and it's Father's day, so no progress today.

Except, I just bought some nickel copper brake line and some new fittings.

The old fittings have a lot more meat where the wrench grabs, so I'll try to salvage those.

I'm also buying pads, hardware and cylinders for the rear. Might need to take a sick day to finish this.

Mike

 

Made a bit of progress tonight.

Transferred the spring (protector) from the old steel line to my new nickel copper line. Bent it to shape and cut it to length.


Reused one fitting, the other had damaged threads and a partially stripped head. Made new flares and installed the line. It wasn't easy, but not as hard as I'd expected (I had a really tough time getting it out).


Anyway, LF is connected to the new hose. I just need to replace the RF hose, compress the caliper and bleed (I hope)...


Helped a lot to have all the tools needed to fabricate the new brake line (been down this road too many times). I would have purchased one pre-made, but they weren't quite long enough, and I didn't want to press my luck by tying two pre-made ones together. Hopefully the Nickel-Copper is worth the extra cost.

Mike

 

It's back together and bled (fronts). LF still hanging up...

Mike

 

Did fronts and rears, have spongy pedal. Time for a shop...

Mike

 

Six hours of labor from the shop, and we're good as new! They rebled, that cleared up most of it. They claimed that they needed to redo the rears because I had both primary shoes on one side of the vehicle, and both secondary shoes on the other. They all looked the same to me, and I've never heard that before. They also readjusted the rears and the parking brake. No mention of any concern with the front.

Mike