New to the forum.

My E-250 is a 1992 E-250 HD Sportsmobile camper conversion, currently with about 75,000 miles. The 1992 vans have disk brakes front / drum brakes back.

For some years I have had difficulty with the brakes, grabbing and pulling, but erratically. That is, sometimes it pulls to the right, sometimes left, sometimes little or none.

I have replaced most parts in the front brakes several times, and gone through re-alignment, new ball joints and new suspension bushings, each time with some degree of improvement, but never with complete success.

My intention is to go through every part one at a time, up to and including the brake lines, until I find the problem. Most parts seem to be available, but one of the valves on the master cylinder is a mystery.

Ford's illustration P-25485 shows that on the passenger side of the master cylinder there are two valves, each between the master cylinder and the brake lines. The one at the back, controlling the back brakes, is labeled "2C161" and is available as Ford part F8UZ-2C161-AA. No problem there.

The front valve, controlling the front brakes, is labeled "Meter Valve PIA 2140" and the illustration seems to suggest that it is part of the master cylinder, not a separate part. But no listing for a 1992 E-250 master cylinder shows that valve included. Try as I might (and I have), I cannot locate any information on that valve.

This valve is apparently a hold-off valve, allowing the drum brakes to take hold before the disk brakes. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that I have replaced it with an after-market brake metering hold-off valve (Speedway Motors Part # 91031363) that works OK. I am not sure that a generic part creates the safety that I would like.

With so many E-vans around, there must be an answer to what this valve is and where to get one. I will appreciate knowing what the answer is.

 

I was looking to see what I could find and all I have found so far is the illustration.
Maybe this will help us understand a bit better.
This is the one you are talking about?

This is the front valve?
VALVE ASY. (BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER FLUID CONTROL)
Valve Assy - Control
Proportioning Valve

Callout Name: 2C161 Replaced by: F8UZ-2C161-AA



The one circled in red is the one you want to change?


I do see another part that you haven't mentioned that is listed for your van concerning the brakes. That doesn't mean you have one.
VALVE ASY. (BRAKE SKID CONTROL) Make Sure These Fit


F8UZ-2B373-BA
Valve Assy - Modulator
2B373

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Ford-E15...38.m2548.l4275

 

annaleigh,

Thank you for your interest.

Both the illustration P-25485 and the part 2C161 are the ones that I was referring to, and the part in the red circle, apparently "Meter Valve PIA 2140", is the part that I am looking for.

I know that part is critical to the proper operation of the brakes, as before I replaced it with the Speedway part the front brakes would lock up easily with no apparent braking at the back.

At some point in my many wanderings on the Internet I wrote down Ford part number F2UZ-2140, which may be the valve in question, but apparently the part number has a suffix letter, maybe A through F, which is related to the gross vehicle weight. This makes sense to me, as the amount of hold off that one would want should depend on the vehicle weight.

The F8UZ-2B373-BA appears to be the anti-lock modulator for the rear-wheel-only anti-lock brakes. I have not looked at that, but I appreciate having a part number in case replacing other parts does not bring complete success.

Mark

 

We might need some more information.
What size engine do you have?
It is a 2/3 ton?
What is the GVRW ?
What is the date of manufacture?
Rock auto lists different master cylinders according to what engine you have.

BTW F2UZ-2140 -A and F2UZ-2140-B are both master cylinders.

I haven't found anything for the other valve either.

 

Annaleigh,

The engine is the 5.8 V8. I do not have the exact date of manufacture in front of me, but it must have been between June and or August of 1992. This is an E-250 HD with a gvw of 8550 pounds.

Neither of the Rock Auto master cylinders shows the valves as part of the assembly.

Thanks again for your interest.


Mark

 

I've seen tires cause this before. Have you tried rotation? Swapping tires?
Are all 4 the same? I've seen it even when they are though.

 

From reading the age and low mileage your working with, have you ever flushed out the old brake fluid and replaced it with new fluid?

If the mileage is that low for a 25 year old vehicle, that means that it's parked a lot. Older brake fluid can collect moister with-in the fluid, and cause problems like this, as fluid is compressed more than water. It will effect the wheel cylinders and the calibrators.

Before hunting down some parts, it might be a good idea to flush all the old brake fluid out, and replace it with DOT4 w/silicone, which repels moister.