I have an 00 XLT 4x4 Ranger with bout 77,000. I started having brake problems about 4 months ago that were veri intermittant and how got progressively worse. It feels like an antilock brake problem. When I come to a stop, and get less than say 5mph, the brake pedal goes soft, makes a noise, and pulsates. If I slow way down before the stop it will not do it alot of the times, but sometimes still will. I pulled my rear drums off, and found a broken spring in each side, and a broken adjuster that was kicking around loose. Also a wheel cylinder on one side was a little leaky. Well, I thought "great, found the problem". Slapped new shoes, cylinders, hardware, and adjusters to both sides. Adjusted and bleed the brakes. Guess what, the problem is still there, not any better at all. Front brakes look good and seem to function fine. I checked the sensors in the front tires, and they seem to put out a small voltage signal when rotating the tire. Brake fluid is full and no apparent leaks. ABS light is NOT on. This is agravating, please HELP!!

 

Oh, and I got a code scan at Autozone a little while back when I was having check engine light problems at the same time. No ABS codes, just the O2 sensor code that fixed the check engine light.

 

Welcome to FTE!!!

I think there's a TSB on unwanted ABS, do you have 4 wheel ABS or rear only RABS.

 

I believe it is 4 wheel ABS, it has sensors in the front. I read up on some other posts and read about a high resistance failure on one of the front sensors. I did a resistance check tonight- 411 and 434 ohms. There seem to be some threads here that sound exactly like my problem, but I dont see alot of resolutions. Maybe a warped rotor, bad sensor? I have good ability to troubleshoot, but have not found anything so far. I might haul off and do rotors and pads up front and see what happens. Please keep the suggestions coming. Thanks!

 

I pulled the ABS fuse today and drove it into work. Brakes seem to now function normal, however, pulling the fuse seems to have taken out my speedometer and odometer too.

 

if air gets into abs actuator this will occur.the soft pedal then abs is the clue.the safety metering valve(fogot actual name)can slide to one side to keep other two brakes working when leak occurs.this is supposed to turn on the red warning light,also.this and the abs and wheel cylinders must be bled using specific info for model.you may have bled air from manual part but abs part won't work rite w/air in it.this won't spit up a code(most likely)unless valve displaced.

 

So what should I do at this point? Where is the abs actuator located? And the safety metering valve? Thanks.

 

look up the tech service bulletin per KEN 00.this means they know of some problem and how to fix it.(ford) this is the first step for techs,why not us,too.can save lots of trouble.

 

I tried to search the TSB's but it keeps coming up with an error

 

I can't find the TSB but I'm sure someone posted a similar problem about 4 months ago and they said something about a TSB and the problem was one of the front sensors.

 

Yeah I saw someone else had a problem with a front sensor called a high resistance fault. Someone else had the problem in Dec, but never mentioned finding a fix. I cant email him till I hit my 15 days and 15 posts here. Have you ever taken one of the sensors out Ken? I havent looked at it too close yet, not sure if I gotta take off the rotor and caliper or not.

 

If you like, PM me with the thread ID and the user name and I will try to contact him. I'm curious to hear the outcome of this one.

 

Removal

1. Remove the rotor shield.

µ 2. Disconnect the front anti-lock brake sensor electrical connector.

µ 3. Unclip the front anti-lock brake sensor wire from the vehicle frame.

µ 4. Remove the bolt.

µ 5. Remove the front anti-lock brake sensor.

1 Remove the bolt.

2 Remove the front anti-lock brake sensor.


Installation

µ 1. Note:
Plug the sensor mount opening and thoroughly clean the mounting surface. Apply High Temperature 4x4 Front Axle and Wheel Bearing Grease E8TZ-19590-A meeting Ford Specification ESA-M1C198-A.

To install, reverse the removal procedure.

 

Great Ken, I was hoping I could just remove the rotor guard. I have a feeling the problem is the driver side, since I was getting a slightly weaker voltage signal there. The other guys ID is whackerboy52. I PM'ed him, but since he only had 2 posts, he probably does not visit the site anymore. I am hoping to do more troubleshooting in the next few days. I am also hoping the 2 front sensors are the same on each side, in case I do need to buy one and swap to find the bad one. I will definantly post my outcomes and progress. Thanks.

 

Ahh..I took a look at it last night, and it appears the bolts that hold the rotor sheild on are behind the rotor itself, so I have to take the rotor off. Anyone know what size the hub nut is? I have a 1in and 1 1/2in socket but its somewhere in between. Metric I believe. Thanks.