Dangerous Brake Situation
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Dangerous Brake Situation
I recently replaced the brake pads on my 99 ford ranger 4x4 and followed the directions in Chiltons. A week later however the brakes got mushy. Now I press the brake and every time I reapply pressure the pedal increases toward the floor until I have no brakes at all. When the engine is off I cannot pump the brakes up and the brakes seem to do better when they are cool. However I was looking in chiltons and getting advice from my parts store and they recommended a new master brake cylinder. However chiltons stated that if i have 4 wheel abs i should have a dealer do the work instead of myself. What could be the problem, How do I tell if I have 4 wheel abs and being a newbie mechanic should i just spring for the dealership to install the brake cylinder i ordered anyway.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: RI
If you're not fairly confident about the job you'd do in replacing the master cylinder--if that is the problem--then I would definitely pay to have them do it. It's worth the money to have your brakes work correctly, whatever you end up paying. My .02......
Tuned
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 495
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From: Cincinnati, Ohio
Have you tried bleeding the brakes at all four wheels to see if that doesn't solve the problem? Sounds like you may have gotten air into the lines. Better still, bleed and flush the old brake fluid out completely and replace with new clean fluid and see if that makes a difference. Master cylinder could be the problem but it seems awfully coincidental that this problem is showing itself after your brake job. Start at the beginning, bleed and flush and go from there. Do this before you start replacing parts that may not be bad. Are you getting a brake light when you press on the brakes? Since you say that the brakes react better when cool adds even more to my thinking about air and contamination in the brake fluid.
John
John
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Joined: Jan 2005
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sounds like air in your lines. I bleed placeing a plastic tube on the valve and the other end in a quart bottle with a little fluid in the bottom and tube must be in the fluid. air rises so run the tube up 3 or 4 inches then down into the bottle. open the valve and the air and fluid will flow into the tube. pump until there is no air in the tube anywhere. be sure to close the valve before removing the tube. i have big tires so i have to place the bottle on a block or the down is two long. do all four wheels and wait 15-20min and do all four again. pumping can cause the air to seperate into little bubbles that are hard to see but will reform with time. have plenty of fluid available as this will replace all old fluid with clean fluid. as best i can tell the ABS senses solid pressure to all wheels and a little air will cause it to malfunction. those little bubbles are a pain and they can require doing this more than twice.
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