Ok so there's still two to three feet of snow outside...but now the storm has passed and its clear so its been really cold at night...(ten below or so where i'm at, night before last)

Yesterday morning I went out to go play in the snow and noticed that the extension cord that's plugged into my block heater had ice formed around it, and wasnt plugged all the way in...was no electricity passing through that sucker. So I get in the truck and alas, was not plugged in, no block heater. It got extremely cold night before last, so I wasn't sure the old girl would start..but she did!! (my dad's cummins wouldn't start, tee hee)
After about four tries, motor sounded frozen and it sounded like CRAP, but she started....

Anyway that's not my question. Once I pulled out of the driveway I noticed I had brake petal pressure, but my brakes werent working all that well. So I let the truck run a bit more and get up to full operating temperature and the brakes were fine....especially after using them a few times.

So i figure my brake fluid froze, either that or my brake lines. It wasnt power steering pump related because I turned the wheel with ease.

Any ideas?

 

< -40*F
http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/products/msds/armorallstp/stpheavydutybrakefluiddotmsds8-04.pdf page 4

I would imagine you had some ice on the calipers and rotors.

 

Brake fluid is very attracted to water, so if you have very old fluid that has been exposed to a lot of water, it may lower the freezing point.

Did your power steering not work well either? I suspect that the oil in your power assist pump was thickened enough to affect you breaking instead of your brake fluid being the problem.

 

Although brake fluid itself may not freeze until below -40*F, the moisture absorbed by the brake fluid can freeze at much lower temps. If you have not changed out your brake fluid it can become saturated with moisture and this is also what also causes the sludge and corrosion in the brake system. I try to flush my brake system and add new fluid every 2 years, as recommended by a brake service manual I received from a Wagner rep many years ago.

Sorry, response was a little too slow.

 

Alan the ice on the rotors/calipers is a definite possibility, as day before last I was running through some pretty thick snow drifts, and could have easily packed some snow and slush in there, to freeze later and lock up the brakes.

I'll take a look at my brake fluid once the weather settles down a bit. I know my fluid is not low since I always check it, but as far as quality, I am not sure. How can I tell if my fluid is watered down, or, do I just need to change it out?

Power steering worked great, which lead me to believe it wasn't power steering related. The brakes had plenty of pressure, but when I pushed down on the petal the brakes were very slow to respond and slow to stop the truck. Sort of like how it feels to have worn out pads, is the closest thing I can come up with. The pressure is there but the brakes feel hard and unresponsive. Once the truck was warm, I even shut her down and restarted with my foot on the brake so I could feel the pressure in the petal...and it was just like normal.

 

The brake fluid should be clear, if in good condition. I will be dark, almost brown, when saturated with moisture. Definitely would need to be changed out.

 

If your power steering is ok, then I think Alan is probably right in the first post, ice on your pads/rotors will definitely produce the symptoms you described.

 

Well i'll just have to check that out. I might call on you for some pointers if it comes time to flush the system

Thanks Clux. I hope it was just a one-time deal as its a bit scary to have unresponsive brakes. Good thing was that I realized the problem before I got out onto a main road where there were cars. I know the brakes work great...as I was out late afternoon yesterday shopping and had some idiot in a saturn pull right out infront of me and then got stuck in the snow. Talk about a quick stop, and a fun little slide sideways!!!

 

On my return trip from Wyoming to Colorado last Sunday, I encountered snow, slush and ice on the interstate. Upon arriving in town, I noticed the truck pulling hard to the right when braking at stop lights. I was concerned that something may have gone wrong with my Powerslot brake job. I parked the truck in the shop overnight and let it thaw out. I took it out Monday for a spin and everything was fine, no more pulling to the right. It was apparent at that time that ice had caused the problem with the left caliper not working properly.

 

Smokin here is a brake flush thread if you need it by good ole Fat Diesel
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...with-pics.html

 

Here's my 0.02. I don't think ice in the caliper area including slide pins can resist the clamping force applied by a properly operating brake caliper. I think the moisture in the brake fluid is far underrated. It may not look as bad as previously posted but still be there. I would go with mueckster and clux on this and bleed the crap out of the lines. Often times the damage will be done on the caliper piston walls prior to you seeing anything of a change in fluid color. Besides, brake fluid is relatively inexpensive compared to calipers and lines. JMHO.

 

Agreed, but I just flushed the brake fluid in June and still had some kind of problem with ice.

Since Monday, we had the blizzard here in CO and I left the truck outside as to not flood out the shop again and have see a couple of +6F mornings without the brake problem so it's not moisture entrapped in the fluid. (BTW, the remote start works great!)

 

When i go running through drifts, and just driving through extreme amounts of snow,(havnt been able to do it in the stroker yet, but my ranger did a pretty good job last year), i always had ice and snow pack in behind the rims and it caused my truck to stop very bad. What i would do it what it says in the ford manual if you go through water and it says to apply light pressure to dry off the rotors. It has always worked for me. I wish we would get snow in MI.

 

Well even if it was just frozen brakes, a little maintenance never hurt anyone in bleeding those lines.

However, I do think I'll wait for that snow to go away, as laying on my back in a pile of snow isnt exactly on the top of my list of things I want for Christmas. Stroke won't be doing much driving either.

On a side note, she has started the last two mornings without a block heater, though, before I finally realized I had tripped the breaker to where I have my cord plugged in. It's been seriously cold, -10 below one night. Woohoo!