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Brake pedal went to the floor

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Old Aug 23, 2004 | 01:45 PM
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Brake pedal went to the floor

Decending a hill with my trailer and the brake pedal went to the floor. Wasn't going very fast ,so I was able to pull over. No loss of fluid, nothing. Let everything cool down for about a half hour and pedal came back partially. I made it home, but it seems like I only have half my braking. I lost pedal several years ago and I think there was a recall on this, but they only replaced one side. Haven't brought it in yet. Comments please!
 
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Old Aug 23, 2004 | 03:16 PM
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Try pumping up the pressure, like you're bleeding the brakes, then release just a little, and step back into it. If it drops down, the master has failed.
 
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Old Aug 26, 2004 | 11:54 AM
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Brought the truck to the dealer and they can't find anything wrong with the brakes. No charge. Well, at least they didn't try to sock me for a complete brake job. This is my 1990 F-250 with only 47,000 miles and the original brakes. A friend tells me I should do a complete change of brake fluid as it collects moisture over the years.

Ed
 
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Old Aug 27, 2004 | 07:17 AM
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Brake fluid should be flushed every couple years. The moisture can boil and you lose your brakes. Flushing/Bleeding your rear brakes is a little different because of RABS. After you bleed them take the truck out on dirt and lock them up several time to make the RABS cycle. Go home and flush them again.
 
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Old Aug 27, 2004 | 10:00 PM
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Anytime you have a loss of brakes but haven't lost any fluid, it is the master cylinder. I had a very similar experience 2 or 3 yrs ago in my 84 E-350 motor home pulling my trailer down a WV hill. The brakes worked OK all the way down the hill, but the next time I applied the brake, it went to the floor. I was almost at my destination, so when I got there I borrowed a vehicle, and went and got a brand new master cylinder at a NAPA for $35. Bench bled it and installed it, and have not had another problem.
 
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Old Aug 28, 2004 | 07:36 AM
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I agree that a bad master cylinder is indicated. He did say he took it to the dealer.
 
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Old Aug 28, 2004 | 11:10 AM
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I'd have to go with master cylinder also. I bet you were comming down the hill using a light pressure on the brake pedal and under that continued light pressure the pedal went to the floor. Under hard pedal pressure you will have brakes but back of a bit and hold a lighter pressure and see what happens.
 
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Old Aug 28, 2004 | 02:01 PM
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Yeah, he took it to the dealer, and they could not find a problem, I would replace the MC, do it now, and you won't have to worry about the next time the brakes fail.
 
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Old Aug 30, 2004 | 10:43 AM
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Originally Posted by HardScrabble
Brake fluid should be flushed every couple years. The moisture can boil and you lose your brakes. Flushing/Bleeding your rear brakes is a little different because of RABS. After you bleed them take the truck out on dirt and lock them up several time to make the RABS cycle. Go home and flush them again.
Your RABS controller has an accumulator that holds a quantity of fluid and can give your pedal a mushy feel but I wouldn't expect it to do that in normal service, only after service until the brakes are properly bled or after a leak in the rear circuit.

I have posted links to service info for RABS, go to advanced search and put in my user name and RABS.
 
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Old Sep 3, 2004 | 11:14 AM
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Had both brake fluid and clutch fluid replaced. Braking is at least 50% stronger. Can't tell with the clutch. Fourteen year old brake fluid just doesn't cut it.

Ed
 
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Old Sep 3, 2004 | 03:40 PM
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haha sounds good, glad you fixed your problem, hey how much did they charge to flush the system? i'm thinking of doing that myself.
 
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Old Sep 3, 2004 | 05:08 PM
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I flush my brake fluid every two years and fill it with dot4, high temp on my tow rig. It happened to me once a few years back coming down Ice House rd with my trailer, never again. It seems the last 18" of brake line is where the moisture resides then boils the fluid and it all goes to the floor. after 45 minutes everything came back. Too scary to mess with.
 
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Old Sep 4, 2004 | 11:36 AM
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They charged me $107. Well worth it I thought.

That Ice House Rd. is a killer. That is where I lost pedal also. Right after that 15 mph turn near the bottom. I was losing my clutch at the top of same hill.

Ed
 
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Old Sep 7, 2004 | 09:13 AM
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In a hydraulic boost system. Is it possible to loose your prime?
 
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