I have a 97 explorer that i bought with rusted brakes. I replaced all the calipers, all pads, all rotors and all the brake lines. I also replaced the master cylinder. I bled all the brakes and the brake pedal is still spongy. I did however bypass the abs system so i dont know if thats whats causing the brake to be spongy? Not sure what else to do. I have been working on this for weeks now. Any suggestions or inputs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

I haven't experienced your problem but I have done the pads & parking shoes on my '97. My first question would be are you sure it's a 97 BUILT vehicle and not a 96? The reason I ask is that the 96 requires a bleeding adaptor at the master cylinder according the haynes book but the 97 doesn't. The result if you don't use it is a spongy pedal.
Having said that, mine is a late 97 build and the pedal is not rock-solid but the brakes are very good. It was sent for a pretty strict annual DOT roadworthiness test straight after the brake job and passed which it wouldn't have done if performance was down or the pedal travel was excessive according the the DOT guy: sometimes you've gotta give them a few miles to bed the new pads in.
Anyway, try decoding your VIN# first; you may have a late 96 build that needs the ABS bleed adapter. AFAIK even though you've bypassed the ABS (why? just wondering) the adapter is still needed on the master cylinder unless you changed that too.

 

AFAIK even though you've bypassed the ABS (why? just wondering) the adapter is still needed on the master cylinder unless you changed that too.[/QUOTE]

not sure why my buddy bypassed the abs to be honest with you. yes i did replace the master cylinder, do i still need the bleed adapter? thanks

 

All I can tell you for sure is that if you have the pre-96 system WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO HAVE ABS you need the adapter.
IIRC it's some kind of valve/gizmo on the side of the master cylinder which the adapter hooks on to, and of you don't use it there's no way of getting all the air out of the system.
I've never seen anything like this, only read about it in the Haynes so I can't describe it or give you any further info, sorry.
Hope this helps.

 

i appreciate all the info. Ill have to look into that. Thanks