Brake concerns ?

[2008explorer4x4]

I have posted before about a low brake pedal, the vehicle stops fine. But while stoped in traffic and holding pressure on the brake pedal, it will drop slowly very close to the floor. This does not seem normal to me. I took it to the dealer today and explained that I thought maybe the master cylinder was leaking internally.

The brake fluid level is up to the top, so no external leaks. The dealer stated that the front rotors were badly pitted and needed new pads, so I told him to replace them. The brakes are not any better as far as I'm concerned.

The dealer stated because of the 4 wheel disc brakes that this is normal ??? I have a very hard time accepting that.

Can anyone else verify that their pedal will go very close to the floor when stopped and applying pressure ??

He also stated that if there was an internal leak the brake light would come on when the pedal drops, no light is on ???

Thanks for any help Ed

 

[ILLwill]

I've had this problem and was told I needed a new master cylinder. went home and bled the fluid and it was a lot better after that. worth a try...

 

[Flag Gibby]

When they changed the rotors they should have flushed/changed the brake fluid too. What you are describing sounds like air in the brake lines. Like Illwill says, changing the fluid should get rid of the air in the lines and make the pedal pressure much better.

 

[thebrakeman]

Air in the system will cause a soft pedal. But it would not cause a firm pedal (during a dynamic stop) to continue to move to the floor once stopped. That's fluid leaking past the master cylinder internals.

Rebuild or replace the master cylinder.

PS - Find a new dealer. They are worthless.

 

[Flag Gibby]

Brakeman, I thought that it is normal for the system to bleed off some of the pressure once stopped because of the way the ABS system is designed. At any rate, before I did my brakes a while back I could make the system do that too (what the OP is describing) by applying too much pedal pressure once stopped. Once I changed my brakes and flushed the fluid (I found a good amount of air in the rear lines), I could not reproduce the problem to the extent that it was occurring before.

 

[FordService]

I have posted before about a low brake pedal, the vehicle stops fine. But while stoped in traffic and holding pressure on the brake pedal, it will drop slowly very close to the floor. This does not seem normal to me. I took it to the dealer today and explained that I thought maybe the master cylinder was leaking internally.

The brake fluid level is up to the top, so no external leaks. The dealer stated that the front rotors were badly pitted and needed new pads, so I told him to replace them. The brakes are not any better as far as I'm concerned.

The dealer stated because of the 4 wheel disc brakes that this is normal ??? I have a very hard time accepting that.

Can anyone else verify that their pedal will go very close to the floor when stopped and applying pressure ??

He also stated that if there was an internal leak the brake light would come on when the pedal drops, no light is on ???

Thanks for any help Ed

Hi Ed,

If you'd like, you're welcome to get a second opinion from a different Ford dealership. Keep us in the loop on how things progress with your Explorer.

Crystal

 

[2008explorer4x4]

This is a follow up to my original post. All the symptoms I described happened before the dealer replaced the front rotors and installed new pads. I did see the rotors at the dealers and they indeed did need replacing.

I told the service writer when I brought the vehicle in that it was more then likely the master cylinder. He called and said that the rotors and pads needed to be changed, I said ok to that. When I picked up the vehicle he said the Service manager drove it and said all was good.

I took it home and was not satisfied, I called and went right back and showed the Service manager that the pedal would go to the floor under pressure. He then said oh that is not good. [No kidding] So I left the vehicle overnight, late the next day I get a call that indeed they are going to change the master cylinder.

They don't have one in stock, it will be there in the morning, ok. Today I get a call again late in the day, they replaced the master cylinder but now they found a TSB 09-1-6. for an improved brake pedal. Now they are waiting for that to come in tomorrow, after I complain that they have had my vehicle for 3 days now, He states well I want to be sure it is done right ???

Shouldn't it have been done right the first time ? Oh well I'll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings . This is why I always did almost all of my own repairs in the past. Not as capable now, time to have others do the work, not as young anymore. I really hate to go to the dealer for anything.

Thanks for the replies, Ed

 

[Lukas2009]

There are many threads here in the forum that describe these symptoms.
My 2007 also has a spongy brake pedal, but everything works fine.
Have a forum search for "spongy brake" and you will find several posts about that.

 

[thebrakeman]

Awesome! I take back what I said about your dealership. They should have checked that the first time, but at least they are doing you right.

Did they at least offer you a rental at their cost?

 

[2008explorer4x4]

Awesome! I take back what I said about your dealership. They should have checked that the first time, but at least they are doing you right.

Did they at least offer you a rental at their cost?

Fortunately, We are both retired and have 2 vehicles, so I didn't need a rental, but no they didn't suggest one. Got a call this morning that the part for the TSB has to come from Detroit, should be in tomorrow. this is getting kind of ridiculous now, oh well. tomorrow is day 5.

Yes I agree that they finally are trying to make things right. This is a Ford Certified Vehicle that I bought in July of last year, so I'll just have to pay $100.00 for the master cylinder. He said that the TSB is included in that amount.

This has been a great vehicle and is one of my favorites so far out of many many vehicles. Ed

 

[thebrakeman]

Yeah, those are usually 1 deductible payment per writeup, regardless of how many failures they fix. When our extended warranty was about to expire (at the 7 year point), we had several non-critical failures that we'd been saving up to have them fix. Only had to pay that $100 to get about 5 things done.