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Performance Upgrades - Maintenance - Modifications - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street Trucks. Covering the Explorer, ST, Sport, Lincoln Aviator, Sport Trac, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Aerostar. Featuring H.I. - Human Intelligence.
90000 mi 1996 4.0 OHV. Past few months the emergency brake light illuminates as the reservoir is slowly losing brake fluid consistently. I keep brake fluid in my cup holder haha. I don't see any fluid does anyone have suggestions where to look? Brakes are working fine I just have to keep her topped off. What is this an engineered built in feature to constantly keep fresh brake fluid in the system? Thanks in advance
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You should not lose any brake fluid
Most leaks occur at:
lines to calipers
Lines to lines
Between the master cylinder and the brake booster (look for wetness on booster under the master cylinder)
The cruise control switch on the front of the master cylinder (red switch with wires going to it)
ABS pump and its lines
The fluid is GOING SOMEWHERE you must find it, my $$$ is on the master cylinder to brake booster connection, that leak can be hard to spot without removing the master (two nuts)
90000 mi 1996 4.0 OHV. Past few months the emergency brake light illuminates as the reservoir is slowly losing brake fluid consistently. I keep brake fluid in my cup holder haha. I don't see any fluid does anyone have suggestions where to look? Brakes are working fine I just have to keep her topped off. What is this an engineered built in feature to constantly keep fresh brake fluid in the system? Thanks in advance
minimal rust, my elderly relative garage kept it until i got it. i did get max size (for stock) Wildpeak AT knobby tires on a few months prior to noticing emergency brake light alerting me to the problem. the fluid hasn't dropped below the plastic reservoir bottom yet but its been close. the brake booster does look pretty nasty and rusty. cruise switch dry and disconnected. i had crazy spinal cord laminectomy's and shunt a year ago i cant really climb under it to look at lines myself. limited income as cant do industrial hvac with a blowed out back. is brake booster hard to replace? i have a friendly set of neighbors that do labor for me if i buy a case of coors light haha. CEL has came back after a year also throwing P1409 egr vac reg circuit and a P0300 random multiple cyl misfires. i am seeing dollar signs $$$ anticipating that issue also as these trucks aren't as economical to own when you can no longer wrench on it yourself anymore. thanks for your input and time.
its likely the master cylinder leaking at the booster
If there is rust/wetness under the MC at the booster that is a common leak = Needs a new master cylinder
You can unbolt the master cylinder from the booster, pull it back and have a look see
Somebody has to get under there to have a look at the brake line plumbing all the way from the ABS pump to all 4 brakes
brake booster very rusty and peeling old paint agaisnt master cylinder. abs also very peeling and rusty almost half paint off. my abs has went off at almost every stop for over a year. wheel sensor? actually now that i think about it i havent felt it shudder abs in ages. i will have someone look at line this weekend but both those 2 component look pretty suspect
Found a leak, massive. Front passenger side bracket on the frame where are the solid and flexible line meet. Brake fluid everywhere . pedal drops almost all the way to the floor. Limited budget can I just replace the rubber hose part and hope for the best? Looks like 15-20 bucks online. Bad day for the explorer blower stopped working no fan at all. But let’s stick to the brakes for now thanks guys.
yes replace the soft line
If it needs a hard line dont fret too bad, the passenger front brake line is not that hard to replace, they sell lengths of brake line that can be bent into shape at the parts stores.
You will have to bleed the front brakes after this
For blower motor check fuses and blower motor relay
Found a leak, massive. Front passenger side bracket on the frame where are the solid and flexible line meet. Brake fluid everywhere . pedal drops almost all the way to the floor. Limited budget can I just replace the rubber hose part and hope for the best? Looks like 15-20 bucks online. Bad day for the explorer blower stopped working no fan at all. But let’s stick to the brakes for now thanks guys.
When you take off the flex line chances are the tubing in the fitting around the flare is going to get destroyed. There are small repair lines in advance auto. You will need a flare tool. Just preparing you for the worst. I suggest doing the whole line but if its not that rusty it can be repaired.
If the flare is damaged you need to either re-flare it, or replace the line with a pre-flared one. It will be tempting to use a compression fitting (since they are easy to install and don't require flares) but don't do it, the pressures are too high and that one time you try to panic stop and really pressurize the brakes, the compression fitting will fail. (I've had a shop do this to me, they assured me it was fine. I assured them I wouldn't be coming back.)
I've tried the cheap flare tools and couldn't ever get them to come out right. The "good" tool worked well (the one with an offset eccentric die that rolls the flare. Looks like there's an even easier and cheaper option now, I haven't tried this one but the reviews and excellent.
This is the style I've used before with success (although I am not sure if this is the correct flare for your brake lines, they make different tools with different flares):
For the blower, try tapping the blower motor with a hammer and extension (lightly) and see if that frees it up. It might buy you a bit of time to get the motor replaced.
I have two Explorers. One with 312k and one with 120k
The 120k Ex was a disaster. The FR brake line had two repairs in it. Dangerous. It had clearly corroded something fierce. It was not well maintained.
312k Ex is still on 100% original lines. I regularly sprayed the underbody with fresh water, and I am religious about brake fluid changes. It shows—they look great.
Motorcraft still has the front brake lines. They require minimal bending. I replaced the 120k lines with Motorcraft, and I’m happy I did.
90000 mi 1996 4.0 OHV. Past few months the emergency brake light illuminates as the reservoir is slowly losing brake fluid consistently. I keep brake fluid in my cup holder haha. I don't see any fluid does anyone have suggestions where to look? Brakes are working fine I just have to keep her topped off. What is this an engineered built in feature to constantly keep fresh brake fluid in the system? Thanks in advance
Wow, I haven't thought about things like this in 20 years, at least. However if the brakes are working fine and there's no fluid on the ground then the fluid might be leaking out the back of the master cylinder where the plunger is. If that's the case you might be filling the vacuum booster with fluid and it's either getting sucked into the engine or will eventually start dripping on either side of the firewall.
I know you're trying to focus on your brake lines (which you should) but when you get a chance, Check out my post about my blower motor issue.
I also had a link to an 11-second YouTube video that I made, tapping on the blower motor as Masospaghetti mentioned above...during my troubleshooting.
