91 Explorer Brakes totally gone, need help.

[E_AU_Tiger]

Short version.

Drove out of town and on return trip home brakes started feeling spongy.

Pulled in the driveway with the kids in the back and the parking brake went to the floor with no pressure. When the vehicle is turned off I can get brake pedal pressure as if it were operating correctly. But the parking brake has nothing to do with the booster so I don't see a connection between power brakes and the parking brake. Fluid level is fine and has been bled recently when I installed new shoes. All clean and new fluid. Front caliper is sticking and I heard my wear indicators this week. But in 200 miles they went from great to gone.

Any advice where to start tracing down my problem?

 

[IZwack]

The parking brake is cable-actuated so just follow that cable from the foot-pedal all the way to the rear axles looking for any kinks, bindings, or whatever. Not sure how it is on a 1st generation Explorer but on teh 2nd gen, this cable runs outboard of the driver's-side frame rail.

 

[E_AU_Tiger]

But how would that relate to not having actual braking power. My braking power is 50%. Relative newbie to brakes.

 

[IZwack]

But how would that relate to not having actual braking power. My braking power is 50%. Relative newbie to brakes.

They're not related. I think its just coincidence that the two are acting up at the same time. The whole point of the parking (aka emergency brake) is that it works independant of the hydraulic brake system so that in case your vehicle looses hydraulic pressure, you still have the mechanical backup system to fall back on. Replace the front pads with new ones (as you stated, they are now squeeling).

 

[Willard]

you might check your lines to see if one is busted. i broke my the line going to the back recently and had to fix it. they still worked, but i only had the front ones and they weren't too good

edit: you said your fluid level is fine, that means no leaky lines. nevermind what I said

 

[E_AU_Tiger]

Just checked parking brake. With the brake off I have about 2 inches in slack in the cable. Does the parking brake only operate one drum?

It feels as if the cable has come loose inside the drum. So if the cable came loose, maybe something came loose in the drum causing the drum to become inoperative? That coupled with the sticking front caliper may be causing a severe loss in braking power?

Thanks for the help. Any other comments are certainly welcome. I will be getting on this today or tomorrow. I have my kids at home today and it is hard to work on a truck with a 2 & 4 year old.

 

[IZwack]

Just checked parking brake. With the brake off I have about 2 inches in slack in the cable. Does the parking brake only operate one drum?

Thats too much slack in the parking brake -- definitely something wrong with that. The parking brake operates both drums on the rear axle.

Time to remove the drum and see whats going on behind it

 

[Tony H]

Sounds like maybe the Auto Adjuster on one of the Rear brakes fell off somehow. You can pump the pedal up if you pump quick but stay off teh Brake and it's to the floor again?
If one of the Pins that hold the brakes on broke, that too would cause this.That would explain the scenario. You would have no E-brake with the adjuster falling out.
Give that a look. you said you recently did the brakes? Go back and look at your work.

 

[DeRocha]

For what its worth here is a pic of the drum setup

 

[Anime]

The rear drums are easy to pull off, you can remove the rear tires and check to see that everything is connected right and looks like the pic above. If the parking brake looks like its connected securely to both drums, check the rest of the cable on top of the rear axle, and on the left frame rail. It should come out from under the body on the drivers side, and go into a clip on a body mount from there. If it comes out from that clip, it causes the pedal to go straight to the floor.

If everything looks fine with the rear brakes and parking brake, move on to the front brakes. Pull the calipers and check the pads, check theres no busted retention clips or anything.

If everything looks fine, and theres no trace of any busted parts or leaking fluid, I'd say bleed the brakes and see if that fixes the spongy pedal. If so, you might just need to be sure the bleeder screws and brake line fittings are snug, air might have crept in from somewhere.

You also might consider replacing the front calipers since you have one sticking. They're only about $13 for a rebuilt one from NAPA last time I got 'em, well worth it for a take-the-old-one-off-put-the-new-one-on job, and comes with new slide pins too.