Brake problems

[dking]

92 Explorer 2WD
I noticed this pass Friday that the rear passenger side wheel cylinder was leaking. Went to Autozone and purchased two rear cylinders. After removing the brake drum with the bad wheel cylinder I found the brake shoes were in bad shape so I replaced wheel cylinder and brake shoe on both sides. I lost very little brake fluid while changing the wheel cylinders. I bled all four corners discovering the fluid was very dark. Stopped at this point to try it out finding I had very little brakes. Brake pedal stops about a inch from the floor. I drove the truck back forth in front of the house several times per the Haynes manual. Still no improvement. Today I went out to bleed again and flush the system. The master cylinder never went dry. The color of the fluid is much better but not clear. Still have the same problem. I've checked for leaks none found. The ABS light is on. Put that was on before the the brake job. I don't know if it means anything but when I apply the brakes I hear a hissing sound. I think I had this awhile. I hate to take to the Ford Dealer to bleed and flush but that what it takes to make it safe then I will. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[Rick]

I did some digging around and found this:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80778

According to that thread your '92 shouldn't need the special tool to bleed the ABS system.

If while bleeding your brakes you pressed the pedal all the way to the floor it's possible that you caused an internal leak in the master cylinder by letting the piston move too far in it's bore. The only way to fix that is to replace the master cylinder.

 

[ricco750]

And if you hear a hissing sound when you press the brake pedal, you probably have a leaking booster, which would pull power from braking action.

 

[dking]

Thanks for the info Rick. I have to work the next couple of days. I'll work on it Wednesday if weather permits. Is there anyway to check If the master cylinder is bad? Before I pull the part.

 

[dking]

Thanks Ricco I'll check it out also. It all started with a $15 part and now is growing to more money. I Love my old truck 20 years old and counting. She needs some TLC but I plan to keep her awhile longer.

 

[ricco750]

Thanks Ricco I'll check it out also. It all started with a $15 part and now is growing to more money. I Love my old truck 20 years old and counting. She needs some TLC but I plan to keep her awhile longer.

I can guarantee you that if the M/C and Booster have never been replaced, you don't need to "check" anything. Just go ahead and replace them. And while you're at it, since you have already done new cylinders in the rear, I would strongly recommend you replace the front calipers as well. You will now have "new" brakes!

 

[dking]

Ricco how hard of a job is this to do. Never changed M/C or BB before.

 

[ricco750]

Ricco how hard of a job is this to do. Never changed M/C or BB before.

It is not at all hard. Just be methodical. Do you have a Haynes manual, or comparable manual? The booster has to be "bench bled" before it is installed, you just need a good vise to do this. The booster is simply a job of unbolting, remove, replace and re-bolt. Just make sure the actuating pin coming off your brake pedal does not get out of adjustment. This will be obvious when you remove the booster. Make sure to replace the vacuum hose to the booster with new hose.

Once all the parts are reinstalled, the most important thing is a thorough bleed, starting at the right rear until you get clean fluid, then the left rear, then right front, then left front. A pressure bleeder will be helpful, but a friend in the driver's seat will do as well, it will just take longer.

I would NOT recommend a reman M/C, but a reman booster should be fine, as well as reman calipers. Go for it! There are probably stickies on the forum that outline this process as well.

And by the way, what you have already done as far as replacing the rear brake shoes and hardware, is IMHO, the most difficult part of the brake job. Everything else is downhill.

 

[dking]

I was able to work on my truck today. One thing that kept bugging me was if the rear automatic brake adjusters were working. I pulled the back tires off and the drums almost fell off. Guess that answered my question. So I adjusted the rear brakes. Now the brakes work great. So now do I needed to replace the automatic adjusters or just adjust as needed?

 

[crazymind]

the automatic adjustment only works in reverse. So drive backwards and apply the breaks till you stop a few times and you should be golden.

 

[dking]

I did that several times but it just was not working. I followed the instructions in the Haynes Manuel. But I also read in some of the post that the adjusters failed to work. Thanks for your input.