Lost brakes last night, could not stop truck!!

[JoeC5]

Hey whats up fellas. Well as you can imagine this was very scary. Last night on the way home from work I was applying my brakes and then I heard a bang and then I had no more brakes. I could not stop my truck and sure enough there was a red light ahead that I happened to go though due to the lack of stopping power. The brake pedal goes to the floor, as soon as I heard the bang, the pedal lost all pressure. Thank god it was really late. I had to drive at 2mph to get home, good thing for those flashing traffic lights. Any ideas???? Thanks again.

 

[mattadams]

could've been anything but if you lost all your brakes, it could've been your master cylinder or the hose leading to the master cylinder. Check and see if the brake reservoir is full, as well as pop open the hoods and check for any spots where any fluid is leaking.

 

[JoeC5]

Oh yeah forgot to mention thats the first thing I did when I got home. Reservoir is full, nothing is leaking. However, I did find metal shavings and some small pieces of metal underneath the truck right by the tire on the inner side.

 

[PLRBEAR]

Check your brake pads. They have a tendency to disintegrate. Then go get Premium pads from Bendix.

You might want to find the cause of the blow-up as well. When's the last time you changed the pads? Were the slide pins lubed?

 

[JoeC5]

I had them changed last year. I dont have any rear brakes either. I guess I am going to have to take off the front tires to check it out and tell you guys what I see. One thing I am sure of the bang was in the front end cause I felt it man. It was pretty bad. The pedal is totally flimsy. I can push it to the floor with my pinky.

 

[JoeC5]

The only thing I could tell is that the pads are little low. The caliper looked a little funny. Is it possible for the piston to pop out of the caliper??

 

[TerraBomb]

no you can't loose your piston, however if your caliper comes loose , then looses the brake pads, then it might happen but if the brake pads are still there then the backing plates from the brakepads will prevent the piston from falling out...

sounds to me both your cups in your master cylinder are gone, that's about the only way you loose everything, since you said there was no leak, but it could also be the push rod going into the brake booster....i defintaly would look at anything mechanical between the brake pedal and the master cylinder it sounds to me that something is wrong in that part of the system.

normally if you bust the master cylinder it has an backup cup that will still give you somewhat of an pressure to atleast stop the car...

best thing to do is to take the master cylinder loose and the brake booster loose to see if anything is visually broke in it....

let us know what you find.....and good luck

 

[JoeC5]

Thanks for all your help fellas. Let you know whats up tomorrow night. My mechanic is going to come to my house to check it out to. Later

 

[gijoecam]

It sounds to me like the master cylinder let go from the booster and you have zero brake pressure being applied to the master cylinder. If you lost pressure to just the front or just the rear, I'd say you blew a line somewhere. But, since you lost all 4, and the fluid is OK, that rules out leaks. The only thing all 4 have in common is the master cylinder.

Let us know what you find out... I'm curious.

-Joe-

 

[2T727]

Brakes?

When you looked at the front tire, was there any wetness? Your piston might have cracked in some odd way, And if it did then this is where all of the pressure is going. As we all know, Brake fluid and electricity and some people always follow the path of least resistance.
Hope this helps, Glad you didn't wreck.
Good luck!

 

[JoeC5]

Everything is dry. No leaks anywhere. I am also thinking that it has something to do with the master cylinder. My mechanic wasnt able to check it out today. But he said first thing tomorrow morning. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks again for your help and concern. Later

 

[JoeC5]

Well I just talked to my mechanic. The inner pads on both rotors seemed to have worn down to bare metal causing some damage to the rotor. As for the rear, the reason why they were not working is because they were out of wack. The shoes were barely touching the drum not causing enough friction to stop. I will be heading over there in a little while to check things out. Keep ya posted.

 

[JoeC5]

Just picked up my truck. Everything seems to be ok now. But I still think that the pedal still feels soft. He said he couldnt find anything else wrong with it. Maybe I should take it to another guy I know for a second opinion.

 

[PLRBEAR]

So what did he do to fix it?

 

[espnfreak]

i have about 46% brake life left when i looked about 2 months ago, how many more miles am i good for on the explorer?

 

[PLRBEAR]

Hard to say. Depends on your driving style and traffic situations over the period of time. I think the wear indicators are the best guide. Take note of your mileage now, and wait for the squeal.

 

[JoeC5]

Off the top of my head he replaced calipers, rotors, new slide pins, repacked wheel bearings and a few minors things. I read another post about brakes and its seems like the abs valve might be causing the weak pedal. I got to talk to mr. boyle

 

[gijoecam]

If he didn't readjust the rears, that's your problem... if they weren't working before, that's what caused the fronts to wear out prematurely. If he didn't readjust the rears, the fronts are doing all the breaking, leading to the lack of pedal feel, and braking ability.

So, what did they say the "bang" was?

-Joe-

 

[JoeC5]

He said he doesnt know. The truck still does not feel right, even with the new brake job and everything adjusted. The pedal is still way soft. I just think he didnt even bother to dig deeper on what exactly caused this. I remember reading somewhere that it could be the abs valve??? I am going for a second opinion as soon as I have free time.