Last night in my 92 Ford F150, auto, PS,PB, ABS, Air 302 5L I was driving and when coasting the truck would come to an abrupt stop and the engine would struggle. My power steering started whining a little and next thing I know, my brake pedal was depressing by itself. I stopped the truck at the side of the road and the brake pedal would go directly to fully compressed when the engine was still running. I lifted the hood and while the truck was running I pulled the power brake booster vaccum line off and the pedal came back up. Anytime I placed my finger over the vaccum line (there was lots of suction) or plugged it back in the pedal depressed and the engine would almost die. Luckily I got my truck home and I checked all fluids. Brake level was fine but my power steering was bone dry. I topped it up and started the truck and immediately the brakes were fine again. I did however notice the power steering fluid dripping out bigtime. I have not found the source of the leak yet but I am assuming it is out of the pump or steering box somewhere. My question is, how did this affect my brakes? Is this normal? Also, is it a big job to find and replace the steering box if needed?

Please help...

Thanks

Sherriff

 

i would find the source of the leak first i would closely inspect all the p/s hoses these would be more likely to leak and alot cheaper to fix. pump leaks are ussually slower leaks. if it is the pump or gearbox you can find these at most part stores boneyards or dealership.

i'm still going over in my head how it could have any affect on a vacumn brake booster.

i'd almost suspect your broke booster just happened to get stuck at the same time. you should get the brake booster checked out having your brakes apply on their own is very dangerous.