Only I would wait 5 days to say something,
but I've been crazy busy

Ok Falsh back and quick story version

Ever since I did the Ported Blower I noticed a lose of
pedal, and what seems like only my back brakes working,
thus causing the already schitty L brakes "to be EVEN WORSE"

Lets make one thing clear, I AM NOT blamming (nor do I believe)
it has anything to do with the Port, but that is when it started
(reason I don't blame= , problem is intermittent, "comes at goes")

Since then I have bleed the brakes twice
Changed the Brakes (all around)
Even tried the Vacum Canister
NO CHANGE


Flashback to Cecil Spring Nationals, prob the worse they ever were, I actually rolled down my window after the run and was outright screaming at Gator that my truck wouldn't stop while
I was standing on it with two feet, CAME WAAAAAAAAAAY TO
CLOSE TO THAT DAM WALL (some run off they have, A FRIGGING
CONCRETE WALL) )@$%)@$%)@$%@%$)#$%_@#%$)@$@

But then I found my Vacum Booster Check Valve Thingy was bad and I could blow throgh it both ways, changed it and Brakes
were back to perfect, WOO HOO..............

Except lately it seems the prob is back and intermittent,
(it comes at goes) Seems like sometimes you start it and
niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice, I got excellent pedal, feel, and stopping, yet
other times you start it, and I got MUSH and schitty stopping.
(Brakes maybe have 1K on it)

Fast Foward to Saturday, and the second I hit the road in the
wee hours I knew it was one of those Mush days. Of course the
Brakes DO stop, but it just isn't the right feel, nor stopping power.
I mentioned it to V as soon as I made it to his house.

Fast foward to first run, no problem to report, they seemed fine,
Fast foward to second run, (I have this bad habbit of not knowing
when the run ends, so JUST TO MAKE SURE, I stay in it for a good
extra second or three

So now I'm doing over 125MPH ***** out @55K and of course
have much less room to stop, AND IT DON'T WANT TO STOP,
I pass the first turn off doing @ 80 "YIKES", blew by the second
like it wasn't there, and said ok we obviously got to go for the last one, (3rd or fourth (and final) turn off)
Now on on the brakes with like 2 feet and it goes into the ABS
dance (Pass seat even unlatched and came flying up all the way, scared the living schitt out of me)

BARELY made the turn off, called it a day for passes, and enjoyed
watching everyone else.

Fast foward to drive home, I leave by myself, not 2 minutes into
the ride (got @150 miles to go) and the "Service Engine Soon" light comes on, (DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WE HAD ONE THERE) hehehe
I'm like great, what now? but the truck was running perfect, the brakes were there usual crappy self, and off I went to an
un-eventful drive home. (ok maybe going sideways on the outter bridge crossing in a thunder storm was A LITTLE eventful, but you know what I mean)

sometime shortly after that, "PUFF" the light goes off, I knew
that the second I touched the brakes they would be fine,
AND SURE ENOUGH THEY WERE
BAM, back to normal, hard stiff high pedal and the best Brakes
I've ever had,

WTF ???
whats your opinion
whats my problem ???
(beside I think V should buy cordless head sets and as soon as
I hit the finish line yell, HIT THE BRAKES NOW *******


around town there's really no complaints, just a mushy pedal,
but as said, other times they're perfect.

this is the first time it threw a code, even know it wen't off,
can it still be read ???

or do others sometimes have this prob ?

 

Damn....you got me

 

Sorry your having problems again Rob.

My pedal is generally all over the place too and has been for a long time. My normal day to day stopping ability though is just fine. It's just sometimes I have a nice high pedal and sometimes a lower mushy pedal. No check eng. lights though.

Now..
After putting on the ceramics about 2-3 months ago I did
my first back to back stop from 80+mph a few weeks ago. The first stop was perfect and quick but the second attempt was just that an "attempt" they slowed me down but I couldn't stop completely. With the OEM brakes this NEVER happened, I could do back to back stops and nail everyone.

For daily\normal driving they are fantastic and the dust is 90% gone but for multiple high run stops close together they dont cut it.

I think you might have a two fold thing going on here. Your stopping capabilities have been diminished due to the ceramic pads and your mushy pedal is a totally different issue?

Hope you get this resolved quick!
-Rich

 

Check your Vacum Booster Check Valve Thingy again... Maybe lightning has struck in the same place twice.

 

Rob, take it to Ford or a brake shop.... Tell them whats going on & let them fix it!

 

Rob,

I would take a close look at caliper mounting area, (slides) a "mushy" or excessive travel in brake pedal on a 4-wheel disc. system is a sign of air in the system, (which you already bled) or having to make up "travel" between the pads and the rotor surfaces. Does the pedal "pump-up" at a stand still when you get the condition? A frozen caliper slide could cause excessive pedal travel. (almost like old drum brakes out of adjustment). Weard that you get it on and off though.

I dont think its a vacuum/booster condition as you "should" get a real firm pedal but poor brake performance with a damaged diaghram or lack of vacuum....

 

theres an antilock brake part that you cannot bleed yourself, ford has to hook a computer up to bleed it properly. Could be air in there?

 

LOL.... had a little pucker factor going on there eh Rob?

You'll figure it out I'm sure.. Just stay off the boost and NOS til you do please! If not for anything else but the innocent pedestrians...

Not to high-jack this thread... but this reminds me of when I was 16 and first had my car/license.

It had a manual seat and I was approching a stop sign a little too fast. Had the bright idea that I wanted to adjust the seat at the same time. Well I hit the brakes a little aggressively and pulled the lever. I was kissing the windshield, pressed hard into the steering wheel, and in a 4 wheel squalling panic stop in about 2 nanoseconds flat! Took me a second to realize what had happened. Learned a law of physics lesson that day..

Rich

 

Rob, I responded to you thread back when your problem first began. Generally if you have vacum booster problem the pedal will remain solid but will be very hard to stop the vehicle. If the brakes have been bleed properly more than likely your looking at a master cylinder problem. The master cylinder works sorta like a plunger when you step on the brake with the resvoir feeding it. If the fluid is leaking past the plunger seal back to the resvoir thus mushy brakes. This may or may not occur all the time. If you have a frozen caliper you should have found this when you changed the brakes last upon compressing the caliper piston as well as the vehicle would pull bad during braking. Im leaning more towards a master cylinder problem with your issue. Cant rule out a vacum problem though. Good Luck!

 

Yup, good thought on the master,, could do exactly that!!

 

EXCELLENT info Guys, THANKS

Def gave me some good idea's, I'll price out a Master Cylinder,
how bad could it be ??
WHERE CAN I GET ONE ?

If weather holds, I got some OTHER upgrading to do this
weekend , and will give it a good look over.



Learned a law of physics lesson that day..
LMAO @ Rich

 

Rob losen the two bolts holding the master to the booster, see if any brake fluid runs out or if its wet there. usually when the seal starts to go it leaks into that area. Its a quick check thing to eliminate that area. Artie

 

Rob if you need you can use my scanner to pull the codes.They usually stay stored even if the light goes out .Sounds like you definately need

 

I've got the master cylinder of a 1999 L I recently parted out. If it is the same and you can use it shoot me an e-mail.

 

I know this is an old post but I was wondering if you got the brake problem fixed Rob?

Mine is doing the occasional "ABS dance" after I run it hard for a few seconds and then quickly try to apply the brakes. It will slow down fine at first but towards the end it's like the brakes give up and the ABS tries to do it's best to hold causing the pedal to vibrate. That's the only time I've noticed it was after a quick run (0-70mph) and a hard slowdown (to turn into my subdivision )