Weird brake pedal...any thoughts. (02)

[dbp]

I have an 02 Edge 4x4 3.0L manual transmission, ext cab. I have a 3" BL and 33" tires.

----- DESCRIPTION:

About 2 months ago I noticed that at times, especially when going down hill and applying the brakes, the brakes would start to apply like normal...the brake pedal would have normal resistance to it, then it would just all of a sudden sink an extra inch, and then continue to have normal resistance.

Now, it's doing it a lot more often and it feel like every single time I stop the brakes work normally, then the pedal sinks an extra inch, then they work fine again -- Although for some strange reason I want to say the rears don't feel like they're working all that well.

Not sure if it's related but my ebrake pedal seems to be going down a lot further than it used to as well...and it doesn't seem to really be applying unless I have it near the floor and really mash it down.

-------

Any thoughts? I am hoping that it's not some type of metering/proportioning valve because I'd be worried that when I go to take something off under the truck the whole line would obviously want to turn.

Does this sound like a bad master cylinder? Would a bad self adjuster have symptoms like this or does it sound more hydraulic? THANKS!

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Sounds more like false ABS activations to me.

You need to have it put on a diagnostic tool that can monitor the wheel speed sensors, take it for a drive while watching what the speed sensors are doing. When your pedal drops, I bet you will see a sensor that is dropping off suddenly. It is usually caused by one of the 2 front sensors/tone rings.

 

[yodaman1151]

'03 has disc in rear? if its drums that sounds like something wrong with shoes, if disc check your brake fluid, if its empty might need bled. if its full then yeah probably an ABS sensor. maybe check for leaks. does it seem like it all of a sudden grabs when it drops or does it apply normal?

 

[dbp]

Yeah? The ABS has always (since I got the truck) kicked on when pulling into a parking spot while having the wheel turned and braking...and the one time (just once) my ABS light came on for about a minute. I was just driving behind a school bus nice and slow....came on, then about a minute later, it went back off.

--

If I wanted to disable the ABS system to test this out would the best way be to simply unplug a sensor completely and take it for a spin in a parking lot?

 

[dbp]

'03 has disc in rear? if its drums that sounds like something wrong with shoes, if disc check your brake fluid, if its empty might need bled. if its full then yeah probably an ABS sensor. maybe check for leaks. does it seem like it all of a sudden grabs when it drops or does it apply normal?

No it's drums in the rear and it's an 02. Not sure you replied to the correct post?

 

[yodaman1151]

sorry i saw 3.0 and mistaked it for 03.... did you change shoes recently? my shoes were put on wrong and it does something kinda like that... check your auto adjusters both mine were broken and the shoes sucked in. my ebrake slowly quit holding and i couldn't bleed my brakes when i did my d35 swap thats when i found out the shoes were on backwards

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Find the fuse for the ABS under the hood and pull it...if your problems go away you've narrowed down your problem.

 

[dbp]

Found the problem today. I was driving and the L/R kept locking up so I figured I'd finally take the drums off and see what was going on.

When I bought this truck about a year ago (about 3k miles for me, mind you), the DEALERSHIP put on new shoes, new hardware, new wheel cylinders, and new drums...Well, apparently they didn't put on new self adjusters because they were both frozen solid...the left rear fell all the way out and was just grinding around in there. Both of the lower springs on the drums (on both sides) also broke and were grinding around in there.

So I got new L and R self adjuster kits (with starwheels, cables, etc) $12.00 ea. + new hardware kit (all the springs and holddowns) $15.00 + new shoes $25.00 + 2 new drums (I didn't want to cut them) $30 ea. -- and the truck stops like the day it was new.

I probably should have inspected them earlier and could have saved some money ... but when the dealership does the work, you would assume it was done right. I bought the truck "as is" so I didn't really want to go down there and cause a ruckus...plus I have a tendency to get angry at service people who think they know everything when they were clearly at fault.