99 Ranger BRAKES FAILED to stop vehicle

[dprice578]

I've owned my Ranger for nine years and love it. BUT...
The front ABS sensors developed corrosion / rust that caused the sensors to not detect a slow moving wheel. The system would "think" the wheel was locked and no brake pressure would be applied to rotors at slow speeds. My truck would sail through stop signs directly into cross traffic with me standing on good pedal!

The symptoms were:
At slow speeds, coming to a stop-
good pedal, but the vehicle does not slow down
usually occurs within 1-5 minutes after start up
usually occurs within the third to fifth stop

I initially had misidentified this as brake fade. My (good) local service station did not initially recognize this problem. Ford claims "it is not currently listed as a consumer complaint".

I could have been killed by this problem. If you are experiencing the symptoms above, take urgent action!

Happy Rangering!

 

[ZMan]

Dang good to know. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Speedwagon]

I've owned my Ranger for nine years and love it. BUT...
The front ABS sensors developed corrosion / rust that caused the sensors to not detect a slow moving wheel. The system would "think" the wheel was locked and no brake pressure would be applied to rotors at slow speeds. My truck would sail through stop signs directly into cross traffic with me standing on good pedal!

The symptoms were:
At slow speeds, coming to a stop-
good pedal, but the vehicle does not slow down
usually occurs within 1-5 minutes after start up
usually occurs within the third to fifth stop

I initially had misidentified this as brake fade. My (good) local service station did not initially recognize this problem. Ford claims "it is not currently listed as a consumer complaint".

I could have been killed by this problem. If you are experiencing the symptoms above, take urgent action!

Happy Rangering!

Yea, that sounds like a big FAIL on Ford's part. Sounds like the making of a recall. When an ABS sensor fails, it is supposed to go to normal braking action.

 

[281Ranger]

Had this happen to my '98 Explorer. Once the ABS light came on it went to normal braking. At first the light wasn't on all the time, so if you didn't see a light you had to be extra carefull. It's on full time now and will stay that way until it needs new wheel bearings. I have not found any place that sells just the sensors and getting the old one out is almost imposible. And new hub assemblies aren't cheap. Also, the front hubs on my Explorer have been changed a couple times (197,000 miles) so the factory Ford parts are long gone.

 

[Speedwagon]

Oh, I just remembered something. On my Subaru, I had an ABS sensor wire get broken. That wheel would lockup, and cause erratic braking in slippery conditions. I pulled the ABS fuse, and I got manual braking all around, so it was at least consistent. I don't know if these trucks use such a system, but if they do, you can pull the fuse and get regular brakes, until you get it fixed.

 

[Shoeboy]

That almost sounds like theres more then one problem there. It almost sounds like theres something funky going on in the ABS control unit. If there is a WSS failure, the ABS light should turn on (if the failure is detected), and the ABS system will not activate as long as that light is on (and possibly when the light is off too). The rock hard brake petal would probably not be caused by a failed WSS problem, but more of a sticky/seized valve problem in the ABS unit. If the WSS was corroded up and was reading incorrectly, all it would tell the ABS computer is that the vehicle is either not moving (so ABS will not be needed), or the one wheel is not moving as fast as the others and in that case, it would activate the ABS whenever you stepped on the brake. I'm thinking this is more of a contamination problem in the ABS unit causing a sticking valve (that will block off the passage to which ever line its blocking)

 

[martin]

seen it many times. I don't like the idea of something else deciding how my brakes will, or won't, work. As more system control is taken out of the drivers hands it sets itself up for some interesting failures. It will be interestin when the throttle by wire fails at the same time as the abs. Think I'll keep on driving my 25 year old rust bucket.

 

[4x4RangerGuy]

I love having rear wheel ABS. One less thing to worry about/expensive to buy and replace.