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Squishy Brakes


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OK, after driving for over an hour on the interstate with the cruise set, I had to brake for my exit.....pedal went almost to the floor.....after that it had the usual amount of back pressure......it has done this a few times, so now I'm asking to see if this has happened to anyone else or if anyone has any ideas as to why that might happen......thanks in advance!!!!!!

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Start simple, do a CORRECT bleed and check to make sure the brakes aint Hun up at a wheel. Mine would act like air in the system directly after pulling off a decent hiway run (like braking for the exit ramp stop sign). My RR caliper was hanging a little causing the fluid to get a bit warm and sponge my brakes out for a couple hits till it would cool down.

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brake fluid takes awhile to cool down, a few pedal application wont make it colder only hotter yet, its not air in the brake lines either lol it dosnt just appear in a sealed system if there is air in the lines anywere there is a seal out ie wheel cyclinder or caliper, or at any line junction, tall tell, sign a puddle of brake fluid or a wettness around any brake equipment, easiest test have some one pump the pedal with the engine off and look in the fluid res for tiny air bubbles if there is any the m/c is goin out :deadhorse: giving bad brake advice can lead to a person dying :itsallgood:

Edited by WarehouseRat
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I would flush and fill the fluid, bleed it out a few times to make sure there are no bubbles and see if it makes a difference. Brake fluid does "go bad" after a few years because it slowly absorbs water which lowers the boiling point. An yes, do closely inspect your hard lines and rubber lines for corrosion, cracking kinks etc. If you live somewhere hot and mountainous, you might want to use DOT 4 fluid instead of DOT 3.

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^ more bad brake advice, bleeding will not help the m/c if its failing, perform the bleed by test on the m/c like i posted if there is no bubbles, then move on to bleeding the system rr-lr-rf-lf in that order,wanna know how much water is in the fluid dip a test strip in if it good then leave it

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unfortunatly for being king of all the perfect advice there you didn't even get the bleed sequence right. As per the FSM (factory service manual), page BR-6 the CORRECT bleed sequence is on models without L.S.V. is LR-RR-LF-RF. If equipped with L.S.V. it is LSV bleeder_LR-RR-LF-RF. Please get facts correct before tryign to spew it out as the mighty word that all should listen to. MY advise was from 1st hand personal experience so unfortunately I spoke from pure fact and not some textbook with my "hot fluid" suggestion, which WOULD cool enough from 1 good red light of sitting to go back to working properly. The only "bad" advise I see throughout this thread is the attempt to one-up everyone and say skip diagnosing to jump strait to throwing parts at it. Do you Buy a brand new tire and wheel over a slow leak without checking to see if can be repaired or put a new turn signal switch and flasher in before checking for a burnt out bulb?

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were did i say replace any part, i said to test the m/c first before anything, the bleed squence i posted was type from siting in the vehicle not in front of it, you always bleed the farthest point first to the shortest last, here is this better, passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front, driver front, and you posted the same sequence twice lol dont matter what kinda car it is even the e-vac machines suck from the farthest to the shortest point from the m/c, so the bashing wasnt needed, which makes you look kinda like a douche bag because you didnt understand something, reading owned you on this one, this isnt a pissin match it was a misunderstanding plain and simple :itsallgood:

Edited by WarehouseRat
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you NORMALLY bleed farthest first, some vehicles have specific bleed sequences and wd21s are one of them. Again the CORRECT sequence per the FSM is as I typed (which is while sitting in the drivers seat facing forward, general rule of thumb unless otherwise stated)

68c52582.jpg

little blurry but feel free to read it. Before assuming EVERY car is the same, read up a little bud :beer:

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were does it state the orientation is from sitting in the vehicle thats righ it doesnt it from standing in front of the car, you can mess with the lsv all you want lol the air will get pumped through it regardless

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also yes there are different sequences for different cars but were not talkin cadillac, bmw etc it a damn pathfinder we can piss this out more if you like but im willing to bet a 100 bone it a m/c with a slight chance its a wheel hanging up, which is a easy test, drive for 15-20 minutes with a few hard brake applications on the last application stop on flat level ground get out and push the car alittle you'll hear and feel if there hung-up

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were does it state the orientation is from sitting in the vehicle thats righ it doesnt it from standing in front of the car, you can mess with the lsv all you want lol the air will get pumped through it regardless

Basically everywhere in the FSM that has a picture and refers to side specific stuff, everything marked as "Left" is marked in a way the it would only be as such if sitting in the truck, facing forward. And again I must stress it is the CORRECT WAY, not "your" way so please stick with informing correctly and not the way you want to do it.

 

also yes there are different sequences for different cars but were not talkin cadillac, bmw etc it a damn pathfinder we can piss this out more if you like but im willing to bet a 100 bone it a m/c with a slight chance its a wheel hanging up, which is a easy test, drive for 15-20 minutes with a few hard brake applications on the last application stop on flat level ground get out and push the car alittle you'll hear and feel if there hung-up

And it don't matter if it's a Mercedes or a Metro, correct is correct and wrong is wrong. If you want to call people's advise bad, you may want to eat your own words as well since I do recall certian threads about choice bodylift products and fixing an interior light by removing the bulb :suicide: As it apparently doesn't sink in I am now stepping back from this thread. OP, good luck and I hope it's a simple fix for you and my apologies about the cluster that you proably now skipped past as the good info got lost in between everything

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Basically everywhere in the FSM that has a picture and refers to side specific stuff, everything marked as "Left" is marked in a way the it would only be as such if sitting in the truck, facing forward. And again I must stress it is the CORRECT WAY, not "your" way so please stick with informing correctly and not the way you want to do it.

 

 

And it don't matter if it's a Mercedes or a Metro, correct is correct and wrong is wrong. If you want to call people's advise bad, you may want to eat your own words as well since I do recall certain threads about choice bodylift products and fixing an interior light by removing the bulb :suicide: As it apparently doesn't sink in I am now stepping back from this thread. OP, good luck and I hope it's a simple fix for you and my apologies about the cluster that you probably now skipped past as the good info got lost in between everything

 

Well, I really didn't mean to start all that has happened.....I did get some good info and am starting with it tomorrow.....I also got lots of giggles over the hopefully, good natured banter that has been going back and forth!!!!!!

 

Thanks for all of the good info!!!!!

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only if it has it, i believe 95 + had abs which requires keyoff and disconnecting the battery the abs connector at the actuator module lol lsv aka proportion valve will not be on a 95 which is the year of mine

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Jeez, where ever Warehouserat is, there is a pissing contest.

 

As far as OPs problem. I would start with a brake bleed, since you don't know when the last time it was, and I'm assuming this is a used truck, definitely NOT a bad idea to do it.

 

Don't have access to an 92 FSM, but a 94 is kinda close. Driver side is ALWAYS the left side. and the Passenger side is ALWAYS the right side. no matter how you spin it, get over it.

 

LSV (Load Sensing Valve) -> Left Rear -> Right Rear -> Left Front -> Right Front -> ABS Module (if so equipped). The ignition must be off and the connector on the ABS module disconnected to bleed the ABS Module. It is on the passenger side of the truck, and iirc at the B pillar on the frame.

 

Also, Warehouserat, give it up being a 20+ year certified ASE tech. It's getting old. :deadhorse:

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i was gonna hold back my post indefinitely after warehouserat called my advice 'bad' but since we're piling it on him, why not...

 

yes, replacing your brake fluid, bleeding the system and inspecting the hard and soft brake lines for leaks, damage or swelling is bad advice... :scratchhead:

 

If you want to know if the M/C may be faulty, why would you look for bubbles in the reservoir when you can feel it in the pedal? With the engine off, pump the brakes until they are firm, then push down on the pedal with lots of force and see if it holds, or slowly moves toward the floor. If the pedal travels to the floor, you might have a problem with the MC or a swelling rubber line. If you can't build pressure until the pedal is firm, you have air in the lines, a leak in the lines, or a leak in the brake booster diaphragm or check valve. But going by warehouserat's logic, if you didn't see any bubbles in the reservoir while doing this, the M/C must be fine regardless of what the pedal does, right? :poke: But since your on a trip about bad advice, why tell him to do that? Why not tell him to disassemble the M/C and visually check for damage to the piston seals or sleeve?

 

By the way, you would probably spend more on the stupid test strips than you would on a fresh bottle of DOT 3. Why chance it for a $7 bottle of brake fluid?

 

I'll also add, from my experience, a good way to find out if you have a stuck caliper or shoe would be to get out and feel the trucks hubs and wheels after a short drive on the highway. You will feel a noticeable difference in the temperature of the hubs if you have a dragging brake. My rear caliper was dragging last winter and what tipped me off was the snow wouldn't stick to the wheel.

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so when the OP fixes this brake issue i guess we all will find out if im wrong and i'll eat crow if that be the case, does that make your vagina happier.

Edited by WarehouseRat
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it's not about who's right an wrong. It's about getting this guy's brakes working properly for as little as possible. Hopefully we all have a better understanding of his problem in the process and are able to apply that knowledge in later situations like this.

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this happened to me while at moab...very scary a couple of times b/c i needed brakes and didnt hve any...MC went bad on me...was starting to leak very minimally...i've had a MC go completely out and that's no fun so i went ahead and swapped mine

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