Ford - Ranger :: Brake Pedal Goes Soft And Braking Power Drops When Sharply Turn Left
May 4, 2011
I have a 2001 Ford Ranger 4x4 that developed an odd problem almost two years ago that no mechanic I've taken it to has been able to find and fix, and I and my more car-savvy friends haven't had any luck with either.
About maybe 50% of the time when I sharply turn left (only left, never right) the brake pedal goes "soft" and the vehicle's braking power drops dramatically (but not entirely). Because of the sharp angle required to make this happen, and the low speeds I have to be moving at to even handle that sharp of a turn with this vehicle, this has only ever happened when I pull into a parking spot, and the vehicle still manages to come to a complete stop safely before being in danger of hitting anything. It never ever happens at any other time, and brakes like a champ normally.
I've had numerous other issues with the brakes in this vehicle in the last two years, all of which I've fixed. This one eludes me and every mechanic I've taken it to, though. I've replaced both calipers, both rotors, the brake pads, bled all four brake lines, and had the ABS control unit and ABS motor replaced.
At the time the issue first appeared, I had two damaged calipers caused by shoddy brake pads disintegrating on me (almost new, barely worn, but covered in pockmarks, looked like a Michigan road) and clogging up the calipers. That caused the vehicle to lurch to a halt with screeching tires if I so much as barely tapped the brake pedal. Replacing the calipers and brake pads fixed that issue, but did not fix the soft pedal issue when turning left. I ended up with the same screeching sudden stop problem recently when the ABS module went bad, replacing it fixed that, the brake pads and calipers are still in good condition, and replacing the ABS did not fix the soft pedal issue.
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Here's the short of it. 3rd time in a year the brakes on my 2005 SF (177K miles, 2.7L) have gone out.
The brake pedal is very soft and goes to the floor before braking occurs. Typical signs of a bad master cylinder.
The first time was a year ago. I bought a re-manufactured master cylinder, change it and bled the brakes. Worked like a champ and lasted 10 months.
To months ago same exact symptoms. I assume it was a bad re-man part. It's under warranty, not big deal. I do warranty exchange, bleed system, brakes return. All is good.
Less then 3 weeks later, brakes gone, same symptoms! This time I spend the difference and get a brand new OEM cylinder with reservoir. Replace, bleed, problem fixed. Brakes go out in less than a week.
I'm not leaking anywhere. Reservoir is to corect level. ABS light is NOT on. No chattering in brakes. Braking is smooth both when power brakes work and when not. No visible damage to calipers. I'm 99% sure there is no air in the system, but I'm going to try bleeding again. I have not put it up on a lift to yet to check all the lines.
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I have a problem with the steering. Sometimes a clicking noise is coming out from the front left side when I sharply turn the wheels or hit the brake. The car was in a local garage today and they couldn't find the problem. 2 mechanics checked the suspension, cv joint, axle, wheel bearing... also 1 of them driven the car and found nothing. Tomorrow I show them the clip below.
Hyundai Sonata Steering Noise - YouTube ....
What it could be?
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Purchased new 2012 Ford F350 to haul slide in camper. When I step on the brakes they go 3/4 of the way down. If I pump again, they go 1/4 of the way down (normal). Brought this to Ford dealer, they test drove the vehicle and admitted I had a problem with the brakes. They told Ford and Ford faxed a letter stating they are aware of this issue and there is nothing they can do about it. Stated this is a "soft braking pedal problem" with some of the 2011 and 2012 Ford trucks.
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I own a stock 2010 golf with 22k miles on it. There seems to be a problem with brake feel. Brake pedal feels way too soft and there is way too much pedal travel for brakes to engage. Car won't start decelerating until pedal is pushed nearly 1/2 of its total travel length. However there seems no problem with stopping the car. On hard braking car stops well (with ABS). Another problem is brake feel isn't linear.
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I just joined as I bought my '97 F-150 5.4 4X4 about 3 months ago. The dealer gave me a 6 month warranty but hasn't honored it at all and I've had one problem after another. That's another story though but right now I'm just trying to fix the important issues. The problem at hand are my brakes.
I was noticing a couple days ago (maybe I never noticed it that much as it was a new vehicle to me) that when I apply the brakes it sounds like a bicycle pump and the pedal travels nearly all the way down. It doesn't hit the firewall but I'd probably guess it has 3 more inches or less until it bottoms out. The hissing only occurs as the pedal travels and stops when the brake pedal isn't moving.
Now I'm not sure if the hissing sound is normal as I replaced the brake booster (from the junkyard though) and the new one still hisses when I apply brakes. The brakes seem to work okay, could be more sensitive it's just the pedal feels soft until it almost bottoms out like I stated before and the the brakes grab a little bit harder. What could it be?
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Got Elantra GT 6 month ago. Good car, but it seems I have a very common problem of Elantras - lost of brakes. My car has TCS, but no ABS. It started 4 month ago. Car is fine for several weeks, but then within two days brake pedal getting from bad to worse. My mechanic already replaced master cylinder and right rear caliper. Did not work. Yesterday it was third time when I almost (very soft pedal) lost brakes. Today in Hyundai dealer service they bled the brakes and said "that they hope it will work". Their mechanic found air in both (left and right) rear brake lines. So, my question if I have a leak in, say, left line will it propagate to the right line? I am asking because I do not know the hydraulic schema of the brakes and want to collect as much info as possible.
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I just got my new 2014 RX350 a few weeks ago. After these weeks drive, I feel the Brake is kind of soft and unsensitive.
When I braking, the first part of the brake pad feels soft and the braking is not very efficient, until I push a lot of the brake pad, the braking becomes confident and efficient.
I used to drive my 2006 Nissan altima , and feels the brake pad is very sensitive. My new lexus makes me a little bit unconfident when following a car in a short distance.
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I have a 2001 Dodge Durang. 105k miles.
Brake pedal is real soft goes pretty far down (close to floor) before brakes kick in.
Check front disc pads and rear shoe pads, both look good. Fluid level is good. Bleed brake lines.
Pump brakes up when car is off, pedal is real firm till I turn car on an push on brake pedal right to the floor.
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I have an 07 v6 SE with 220k on the clock. Recently switched out my rear pads with no problem, but still had a small shake under braking - so tonight we pulled the front wheels off and switched the front pads and rotors out - did an oil change while it was there.
On it's first test drive - there's something wrong. The brake pedal travels all the way to the floor and is SUPER soft. It still stops. If I mash the pedal, the car will come to a sharp stop - testing on some sandy roads, the front brakes are definitely working - but the front pedal travel is WAY more than it was prior to the pad/rotor maintenance.
We ran out of light, so tomorrow we're going to get some new fluids and flush the system in case we got air in it.
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My B6 purchased exactly three weeks ago has had a soft brake pedal since day one. By "soft," I mean that when parked with the engine running and applying moderate pedal pressure, the brake pedal provides some resistance but sinks to the floor. If I pump it up a few times, it temporarily gets much firmer, but eventually sinks to the floor again after a few seconds. Now the car so far has never failed to actually stop, and it can get into the ABS. But during an abrupt (okay...panic) stop last week, it did go to the floor while the car was still moving. That's when I decided that was enough and took it back to be serviced.
My expectation was that there was just a small amount of air in a line somewhere, and that they could bleed the system and fix it. That was my experience with my B5: it was very sensitive to the least little bit of air, and if it wasn't thoroughly bled after brake service the pedal often got mushy and could find the floor. But bleeding them always get the pedal back to normal. So the service advisor said that he "had the service manager drive [my car] and compare it to a new Passat [on the lot] and talked to "Quality Tech. Manager to confirm." And the confirmation was that my brake system is "working as designed." In short, they say the brakes are working properly and there is nothing to fix. So I have now picked up the car and it still does the same thing.
Now I can (and will) bleed the brakes on my own over the weekend. But I would like feedback from others as to whether or not their brake pedals regularly see the floor. I just can't see this being the way any hydraulic brake system should work..
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I have a 2005 Santa Fe 2.7 V6.
For over a month I have had a soft brake pedal. For those that may not know what that is, I push my brake pedal down 3/4 of the way, and I'll finally feel the brakes catch; however, I cannot stop quickly. I have had to use the Sports Mode to slow down my car many times.
I brought it to my local mechanic and he has done the following:
1) he thought it might have been the master cylinder, so he replaced it. he checked the old master cylinder and found nothing wrong.
2) bled the brake system a couple of times, but it still came back
3) brought my car to the local dealer to drain the ABS system. The problem still came back.
I waited over an hour as the dealership's service department checked out the car. Someone finally came to me and said they checked the lines and they are not leaking, so it has to be the master cylinder. I told the guy that it's a brand new cylinder, and when the mechanic looked at the old one, he said there was nothing wrong with it. All he could say was it's not the lines, it's the cylinder. If I had the problem before & after the master cylinder was replaced, & nothing was wrong with the original master cylinder, how is it the master cylinder?
I called my local mechanic on my way home from the dealership and told him what happened. He said he was going to do some research, mentioned something about replacing something with the ABS and he would call me today.
I searched the forums for brake issues and saw something about cracked ABS rings. Could that be an issue? Could it be something else?
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Ever since I took my 18" wheels off for the winter and put the stock VW 16's with snow tires I have on multiple occasions almost rear ended the car in front of me when I experienced what seemed like a loss of brake pressure. The brake pedal did not feel spongy or anything but often in this situation the abs brakes seem to kick in for no reason. I feel a slight pulsation in the brake pedal which I can only assume is an activation of abs. I'm wondering if this slight pulsation (1 second duration ) is causing my brakes to be less effective. The pavement has been completely dry and I was not traveling fast enough, nor pressing the brakes hard enough to cause the tires to lock and trip the abs.
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Soft Pedal. 2004 Santa Fe, front wheel drive 4cyl, 2.4l
When I first owned this Santa Fe the brake pedal was high and had lots of stopping power, over the last few years I noticed the pedal was getting lower. I have replaced everything needed thus far including pads, rotors and everything has recently been serviced front/rear/emergency brake/ calipers and still a soft pedal. Had the guys in our recon shop replace master cylinder and bleed the lines a few times with a full week in between bleeding to ensure there was no air in the lines. The mechanics are stumped but I'm wondering if we missed something...... I still can stop no problem but there is no grab in brakes until pedal is half way down to the floor or worse.
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I got the attached warning today on my 2010 LS600. The pedal felt a little soft after the warning. It kept popping off and on, dinging every 30-40 seconds.
I checked the brake fluid, it was full. Car has 36k
I had it towed in to Lexus and they couldn't get the warning to come back up.
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I have a 2000 Grand Prix 3.8 with 65,000 miles. Bought the car new for the wife to drive. The front brake lines rusted out. My wife has a friend who is a backyard mechanic. She had him replace the front brake lines, from the abs block to each front wheel. Well she finally told me that the brake pedal is not right. I went out and sure enough with pressure on the pedal it goes to an inch off the floor. I bled all for lines at each caliper, no change in pedal. I bled almost a full bottle of fluid. You can pump the pedal for 10 minutes and no change in the pedal. I don't think it is air in the line. I changed the pads and rotors on all four corners last fall. The brake pedal was normal then.
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I recently purchased a 2014 Prius with the package 5 trim. I'm completely loving the car, but noticed when stepping on the brake pedal I hear a soft "swoosh" noise from under the dash. Almost like a short vacuum or sucking sound. The car has 500 miles, and I don't recall hearing that noise initially.
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What is the likely culprit? No other electrical issues, brake light quit working when brake is depressed, all other lights work including blinkers/running/head. Was going to break out a wiring diagram....
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While in Tow/Haul with my 5th wheel when slowing down probably at 5 or 10 mph the last downshift is very hard and the brake pedal gets real soft until full stop. Afterwards the brake pedal is firm. Tow/Haul without the trailer is fine. It's an '06 F250 Supercrew 4x4.
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I have an 04 6.0 psd and if I am stopped in drive with the brake pedal down I can't turn my steering wheel at all. If the truck is in park and my foot off the brake pedal I can turn the steering wheel both ways just fine. When I am driving I don't have any problems with the steering. I have checked the power steering fluid and it is full. This makes it kind of hard when I am trying to pull in and out of parking spots. What could be causing this and what the solution would be to fix it?
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I have an ABS issue. Coming off the free way ramp my abs will engage when I apply the brake peddle. This only happens turning right. doing the same to the left seems to feel something but not as apparent as to the right. I have no ABS light on and no code.
Last year I replaced the left front wheel hub. but didn't have any issues until this. One more thing I was getting a feeling on my brake pedal last week as if my front rotors needed to be replaced. So I did. Rotors and pads. still feel the same. could my rear rotors need replacing as well?
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