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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Hyundai Sonata Steering Noise - YouTube ....

What it could be?

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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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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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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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