FIX YOUR MUSHY BRAKES

[MountainGoat]

I had it bookmarked
https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/fix-your-mushy-brakes.15581/

For me though it didn't make any difference, still spongy brakes.

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[RangerPNW]

Worked wonders for me. Just don't be surprised when the bleed process makes an awful racket, scared the hell out of me

 

[sandog]

The Forscan fix for the brakes made mine much better.
I now have insurance through Progressive, they were the lowest rate, better even than USAA.

The Snapshot thing is supposed to save you a bit of money, so I put the app on my phone.
All my driving habits are fine according to them, except every trip the app says "HARD BRAKING".

I drove a tanker for the last 10 years, so if anybody has a light foot on the brake, it is me.
But the Snapshot app probably think anyone that drives a Ranger brakes hard all the time.

 

[Wytchdctr]

Worked wonders for me. Just don't be surprised when the bleed process makes an awful racket, scared the hell out of me

I am really glad someone warned me about the noise. I had people looking at my truck all crazy from two houses down and I swear a bunch of birds took flight from a forest nearby.

 

[Drew Toner]

Thanks Gentleman,

I'll try it and see what results I get!

 

[Drew Toner]

OK, guys, I followed through with the complete process, and yes, pedal is now within an inch of the top, a bit soft yet, (brakes were just checked today by ford actually, and are still 10/8 in very good condition) but certainly not mushy at all!!

 

[Violentknight]

hello,i have tried the abs bleed procedure. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but when i do it forscan says it should take 21 seconds, the noise goes crazy, the progress bar on the bottom gets to about 90 % i think, and that's it, is nothing else seems to happen, ppl here have mentioned pop ups about bleed screws but i get nothing. seems like the procedure stalls out after doing the front without doing the rear
any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[kskr]

hello,i have tried the abs bleed procedure. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but when i do it forscan says it should take 21 seconds, the noise goes crazy, the progress bar on the bottom gets to about 90 % i think, and that's it, is nothing else seems to happen, ppl here have mentioned pop ups about bleed screws but i get nothing. seems like the procedure stalls out after doing the front without doing the rear
any advice would be greatly appreciated

hello,i have tried the abs bleed procedure. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but when i do it forscan says it should take 21 seconds, the noise goes crazy, the progress bar on the bottom gets to about 90 % i think, and that's it, is nothing else seems to happen, ppl here have mentioned pop ups about bleed screws but i get nothing. seems like the procedure stalls out after doing the front without doing the rear
any advice would be greatly appreciated

If everyone would report their mushy brake problem to NHTSA then maybe Ford would do a recall and fix them.

 

[airline tech]

Just a question for owners that have fixed their mushy brake issue, when you press on your brake pedal at stop light does it stay hard and firm or does it slowly fade down to floor? I tried to get mine done under warranty, but the service writer got in it and said that it is normal for new vehicles and said that in order for them to look at it they have to confirm issue. Being a former ASE Cert brake tech (30 years ago), I find this hard to believe. So, I performed Brake Bleed myself with my Autel Scanner (same procedure as ForScan) and did normal bleed at calipers via vacuum as I was by myself. No help. Brake action is normal except for pedal fade to floor, if you keep light pressure on pedal, it does not fade then if you press harder it drops. I plan on doing another bleed with helper and see if that makes any difference. I kind of suspect either air still in system or by-passing master cylinder or new normal - and have to adjust to it

Is my description - the same as all the mushy brake complaints or something different?

So, I'm looking for what is normal for our Rangers

Thanks

 

[AdamHarris]

No I’m going to say your pedal should not be going to the floor at all. I mean sure if you stomp harder on it it’s gonna go down a little bit more but it should bottom out. You have a problem that needs to be addressed.

 

[RedDakooter05]

Mine touches the floor if I keep consistent light pressure on it, but abrupt or harder applications it does not bottom out.

 

[Muffin1]

Mine does exactly the same, I could be at a red light and pretty much push it (almost) to the floor, soft all the way, but a panic or hard stop, it stops. I just don’t like the feel and my previous ‘18 F150 was the same.
I wonder if the dealer would do the Forscan bleed if you were to offer to pay out of pocket, I failed to ever get Forscan to even open as a file on my computer so I gave up that route.

 

[airline tech]

Update, I got my daughter to help today, had her pump brake pedal and hold. I got a ton of air out of R/Rear Caliper. It was enough that I went from max fill down below min fill at the master cylinder before I stopped getting air bubbles. so that brake line was confirmed full of air, the rest of the calipers only a small amount of air was found. Brake pedal now feels firm at stop light, but under hard foot pressure it sinks/fades to floor. Which is NORMAL

Before the bleed, even light foot pressure would cause it to go to floor. I can't understand how and why (Ford's Service Department's) discourage doing anything for this issue. (Except it's Warranty -Work) and they don't make money on Warranty Work). I can bet that when it's out of Warranty - it will be sure bring it in. Issues like this is why I will always do my own work on my vehicles except for tires and alignments. If I had the equipment, I would do them as well

I performed numerous hard brake test today in an open parking lot - so brake bedding is now completed, the truck now stops on a dime. Before today's bleed it didn't, the brake bedding does help with the brake grab response, but the bleed is what fixes the mushy pedal - CONFIRMED

We all have the ability to perform the service bleed via Scanner like (Autel , Snap-On etc) and Forscan, and I wanted to use the ABS Module to perform the bleed, but I am not sure how much fluid would pump out of bleeder screw during its activation cycle and did not want to chance emptying the Master Cylinder even with using the autofill bottle. I have hooked up to master cylinder. (Sits on top of master cylinder) I think it may need to have a tank style machine. Plus, I'm not sure if its constant pressure or does it pulse it? kind of-hard to do unless you have proper tooling set-up. Back in my Auto Mech days we just used a Pressure Bleed-Tank or Another Mech to Pump Brake Pedal. So, I have never seen it done with the ABS Module. I have owned a Bi-Directional scanner for the last 20 years or so, but I have never used this function
I have Forscan as well, Forscan can do things that my 1500-dollar scanner can't. (Bambi-Mode Etc)
I hope this helps - others

 

[Deleted member 15875]

Just a question for owners that have fixed their mushy brake issue, when you press on your brake pedal at stop light does it stay hard and firm or does it slowly fade down to floor? I tried to get mine done under warranty, but the service writer got in it and said that it is normal for new vehicles and said that in order for them to look at it they have to confirm issue. Being a former ASE Cert brake tech (30 years ago), I find this hard to believe. So, I performed Brake Bleed myself with my Autel Scanner (same procedure as ForScan) and did normal bleed at calipers via vacuum as I was by myself. No help. Brake action is normal except for pedal fade to floor, if you keep light pressure on pedal, it does not fade then if you press harder it drops. I plan on doing another bleed with helper and see if that makes any difference. I kind of suspect either air still in system or by-passing master cylinder or new normal - and have to adjust to it

Is my description - the same as all the mushy brake complaints or something different?

So, I'm looking for what is normal for our Rangers

Thanks

So mine has a foot of play before the brakes start to engage....Pretty annoying.

 

[Car Guy Bill]

Update, I got my daughter to help today, had her pump brake pedal and hold. I got a ton of air out of R/Rear Caliper. It was enough that I went from max fill down below min fill at the master cylinder before I stopped getting air bubbles. so that brake line was confirmed full of air, the rest of the calipers only a small amount of air was found. Brake pedal now feels firm at stop light, but under hard foot pressure it sinks/fades to floor. Which is NORMAL

Before the bleed, even light foot pressure would cause it to go to floor. I can't understand how and why (Ford's Service Department's) discourage doing anything for this issue. (Except it's Warranty -Work) and they don't make money on Warranty Work). I can bet that when it's out of Warranty - it will be sure bring it in. Issues like this is why I will always do my own work on my vehicles except for tires and alignments. If I had the equipment, I would do them as well

I performed numerous hard brake test today in an open parking lot - so brake bedding is now completed, the truck now stops on a dime. Before today's bleed it didn't, the brake bedding does help with the brake grab response, but the bleed is what fixes the mushy pedal - CONFIRMED

We all have the ability to perform the service bleed via Scanner like (Autel , Snap-On etc) and Forscan, and I wanted to use the ABS Module to perform the bleed, but I am not sure how much fluid would pump out of bleeder screw during its activation cycle and did not want to chance emptying the Master Cylinder even with using the autofill bottle. I have hooked up to master cylinder. (Sits on top of master cylinder) I think it may need to have a tank style machine. Plus, I'm not sure if its constant pressure or does it pulse it? kind of-hard to do unless you have proper tooling set-up. Back in my Auto Mech days we just used a Pressure Bleed-Tank or Another Mech to Pump Brake Pedal. So, I have never seen it done with the ABS Module. I have owned a Bi-Directional scanner for the last 20 years or so, but I have never used this function
I have Forscan as well, Forscan can do things that my 1500-dollar scanner can't. (Bambi-Mode Etc)
I hope this helps - others

Thanks for the post I had mine back to the dealer to do the ABS Blead and that helped for a short period of time. I then took it back a few weeks later and paid them to do a full bleed of the system. There was no difference in the breaking. I contacted Ford and got them to reimburse me for my service ticket for bleeding.

This was back when I purchased the truck about six moths ago. Yesterday I purchased the correct DOT 4 LV Break Fluid and did an oil change and break bleed the old school Race Car way and the RR Had a Shit Tun of air in it. The truck now drives the way it should for the size of braking system it has.

Sucks we have to do this ourselves but at least that fixed it. I have much more confidence in the truck now. Its days are still numbered and when the order banks open for the Ranger Raptor it will be going by by.



Thanks again.

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