Another 2.3 brakes issue thread: it's a real problem this time

[JohnHunter]

Scary man! Glad it hasn’t resulted in an accident, even at low speeds. Hopefully someone here will have experience or good advice for you.

Thanks. So far getting great advice here. Parallel parking is the least of my worries. I'm worried about traveling a bit faster while doing an extreme turn and the brakes failing.

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[JohnHunter]

Not sure how a choked or pinched brake line would cause pedal to become spongy or bottom out. No different than folding over a garden hose to remove nozzle while water is on. Pressure stays same between faucet and pinch.

Yeah that makes sense. Even if a line to a rear wheel was choked and not providing stopping power, it doesn't explain the loss of pressure.

 

[RimrockPaul]

TLDR: Vehicle is losing brake pressure when steering wheel is turned to the extreme and coming to a stop.

2.3 Badlands SAS. A few weeks back I began noticing occasional loss of brake pressure when moving at slow speeds, and particularly when parallel parking. The brake pedal loses most of its pressure and reaches all the way to the floor. aka spongy brakes.

I brought the Bronco to the dealership service to have a look at the brake system. They could not reproduce the problem, but bled the brake lines anyway for good measure. Unfortunately bleeding the brakes didn't help and the problem persists.

It took me a few days of trial and error, but I can now reliably reproduce the problem. I've narrowed it down to the brakes losing pressure when the steering wheel is turned to it's extreme (e.g. when parallel parking.)

Steps to reproduce:
1. Pull up next to the car in front of the spot I intend to pull into.
2. Put the car in reverse and cut the wheel all the way.
3. Begin pulling into the spot.
4. Get the ass end into the spot and cut the wheel all the way in the opposite direction.
5. Apply brake. Brakes lose pressure and I need to sink the brake pedal all the way to the floor to bring the car to a complete stop.

Has anyone experienced this problem before? Is there anyone mechanically inclined who can weigh in on the problem? Ideally it would be great if there is a Ford engineer on the board who can provide some insight.

That sounds strange all right. I tried to duplicate with my 2.3 base MT. Couldn't duplicate.

 

[JohnHunter]

That sounds strange all right. I tried to duplicate with my 2.3 base MT. Couldn't duplicate.

Thanks for checking! This wasn't a problem for the first 7k miles on my Bronco. It's a problem that crept up in the past couple of months. My suspicion is that some component is failing, and it's not a systemic problem with Broncos in general.

 

[BAronco]

My brakes felt fine until I started experiencing this problem.

I feel like I should take it in. When I get in my explorer my head almost hits the dash because I’m used to the bronco brakes

 

[RHeinz]

Can your issue be reproduced in the opposite direction/sequence ?

is it possible that you have a rock, mud, debris that is interfering with one of the front calipers at full steering lock?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

TLDR: Vehicle is losing brake pressure when steering wheel is turned to the extreme and coming to a stop.

2.3 Badlands SAS. A few weeks back I began noticing occasional loss of brake pressure when moving at slow speeds, and particularly when parallel parking. The brake pedal loses most of its pressure and reaches all the way to the floor. aka spongy brakes.

I brought the Bronco to the dealership service to have a look at the brake system. They could not reproduce the problem, but bled the brake lines anyway for good measure. Unfortunately bleeding the brakes didn't help and the problem persists.

It took me a few days of trial and error, but I can now reliably reproduce the problem. I've narrowed it down to the brakes losing pressure when the steering wheel is turned to it's extreme (e.g. when parallel parking.)

Steps to reproduce:
1. Pull up next to the car in front of the spot I intend to pull into.
2. Put the car in reverse and cut the wheel all the way.
3. Begin pulling into the spot.
4. Get the ass end into the spot and cut the wheel all the way in the opposite direction.
5. Apply brake. Brakes lose pressure and I need to sink the brake pedal all the way to the floor to bring the car to a complete stop.

Has anyone experienced this problem before? Is there anyone mechanically inclined who can weigh in on the problem? Ideally it would be great if there is a Ford engineer on the board who can provide some insight.

Hey there! I can look into your Bronco’s brake concerns on my end if you’d like. Will you send us a private message with your VIN and dealership info?

 

[mj63]

Thinking about this, it might be a failing (or not properly tightened) front wheel bearing allowing the wheel and brake rotor to twist around the axle/caliper with high lateral force pushing the brake caliper piston in. It might explain the whole 2nd push on the brake pedal seeming to work better thing (first press gets rid of knockback, 2nd press actually squeezes the brake rotor).

 

[JohnHunter]

Thinking about this, it might be a failing (or not properly tightened) front wheel bearing allowing the wheel and brake rotor to twist around the axle/caliper with high lateral force pushing the brake caliper piston in. It might explain the whole 2nd push on the brake pedal seeming to work better thing (first press gets rid of knockback, 2nd press actually squeezes the brake rotor).

Thanks for the insight. The more ideas I can give to the dealership the better!

 

[JohnHunter]

I was able to reproduce the problem at the dealership service dept. They are now working with Ford to get to a resolution. I'll be sure to post updates. Thanks everyone for the great ideas so far!

 

[JohnHunter]

My Bronco is still at the dealership, and it's been about two weeks after some back and forth with Ford. I'll give it another couple of weeks at the dealership before I start looking into my state's lemon laws.

 

[red.radar]

My Bronco is still at the dealership, and it's been about two weeks after some back and forth with Ford. I'll give it another couple of weeks at the dealership before I start looking into my state's lemon laws.

Just following up, Did they ever get to root cause?

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