Low Brake pedal

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gerald2003r - 11 Apr 2006 06:50 GMT

Hi Everyone!

I have a 1994 Ford Taurus Wagon. The ABS system has not worked from
35,000 miles. The ABS light came on at about 30,000 and I took it in
and got it fixed at Ford. It worked for about 5,000 miles. I was busy
at the time and decided I could care less about ABS on my car so I
didn't bother to follow up on it. I now have 253,000 on the car, for
many years now I have noticed a low brake pedal. No matter what I do,
change calipers, flush the system with the one man brake bleeders,
change out the master cylinder. Nothing helps. Now keep in mine for the
advanced brake person here, the abs does bot work, I did take it to
firestone for a flush. They use the box to start the ABS pump,
supposedly anyway. No differance, I have a pedal drop of 2 1/2 to 3
inches. Can I remove this ABS system from the car? Does everything work
through the ABS system? I know I'm asking allot here and I thank you
for anything you can add to my knowledge of this system!

Gerald

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fireater - 13 Apr 2006 02:18 GMT

> Hi Everyone!
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Gerald

does that have drum brakes? on the rear?
i had that problem with some cars ... the rear shoe material was glued
on in the wrong place and the rear brakes would not auto adjust....
bought new shoes from dealer and way better. also new spring hardware
can help on the rear for this. worn drums can cause this as well.

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gerald2003r - 13 Apr 2006 05:03 GMT

Hi Fireater,

No this car has 4 disk brakes. This is the LX model. Last year I
replaced the 4 calipers and took that out of the loop of problems. I
replaced the master cylinder and it improved slightly. The ABS has not
worked since 35k so I think it has something to do with that. I did
take it recently to Firestone for a flush and they are supposed to use
the break out box to flush the abs too but it didn't help either. I
wish there was a way to remove the abs from this car and make it
simpler. I'll have to go back to Firestone and see if they got the abs
motor to start when they flushed it out. Fireater is was a great idea
and I thank you for the suggestion, I have heard of this type of
problem in prior years.

Gerald

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JohanB - 13 Apr 2006 05:16 GMT

Howbout have somebody read the codes ???

Does it flash a code before it comes on solid ?????

> Hi Fireater,
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Gerald

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gerald2003r - 13 Apr 2006 08:20 GMT

Hi JohanB,

Thanks for the idea! 35,000 miles was easy to put on working for hp so
my warranty did not last long in 1994, took a couple of months and I
was out of warranty. To busy to deal with the problem at that time I
took the light out of the dash, sorry but I did that back then. But
understanding the system a little I remember that the brake pedal would
do a test, it would give you a pump feel when you started the car. You
had to have your foot on the brake when you put it into drive and it
would give a test pump as part of the test of the system. As I
remember, it went to solid yellow, and no test pump from the pedal.
Whatever the failure was it happened quite soon after I had brought it
to Ford for the first repair at 33 or 34k miles. I remember being quite
disappointed that the same failure returned so quickly. But what I also
knew is that I had a wonderful highway car, it is truely a great
highway car. The brake feel at that point was still good. JohanB, if
you or others have knowledge about abs systems that you would like to
share I surely will try your ideas. I will put the light back in and
see what it says today. Thanks for all your help with this subject!

Gerald

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