Archived No brakes!

[bhutchinson]

After driving about 20 miles, I was sitting on a steeply inclined driveway yesterday, dropping off a passenger, and as I sat there with the brake pedal applied as the passenger got out of the truck, the pedal proceeded to slowly descend all the way to the floor! The brakes held the truck in position. After the passenger exited, I backed down the short drive and into the street. I could not regain any pedal resistance. I have no brakes until the pedal reaches the extent of its travel, then the brakes apply.



I checked under the truck and saw no signs of any leaks. The master cylinder has plenty of fluid. About a month ago, I replaced the rear brake pads and one rotor, and have had no adverse effects until now.



I have looked in the Manual, and it looks like it may be a master cylinder bypass or could it possibly be the ABS system? How do I test to determine which one?



I left the truck at my buddy's house and he let me borrow his Ram to get myself home. I have to go back to check it out and am going to cycle the start key to see if I get any diagnostic code that may help narrow down the problem.



Any thoughts?

 

[B.G. Smith]

Sounds like you have a line leak or a caliper leak, could also be the master cylinder and you probably only have two wheel braking right now. To see which end is working, get on some loose soil and try to lock up the brakes. If only two wheel slide then you can concentrate your search for the problem to the other end or the master cylinder. bg