ol_blue

Hey guys. I have a 99 F150 with 183k miles. Ive had it for about a year now and have had only had a few problems with it (mainly high oil consumption, which i expected).. I was driving around a field, admittedly through some thick brush at some points, and i noticed that to stop the truck, i had to really get on the break pedal. Even at very low speeds i was having to push the pedal almost all the way to the floor..

Now a little while after i first got the truck i had the back breaks replaced, but as i am no mechanic, im not sure where this problem would derive from. I thought maybe this could have something to do with the master cylinder?.. but the break fluid appears to be at normal levels and i have not noticed it leaking at all.

As i returned to the road, the problem continued and made stopping from 55 quite challenging. i feel pretty sure that if i had to stop at any sort of urgency, i would have a hell of a time. So if any of yall have had this same problem i would love some feedback. Again the problem is that the pedal almost goes to the floor, and even then its like the breaks dont fully apply.. this problem arose all of the sudden so im not sure what the problem might be.. Thanks everyone

twin

sounds like you may need your brakes bled?? im not sure just throwing ideas....thats kinda scary tho

spanz

Just bought a 99. Took it to my favorite mechanic, and the 1st thing he did was to replace most of the brake lines--all rusted to poo. I suspect you have the same problem, a brake line rusted and the fluid leaked out.

What is your brake fluid level? That stuff does not evaporate...if it is low it is going somewhere.

Obviously, it is something you have to fix! When you push on the brake pedal, you really want to truck to stop!

ol_blue

yeah i was thinking that might help, but im going to try and isolate the problem before i try something that might not work. i guess ill have to have a mechanic take a look, unfortunately

ol_blue

well i also had a mechanic take a look at mine. since he didnt mention anything i hope all of the lines are good. thats a thought though ill check them out.. and my break fluid seems to be pretty good. i could top it off but its within the acceptable range so i dont think the problem is there

TheJMC

Soft pedal could be the master cylinder with an internal leak. A hard pedal could be a leaking brake booster or the check valve.

nathanpeters75

to check for a broken break line which i think may have happened for soft breaks after offroading is park the truck on a hard soft surface if its in your driveway i would sugest putting some cardboard down and start your truck and pump the brakes slowley and as hard as you can 15 or 20 times than get under and look for wet spots and that would be just below where you broke or blew a break line hope this helps

apoirier594

When did this happen? How long have you been driving like this?

It could be pretty simple or not..
But check the hose for the brakes, like the vacuum. I put seafoam in my car about a month ago through the brake vacuum hose. Well I didn't attach it back right and I had to stomp it to slow it down, if someone jumped in front of me I would have hit them, I just drove in my neighbor hood after I used the seafoam and re-attched the hose in a different direction and it all worked great and normal again

ol_blue

Thanks for all of the help guys.. as for timing- Thursday the breaks were normal. Friday i did not drive the truck. and Saturday is when i drove the truck through some brush and also when the problem first arose. I just drove the truck about an hour ago and low and behold, the breaks seem to be somewhat back to normal. I did pump the breaks as "nathanpeters75" suggested and i did not see any leakage. im not sure whether i should be more worried or not. my thought is: with the problem not being constant, it might be even harder to diagnose? But i rechecked my brake fluid and its just below the max and well within the accepted range... again thanks to everyone that has provided feedback

nathanpeters75

if you have the same problem again i would pull the droms and see if maybe a pin broke on one of your rear shoes making the wheel cylindor slip out of place by times when the shoe moves out of place you usually get a clunking noise when this happens but if you arnt getting proper contactwith the shoes and the cylinder comes out to far you will get a soft peddal and next to no brakes and a new hold down kit runs about 10 bucks