No brakes, the pedal went to the floor

AC1954

MEMBER
2004 FORD FREESTAR
3.9L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
252,400 MILES

I put new seals on front calipers but in the process of waiting on parts the clamp pinching right brake hose came off and master cylinder ran empty. With it put back together I vacuum bled the front but couldn't get a pedal, so I bled the rears. Still no pedal so I started engine, pumped brake pedal and finally got a pedal with engine off only so I plugged in Xtool scanner and tried to bleed ABS but when I selected icon it says unsupported. What next, continue bleeding brakes? The brakes worked fine before other than one seized piston on each side which I fixed. I submitted this question over the weekend, but I didn't recall anywhere that asked for email. Thanks in advance!

4 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,747 POSTS

Hi,

By any chance, did you by accident switch the calipers so that the bleeders are at the bottom rather than the top? Also, if you pump the brake pedal until it holds, and then maintain pressure, will the pedal slowly go to the floor?

Let me know.

I attached the directions from the manual for bleeding. Take a look through them and see if you are missing anything.

Let me know.

Joe

See pcs below.

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Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 AT 8:31 PM

AC1954

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Bleeders are on top; problem is I get no pedal when pumping. Today I am going to go back through and bleed all 4 starting at the back and see what happens. Keep you posted, thanks.

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Wednesday, May 11th, 2022 AT 6:30 AM

AC1954

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Bled lines again, left rear is not getting fluid so I took brake hose off to see if it had collapsed, it's fine so I put vacuum pump on open brake line and get nothing, so I followed lines up to ABS looking for a pinched line or rusted but all seemed good. Would commanding ABS to come on with scanner force fluid through? I think my scanner supports that but it is not a bleeding function.

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Wednesday, May 11th, 2022 AT 11:42 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,747 POSTS

Hi,

At this point, it almost sounds like the brake master cylinder is bad. Do you get a powerful stream of fluid from the right rear?

Let me know. Also, when the brake pedal goes to the floor, oftentimes that can cause damage to the plungers in the master cylinder. When they travel to areas that could be dirty or corroded, it can cause the plungers to be damaged and allow fluid to bypass them.

Take a look through this link and let me know if it helps in any way:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/brake-pedal-goes-to-the-floor

Let me know.

Joe

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Wednesday, May 11th, 2022 AT 7:46 PM