Brakes acting up in cold weather

[powerstrokinfirefighter]

So truck has been parked for a few days and the temperature today is the coldest its been all winter, about 0* with the wind. Got in after letting it warm up and noticed the pedal was extremely hard, would only move a little. Took it down the road to see if it would work itself out. They stayed stiff at first then as I would hit the brake, the pedal would move down on its own, and the brakes would sufficiently stop the truck. However, the pedal would not come back up on its own, I had to pull it back with my foot. I've noticed a lot of issues with OBS brakes are vacuum pump related, but didn't find anything exactly like what is happening with mine. I just find it strange they started acting up with the cold weather

 

[powerstrokinfirefighter]

Bump

 

[mandkole]

Vac pump issues?

 

[powerstrokinfirefighter]

I'm thinking that might be it, but a quick update in this. Took it out yesterday when the temp was in the mid 30's and the brakes worked fine, so I am still not sure it's vacuum pump related.

 

[Patrick Feeley]

When my brake pedal was "sucking down" on the application of the pedal (and also not "returning" as quickly as it normally would), it turned out to be my brake booster (Note: My problem was not related to temperature). I got a new one from Ford (I ordered the "zero-loss" booster for no particular reason) and problem solved.

Brake Booster, Zero-Loss (94-97)
(Ford) F5TZ-2005-CA (not a service replacement; it must be ordered by the part number, not vehicle application … from TSB 96-25-19, but TSB number not verified)

Cheers!

 

[powerstrokinfirefighter]

Thanks for the part number, I was thinking potentially the booster. Might just run through the whole braking system and replace a lot. Can't really hurt

 

[backwoodsboy]

My guess would be you have condensation in the vacuum lines. I experienced similar issues with an old plow truck.
I used PolyWater Electric Contact Cleaner to purge the vacuum lines an never had another issue after that.

 

[powerstrokinfirefighter]

My guess would be you have condensation in the vacuum lines. I experienced similar issues with an old plow truck.
I used PolyWater Electric Contact Cleaner to purge the vacuum lines an never had another issue after that.

How did you go about doing this? Just pull a vacuum line it's running and add the cleaner? I'm definitely thinking it's frozen somewhere, as I had the same issue yesterday again.

 

[96farmstroke]

Did you ever resolve this problem? I am having the same issue now and can't find a solution(I recently replaced pump and booster).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[powerstrokinfirefighter]

Replaced the booster which took care of the pedal sacking down. Sold the truck to a buddy and hasn't had that problem. Brakes haven't been great for him, and he's replaces most of the braking system on the truck.