hi I am a newbie my name is paul and I live in cleveland I have a

1997 Ford Explorer
2dr 5 speep sport 4wd


with the used SUV I have a few question I replaced all the brakes,rotors, and bleed the brakes but yet I am still having a problem with the brakes the problem is the brakes are not clamping and I can't perform a complete stop without the anit-lock going off, the brakes feel very spongy. I had the Anti-lock checked and it needs a new speed sensor I was wondering if anybody has any expirence in replacing them? I'm not to familar on how they work because I this my first ford that I have owned so it would much appreciated if anybody could help me out on this. I also am looking to get a class 3 or 4 hitch so I was wondering if anybody knew of any good place to get one in the cleveland area or bordering area.

 

Welcome Paul,

If you are on the east side try JD Hitchworks for the receiver, they're off Vine St. in Eastlake. Not the cheapest, but you won't find better quality anywhere.

 

Hi and Welcome to the Ohio chapter.

Thank you for stopping by. FTE is a great place for info, this chapter is growing and i hope you'll drop by and throw your 2 cents in .please take the time to read some of the ongoing threads here in O.C. and be sure to log in as a chapter member, to do this by going to user cp, then to settings scroll down to chapter membership and click .

and heres a good place to post any ????? on your explorer they'll be glad to help out click here

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/f...splay.php?f=32

 

Welcome along!! This is great two newbies in one week!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooo excited!

 

Welcome to the O.C.

I have a few questions to ask.
1) How many miles are on the Explorer?
2) Have you replaceed all the fluid in the brake system?
3) What type of brake fluid did you use? DOT 3/4 or DOT 5?

I have no experience with anti-lock brakes. But the spongy feel I can relate with. I have found out that if you replace all your brake fluid that will help in get more pedal feel and better clamping to the calipers and wheel cylinders. Brake fluid breaks down over time and also will get water in it from condensation. Plus replacing the brake fluid will help the calipers and wheel cylinders last longer. I have done this to the three vehicles I own. Dang what a difference. It will take sometime to complete but it's worth it.

Eric

 

I would first like to thank everybody for there responses. To answer your questions Eric, the explorer has 84k on it, my mechanic bleed the entire system braking wise everything was replaced, and I'm not totally sure what brake fluid he used probably dot 3/4. I guy I know has a computer to check anti-lock and we found that the speed sensor needed replaced, I haven't replaced a speed sensor nor has my mechanic. So I was just looking for some feedback on the diffculty on that.

 

well, I doubt that the speed sensor is gonna have anything to do with brake feeling. Its most likely in the transmission. Not to hard to do. I know that the ABS can be tricky to bleed and you may want to check the manual to see if there is special instructions for bleeding the ABS. I think you may find your problem within the ABS unit itself.

JiM