F250 Brake Issue

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Im posting this for my neighbor. He bought a 2005 F250 6.0 Power Stroke yesterday, when he drove it the 35 miles back home, when he pulled in the driveway there was smoke coming from the left front wheel with an almost electrical burning smell. The hubs on the front and right rear were extremely hot and brake fluid was boiling out the cap and leaking from the bottom of the master cylinder. After letting it cool, we started up the truck and then the brake pedal sunk and there is no pressure but the fluid is still at an acceptable level in the Master Cylinder. The ABS light stayed on for a minute or 2 and then it turned off. He hasn't had it towed anywhere yet, but would the presumption be that the truck likely needs a new master cylinder, calipers, pads and likely rotors? The truck has 95,000 miles and 2950 engine hours, its a really nice truck.
 
Yes yes yes and yes at least. He should also have the brake system flushed - after boiling the fluid he can't be sure it is still serviceable.

Definitely want to take advantage of any warranty if there is one.
 
Who did he buy it from? Was it a person and it sat for awhile?

If it was a dealer I'd be going after some brake work from them.

Also IIRC that era of powerstroke was slightly below AWFUL.

He needs to check all the issues and confirm it has none of them or that they were fixed.
 
Sounds like the caliper(s) hung up.

Extremely common on these trucks, especially if they don't tow often or aren't used often. It's not the sliders that seize up but the piston in the bore of the caliper. I have a 2001 with 62K miles and pretty sure it's on it's 7th set of calipers.

What happened was the calipers hung and he kept driving to the point that it boiled the fluid (which you saw) and that caused the pedal to go to the floor.

If you're lucky, you can get by with replacing the right side calipers - I would do all 4 since the other side isn't far behind - and a brake fluid flush.

You *may* have lost an axle seal on the right rear side. Maybe caused damage to the wheel bearing in the right front. Calipers themselves may be bad now too from being heated up.
 
The vehicle was purchased from a dealer. This isn't your typical dealer though, its a real small town with hundreds of older used fords (including 4 Aerostars), some of which are literally sunk into the gravel up the rim. This particular truck had been there since April of this year....some of the vehicles had been there for years according to carfax. The vehicle was purchased as is/no warranty, in IL there is no return period when a vehicle is purchased used. His plan is to call the dealer this morning but likely will be told there is nothing that can be done.
 
Calipers will rust and get sticky on almost any vehicle if parked outside and not used for months.

Did he test drive before buying?
 
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Definitely time to replace master cylinder, and likely all 4 corners as well. Or at least a full inspection and fluid flush.

Also see if the parking brake has seized. Sitting vehicles eat brakes unfortunately...
 
Originally Posted By: SOHCman
Definitely time to replace master cylinder, and likely all 4 corners as well. Or at least a full inspection and fluid flush.

Also see if the parking brake has seized. Sitting vehicles eat brakes unfortunately...


Yes and possible wheel bearing or seal issues from the extreme brake heat..

also I found a list of possible engine issues

http://www.powerstrokehub.com/6.0-power-stroke-problems.html
This engine started the era of "Powerchoke" engines
More power and extreme lessening of reliability vs the previous 7.3L powerstroke.

Sounds like your neighbor just got a $1000-2000 wake up call for buying used truck without inspection.
 
Figure out the brake issues. I would start with the caliper in question and go on from there.

Then go to Powerstrokehelp.com. Look for 6.0 issues. Most people end up having a bunch of expensive upgrades done to make it a usable truck.
 
Originally Posted By: carguy996
The vehicle was purchased from a dealer. This isn't your typical dealer though, its a real small town with hundreds of older used fords (including 4 Aerostars), some of which are literally sunk into the gravel up the rim. This particular truck had been there since April of this year....some of the vehicles had been there for years according to carfax. The vehicle was purchased as is/no warranty, in IL there is no return period when a vehicle is purchased used. His plan is to call the dealer this morning but likely will be told there is nothing that can be done.


Interesting. What dealer is this?
 
Its the Ford Dealership in Delavan, IL. There were literally hundreds of Ford products from the 80's and early 90's just sitting there. It was actually quite a sight to see. Many of the vehicles had incredibly low miles. There were Aerostar's, 1st gen Explorer's, Mercury Villagers, Rangers, a Bronco II, it was quite a time capsule walking through the lot looking at all the vehicles. So many of them had flat tires or just are sunk into the ground.
 
They should have sold those cars years ago while they were still worth something. Now they're basically junk.
 
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