New to powerstroke world, and a lot of issues.

[warhog]

I came over from the old 6.9 side of things. I just picked up a 97 powerstroke crew cab manual 4x4 for a decent price since it needs quite a bit of work. I'm going to need some advice because my knowledge is limited on what's common etc.

First, brakes suck.
Like, will barely completely stop you. Fluid is topped off, no grinding screeching or anything like that. They work pretty decent if you're up to speed and slowing down for a pot hole, but other than that, you can barely come to a complete stop. ABS and BRAKE light are on. Thoughts?

Next. Clutch pedal doesn't work.
In terms of "doesn't work" i mean it doesn't do anything to the clutch itself. It has about as much pressure to the pedal as a disconnected ebrake pedal, though it does return to the top when released. I replaced the slave cylinder with high hopes, but no change.

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

bad rabs posibly
bad slave cylinder hopefully, or the fork fell off

 

[warhog]

i just changed the clutch slave tonight, no change. Bled it forever too. What's a rabs?

 

[Can30Diesel]

RABS = Rear Antilock Brake Sensor I believe.

Welcome to the world of PSD!

 

[warhog]

Thanks, i'm seriously considering not keeping this thing too long lol. No brakes and no working clutch, i smell this getting expensive fast.

 

[IDIoit]

WELL YOU BIT THE BULLET.
time to bleed! out of the wallet
i would disconnect the brake booster and see if anything changes.
if no change, then your booster is bad. or lack of vacuum?
as far as the clutch goes, pull the inspection cover and have a friend operate the clutch.
dont forget to chalk the tires, your cranium wouldnt look good with tread marks.

fix it, and drive it before you make a decision. you might fall in love like a 16 year old at a **********.

 

[79jasper]

Sounds like low vacuum on the brakes.
Check or just replace the clutch master. Could've same time/effort buy getting the whole prebleed unit. Along with that, check the clutch pushrod bushing, and pedal box bushings.
Also adjust the rear brakes.

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[lindstromjd]

Sounds like low vacuum on the brakes.
Check or just replace the clutch master. Could've same time/effort buy getting the whole prebleed unit. Along with that, check the clutch pushrod bushing, and pedal box bushings.
Also adjust the rear brakes.

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This is important for brakes to function properly on bigger trucks. The rears engage before the fronts, unlike the half tons. But if you haven't changed out your master cylinder, I would go ahead and do that. Just make sure you bench bleed it completely before you install it, otherwise you'll create more problems for yourself.

How did you bleed the clutch assembly? There's a very specific way to do it, and if you do it any other way, you'll never get all the air out of the lines. You bleed from the top, not the bottom. As in, once you have the slave cylinder hooked up to the line, you never open up the system afterwards again. So you don't use a bleeder screw, you just take the cover off the master cylinder and then take the slave cylinder out of it's mount and cycle the pushrod on the slave in as far as it will go and hold it for a second, and then slowly let it back out. Do that about 20 times and see if it doesn't get better. Do it slowly or else you'll get fluid all over everything when it pushes out from the top.

 

[OLDBULL8]

With the brake light ON, that indicates the master brake cylinder is low on fluid. If it's real low, then the brakes will have to be bled. Take it to a Ford dealer and see if the recall has been done on the master brake cyl., that's very important. If you don't have a brake vacuum power booster, then you have hydro power assist brakes. Check fluid in the power steering pump. Don't know about the 97's, but you may have 4w disc brakes, there would be no adjustment to them, other than to bleed them.

 

[warhog]

i'll try disconnecting the booster and see what happens. There def is a booster so that means no hydro boost on this truck, is that correct? The brake master is perfectly filled to the line.

The pushrod inside the cab attached to the pedal, IS loose. It's missing it's bushing and likely hollowed out the master pushrod by now. I'm able to pop it on and off pretty easily, but i imagine a new master would come with a new pushrod so not too concerned there as i'm not convinced the rod itself is my complete issue. If I lay under the truck and have the wife operate the clutch, it ever so slightly moves the fork (i think its called) on the transmission.

What is the "pedal box" i see referred to a lot?

Any suggestions on pre bleeding the clutch master? For the slave, I filled the new with fluid and pumped a bunch while filling until no air bubbles were coming any longer, disconnected the old slave and let it drain until steady drips came out. Connected new slave to line, and with the pedal up, and resiviour cap off, and the pushrod at the lowest point, i slowly pumped the living hell out of the slave. i'd say a good 100 times while stopping to check if it was making any progress. The slave itself is very very firm to compress now. But the pedal is pretty weak. Everything appears to be connected, it feels exactly as when my 86 rusted out the firewall and was flexing at the clutch master .

I'll check the power steering fluid, didn't think of that.

 

[farmiron]

my guess the rear brakes are not working gear oil ?wheel cyls?the clutch try putting a line on the bleeder screw into a clear container pedal the fluid a few times ,if the fluid is blackish the mc seals are gone replace the seals so any issues with the psd 444E??

 

[warhog]

I don't think i saw any sort of bleeder screw for the clutch

 

[79jasper]

No bleeder.
On the pedal box bushings wiggle the pedals and see if they move. Also while pushing the clutch pedal down, see if the brake pedal moves.

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[warhog]

brake pedal moves slightly when pushing the clutch pedal down

 

[79jasper]

So you also need new bushings. I can search the part number if you need it.
But it's not hard to find.
Which I'm not going to say it is your problem, but can be related.

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