Maverick2001

The other night I went to get a pizza for dinner and when I got into the truck to come home, the brakes felt like they were being applied every time I would shift. It got worse as I tried to find somewhere to pull over out of the way and all four wheels where smoking hot and I could smell the brakes burning. I found out later that my wife mistakenly put power steering fluid in the brake resevoir. So my brother and I loaded it on a trailer ( I had to put it in 4WD to get it on the trailer) and took it to our shop. My dad and I bled all of the fluid out of it and replaced it with new fluid and replaced all the brake pads. I drove it home with no problems. Anyway (sorry for the long post) I got in it today and drove it up the road and it happened again, all four corners locked up. So does anyone have a clue as to what is causing the brakes to apply themselves? Thanks everyone for the help.

BTW the Truck is a 2005

Maverick2001

Anyone?

FMB

If it were happening to just one corner, I would suspect an internally collapsed hose, allowing pressure in (when applying brakes) and not allowing it to fully bleed back when releasing the brake. The collapsed hose is working kinda like a check valve. Since it is all 4 corners, I would look for something the PS fluid would eat closer to the reservoir first, then work my way out to the corners.

I am not a brake expert, but this is what I'd check out. Back to morning brew. . .

Dr.Dizzle

Given the brake system was contaminated by the addition of power steering fluid, it can and will distort each of the rubber components within the master cylinder, ABS unit, brake hoses, calipers,wheel cylinders, booster and any other brake component containing rubber.
The only sure way to correctly repair a system that has been contaminated in this manner is to replace all of the brake parts, front and rear that contain rubber components.

In addition to replacement of the brake system components, all of your steel brake lines will have to be flushed to remove any traces of the petroleum-
based fluid. Using brake fluid to do this will not remove the contaminants. It is a best practice to use either denatured alcohol or brake clean to perform the cleaning. Flush enough cleaner through each brake line to ensure all contaminants are removed. If you have acces to an air supply that is is dry, blow each line out, if not, allow the lines to air dry over a period of time.

Maverick2001

I was afraid of this. So is it best to replace the entire master cylinder and abs unit or can it be disasembled and replace all the rubber? Is there a kit available to do this?

Thanks again
Dave