97 Windstar... slew of problems

Hi all. I'm relatively new here. I have a 97 Windstar with about 75,000 miles on it. It's in really bad shape (I inherited the vehicle). I know almost nothing about this van. Ask me anything about a Saturn and I can probably tell you..

Anyway, here's the first of about a hundred problems. The other day, I was driving back to my house from Lowe's, and had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting an animal running across the street.

I was in a residential area, so therefore, going no faster than 30 mph. As I hit the brakes, I felt the pedal go completely soft and it hit the floor... just BARELY stopping the vehicle. This was also starting on a slight downhill grade.

I managed to get the vehicle home, and the pedal never hardened up. I *quickly* glance under the hood, as I was very pressed for time, and found nothing immediately out of the ordinary.

It's now 3 days later and the pedal is still soft. I looked underneath the vehicle and I am seeing multiple, small puddles of fluid. I assume that it's brake fluid.

Again, bear with me here, I know NOTHING about Ford, let alone Windstars.

Where should I start looking for leaks or whatever else might be wrong?

I have 3 other vehicles, so getting this one running right has never been top priority; however, brakes are very important and my kitchen is being redone, so I may need the van for hauling in the near future.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

The puddles you see are probably NOT brake fluid. Its possible, but if you had a brake fluid leak large enough to create a puddle .. the brakes would have been completely gone months ago.

You certainly need to watch the reservoir and make sure it stays up to norm. Also plan to do a system bleed and refill using a proper fluid... the van is probably long overdue. (I like the Valvoline synthetic base product in my '99).

But nothing I've offered yet has to do with your problem (assuming the reservoir is indeed full as I'm guessing it is).

Here's my guess. If your brake reservoir is full, the system has been bled of air, and you still have a soft pedal ... your master cylinder has "gone South" and will have to be replaced.

Let me clarify some points here.

The puddles I see are not very large, but visible nontheless. They were there only the day after the pedal went soft. I noticed them again when I tried a few days later to go somewhere, but stayed parked upon noticing the pedal had not stiffened up.

Again, the pedal went soft after slamming on the brakes just that one time, at which point I'm assuming something gave out (a hose, etc...).

I just went out and checked the brake fluid level... Master cylinder is empty, but has remnants of fluid about it.

Any further suggestions/advice?

PM me or post your VIN# here. There was a recall on a brake line that runs over the cat converter for Windstar. That may be covered for free if that is the line that went.

Steel lines rust and can give out under high pressure.

Or, I could just search for the leak myself... :disappoin

^ we posted at same time :)

Your calipers could be bad. If the leaks are by the wheels this is usually the case. Or it could be the recall.

Ok now that I FINALLY have some time to reply...

Here's the VIN: 2FMDA51U3VBD09721

If someone wants to come steal this thing... please do, LoL. I really don't like this van but it would be pointless to try to sell it with all the things wrong with it. It MAY be salvageable... if the brake thing isn't too major. The majority of the other things wrong involve electrical problems (headlights and wipers work... that's about it. I have yet to even try the radio or horn.)

Oh and I put down the wrong mileage before. It's 81,120. Emissions exempt, too.

It does drive legally with the exceptoin of the brakes so if this is a small fix, I'll keep the damn thing.

Because the reservoir is empty, I agree with the other posters ... you have some leak ... that is probably not that difficult to fix. And this one Ford may fix for you ....

We shall see. The other problem is that right now I have very little time on my hands... damn busy lifestyles.

Oh well. Maybe after this weekend I'll be able to look into it more.

According to your VIN#, you have an open recall to install protective spring shields on the front suspension and additional coverage for a broken spring.

There is no other recall on this vehicle. You will have to get it safely in the air to visually inspect for the leak, or take it to a shop.

I am also going to go with the leak.
There is a small pressure switch on the bottom of the master cylinder that can leak...but I have NEVER seen any posts about it draining the master cylinder.
The pressure switch leaks, fails, and causes the Cruise control to not work.
I replaced mine, with a kit from FORD, and the cost was under $20, and should take a person less than 15 minutes.

I would expect a leak, maybe in a line, or could be a a brake caliper (the pistons that push the disk brake pads) or a wheel cylinder (for drum brakes).
If that is the case, best thing would be to replace the calipers / or wheel cylinders. I would not try to rebuild them......better to replace them.
I have found good prices online for good quality stuff at www.rockauto.com

I think that you are going to likely have a devil of a time getting all the air bled out of the system. I only takes a very small amount of air to have your pedal go to the floor.

I have pictures of various projects with my '96 windstar.....now over 170K miles on it.
You can get to them through the link in my signature.

I have complete brake jobs (front disk, and rear drum) in the pictures, however, my calipers and cylinders were fine.

According to your VIN#, you have an open recall to install protective spring shields on the front suspension and additional coverage for a broken spring.

There is no other recall on this vehicle. You will have to get it safely in the air to visually inspect for the leak, or take it to a shop.

Wow, and I thought my ball joints were going. Maybe that's the noise I hear in the front end?

Anyway... I'm going to have a good look at whatever I can see tommorrow after work (weather permitting). Whatever I find I'll be sure to post (with pics).

BTW, wiswind, I don't have cruise control.

You most likely still have that switch, as it goes to the PCM....and is a back -up to the pedal switch to tell the PCM that you have pressed the brake pedal.....and the PCM uses that information for other things.
Very easy to tell, if you look at my pictures......then look at your master cylider......only thing that will have wires going to it on your master cylinder.....and it is on the bottom.

Ok, I found the pic you're talking about. I'll start by checking that tommorrow. Is this switch known to go bad? Could it cause the ABS light to be constantly on? (like the title says... slew of problems...)

Most likely your ABS light is relative to the low brake fluid.....and that pesky little fluid sensor in the master cylinder is real sensitive......usually lights up when your fluid level is right at the full line.
I was wondering if you had a light on.....and something would be wrong if it was not on.
Again, I would not put real high hopes on that pressure switch being the cause of your problems, but should be changed if it is even damp.....there have been a couple of instances where it actually caused a fire.

If it is one of the calipers, you should be able to tell by removing the front tire and giving it a good look. That much fluid, while not a lot.....is plenty enough to leave a lot of mess where it leaked out.
I would start at the part of the vehicle that is above wherever you saw the drops on the ground.

Ooookkk....

I checked for that switch on the master cylinder.. it doesn't exist

Also, I checked both calipers and besides rusted to hell, no evidence of fluid at all. They both looked identical.

I would post pics but according to the forum rules at the bottom of the page, it says I'm not allowed to... wonder why :dunno:

Ok, not to bump this thread (well, yes) but I just got back from vacation so now I'll have a bit more time to look for this brake problem. I don't know why I can't post pics. I checked the calipers, as suggested, and the master cylinder seems fine (no leaks around it). I checked what I could see of the brake lines w/out tearing anything apart and I saw nothing.

I'm thinking of dumping a bottle of cheap brake fluid in the mc and watching where it leaks from. Does that sound wise?

You cannot see the master cylinder leak. It leaks into the brake booster. They are usually not too spendy. If you cannot see a leak anywhere else I would start by replacing that.

Well, seeing as how the vehicle is RARELY driven... I can start taking things apart and not have to worry about time constraints. I'll start on it this weekend, weather permitting.