Brake Pedal Locks Up

[Spamkill]

I have a 1999 Rodeo and just had this weird brake problem start happening in the last few days where the pedal just locks completely and can't be pushed down. Luckily it happened way before the end of my street and I was able to use the parking brake to stop.

So far here's what I've noticed:

- It only happens when the car has been sitting overnight (the temperature been at or close to freezing on days it's happened)

- It happens within a minute or so of when I start driving, and warming the car up longer doesn't seem to affect it.

- It only happens for a few seconds (long enough for a horrific accident to happen, I've been really lucky) and then starts working normally again.

I took it to my local dealer and they replaced the ABS thing that was recalled, and they test drove it and checked the whole brake system, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

Anybody had this same problem? (and is still alive or not hospitalized?)

[2eyefishclaw]

that certanly is one of the stranger concerns I have heard of but anything is possible I am not sure of what it is but I have seen a few brake master cylinders fail on these vehicles good luck and please keep us updated on this one

[Jovian9]

I too have been having a similar problem. Do your brakes make any noise when doing this? Mine almost sound like they are grinding. I was in an accident d/t this and damaged my passenger quarter panel.....but I do not want to replace it yet b/c I am still having this problem. When I go to hit the brakes (every so often) they will make a grinding noise and will not work. I have to let off of them and hit them again to get a response. It seems to happen when some surfaces are wet then dry or when I hit the brakes right as I hit a bump or hole in the road. I have had them looked at by numerous shops including Isuzu (while they did the ABS recall) but no one sees the problem and I cannot duplicate it at will. My rear brakes are in great condition...but my front brakes have gone downhill the last 5 months (warping of the rotors)....so I am replacing the front pads, rotors, and bearings this week. But this was occurring before my front brakes were in this condition. I'm really at a loss for what to do. Luckily my accident was minor but I'm worried it could be worse when this happens again. My Rodeo (99 LS 4WD) has around 54,000 miles on it and this has been going on for as long as I can remember. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

[wb4lbg]

This is a reply to Jovian9. Sounds like your problem is with your shocks. Sounds weird but the way ABS works is that it looks for wheel slip. When your shocks are bad, any little bump causes the tires to lose contact with the ground and the ABS sees the speed difference between different tires and reads 'slip'. The grinding noise and the pulsation you feel in the pedal is the ABS pump cycling to pump your brakes. The bad part about 'pumping' is that it almost always increases stopping distance on dry pavement which is why you hit something and messed up your QP.

OEM shocks are toast after 10-15K but the change is so gradual that most people don't really notice the degradation in ride quality. Get yourself some Monroe SensaTracs (lifetime warranty) and get your fender fixed.

JWS
99 Rodeo LSE 4WD

[Jovian9]

Thanks for the info wb4lbg. It's definitely worth a try as I was looking into replacing my shocks soon anyway. That is the first useful bit of info I have gotten from anyone in all of my searching about this problem. I actually have some hope now about getting my Rodeo back on track. I appreciate it!

[johnsm]

I had the abs go off during slow rollings stops. I changed my (80 000 kms) oem shocks with sensa tracs. Problem gone totally. Go one step further and replace with a better shock than sensa trac- Check out Pro comps, Rancho 9000s, blistens, OME.