'97 Taurus Brake Issues

[louie500sl]

I have a '97 Taurus and when I first start it up in the morning and back down the driveway the brakes are very weak. I'll put the pedal all the way to the floor and the car will just coast to a stop. I bled the brakes and the pads and shoes are in fine shape. After the car warms up, a couple of minutes, the brakes are fine, though they aren't great but I assume that's just a result of mid 90's Ford engineering. The brake pedal is not hard, which I think would suggest a booster problem, it is soft and slowly pushes to the floor. I've tried pumping the brake pedal a couple of times after I start it up but before I back out, and that doesn't seem to help. Thanks for the thoughts.
-Lou

[shorod]

Does the car seem to idle fine when the brakes are weak? The reason I ask is your power brakes rely on vacuum. If you have low vacuum, you may experience weak brakes. This could be due to a vacuum leak, low compression, or a restriction in the vacuum system somewhere. Any of these could change as the engine comes up to temperature.

-Rod

[inafogg]

could be a master cylinder problem

[louie500sl]

The car seems to idle a little high. When I take my foot off the brake the car lurches forward but after it warms up it seems more normal. Should I test for a vaccume leak?

[road_rascal]

Does it idle high when its cold then backs down to 800-1000 rpms? Mine does that along with the van. Seems to be a common trait. I would make sure the vacuum booster is working properly, and your not leaking fluid around the calipers and wheel cylinders.

[shorod]

The high idle could also be an Idle Air Control (IAC) issue, Coolant Temperature Sensor (CTS) issue, Intake Air Temp (IAT) sensor, or Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). I'm sure there are other things as well that I'm not thinking of right now.

-Rod