Hello, I'm new.

I have just replaced the front calipers and pads on my (new to me) 97 e150 with 157k miles.

front driver caliper locked up, so swapping both made sense.

the rotors were in good shape, and I didn't want to dive into the bearings anyway.

so, it's all buttoned back together, and the I have no brake pedal.

I have heard of the distribution valve, and tried to find a YouTube or forum tutorial on how to set things up (without going to the dealer)

btw, I'm not sure if I have 2 wheel or 4 wheel ABS, how can I tell?

I have a brake bleeder coming from Amazon, and have yet to crack the 3/8 bleeder screws and try to let any air out of the system. wanted to get the brake bleeder canister here first.

From what I'm reading, the brake bleeding procedure is different from a regular car. I'm gonna start by trying to open the bleeder valves and get brake fluid draining .

any tips? anything to look out for?

thanks in advance,

Allen

 

Did you fill the new calipers with brake fluid before you installed them? If you did not, it might be impossible to bleed the system. Get a Haynes Manual (online or printed) to step you through the process.

 

If you don't have any wires going to the front wheel hubs, you most likely only have rear ABS.

Keeping the master cyl full at all times, don't allow the fluid level in it to get too low, just open the bleeder screw on the furthest, RF, caliper first and the fluid coming from the master cyl will most likely push out all the air in that side. Then do the same with the left side This is where a little patience pays off.

If nobody has touched the brake pedal yet, it will take one or two ONLY HALF WAY DOWN, brake applications to push the caliper pistons out.
SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND,
THE MASTER CYL ONLY WENT SO FAR WHEN THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED BEFORE THIS WORK WAS DONE.
IF THE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED AND ALLOWED TO GO ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR, THE CUPS IN THE MASTER CAN BECOME SCORED AND NOW THE MASTER CYL WILL NEED TO BE REPLACED BECAUSE DUE TO THAT INTERNAL LEAKAGE THE BRAKE PEDAL WILL SINK TO THE FLOOR ON APPLICATION..

 

ok, so I have been gravity bleeding the system
I have had air come out, and now only flowing brake fluid.

on the pass side, I didn't touch the brake pedal.


on the driver side, I pushed the brake pedal down (not all the way, maybe 3/4??? hope not too far) and then let it back up slowly
I did this twice

then I shut off the bleeder valves and started the van....the pedal defe feels firm.

I'm gonna take it for a ride , on the slow streets, and see how it feels.

I think I'm on the right track so far.....thanks!.....


ooops! I'm getting some air from the driver side left caliper ...gonna do some more gravity draining .

brb!

Al

 

I have the exact same '97 Explorer hi-top van with the 5.4L, but mine is white. I had to laugh because I see you're missing the the center caps on your wheels too. I bought my van used in 2007 and contacted Explorer because one of the toggle switch in the overhead driver's panel for the rear interior lights was broken, and I was hoping they could tell me where to get the wheel center caps. Long story short, I was able to get the last OEM toggle panel and the last 4 center caps from a biker enthusiast Vice President at Explorer in trade for a local Harley Davidson dealer branded sweatshirt. The Australian company that made the center caps burned down around 1999. I never put the caps on because I was afraid of losing them, lol. If you want them we can discuss it.

 

@OldVanOwner you got pm
also here is what I found out was scraping, one of the brake pad retainer clips!

arent they the same? I got a pair with each caliper, and a pair with that new brake pads.

they all looked the same to me, but I didn't look close so I dunno if they are exactlyyyyy the same.


so, I got a grindkgn stone and I'm slowly taking off 1/16 to 1/8 inch from the clip that is running against the rim


sheez, pads and calipers in the front took me two days... embarrassing! 😎😉🤣


taking about 1/8 inch off the very tip of that upper retainer clip. and , cleaning out all the shavings

 

Please be aware just replacing pads is 50%of the brake job if done right. You don't want to do a half **** job , yours and everybody else safety rides on your work

The rotors develop a taper and the pads cannot make full correct contact. The rotors are cheap enough to replace so the job is done right..
Of course you could have the rotors cut to true them up providing there is enough material to keep within required safety specs.

 

understood about the rotors. they had no lip or grooves (very early failure of driver caliper)

Im gonna carefully grind down the pad clips so I can take it somewhere and have someone inspect my work.

are the clips upper and lower specific? or pad or rotor specific?

they all looked the same.

 

You should not need to alter the clips in any way. What you should do is clean the rust that formed on the caliper bracket that the stainless steel clips , clip onto.

 

hanky! thanks for your help.


ok I will look at that again.

question...what will that do? the stainless clips just snap on the caliper bracket. they fit pretty snug. is there something I'm missing ?

honest, I should not have thrown out my old clips, because then I could size them up and see what the issue is....( if I used the wrong clips in the wrong positions, or if they were just built to different tolerances )

I may just go to Ford direct and buy some new clips and be done with it
Al