Greetings from a new member!
Thought I would share my LONG story of ownership. Skip to the bottom for my current ABS issue (I have read every thread I could find, and am hopefully getting close to fixing the issue). I have ALWAYS worked on my own cars except for the most extreme cases where I couldn't figure something out.
In 2004, I bought my wife a 2002 Expo 2wd "sport" XLT with the 5.4, load leveling suspension, Gray leather interior, and the 4r100 trans. I gave it to her on valentines day. It was a complete surprise, and she absolutely loved it. It had 39k miles on it when I bought it in February of 2004, and the out the door price was $19,500.00
At that time, our kids were 4, 9, and 14, so we needed a family hauler. That thing was dead reliable, never ever giving us a problem with anything. Over eight years of memories in old faithful. Until.....
So in 2012, with 173k ish miles on the clock and two of the kiddos driving themselves around now, it was time to get my wife into something smaller. We got her a 2009 BMW 328I, which has also been a really great car with very few issues believe it or not. While shopping, the most any place would give us was $1500 for trade. I couldn't do it, the thing still ran perfect. And looked great too. So, I put a for sale sign in the window and waited. I think I was asking about 4k. Three months later, my wife was driving the expedition to work just to keep everything working and the battery charged up, and the #8 spark plug blew out.
We towed it home, and let it sit for a year and a half in front of my house. Then, a drunk driver was running from the police late one night (in a stolen car no less, no insurance), and ran into it. About a week later, I get a note from the city to get the vehicle off the street (no current tags or inspection). So, I wanted to just dump the thing, but my wife would not let it go. She called a storage place, and had AAA haul it there.
So there it sat, for another two plus years. At this point, my wife had finally had enough of paying $45 dollars a month, and decided to call a junk yard to get rid of it. A few days later, we just happened to go to a hockey game, and met a new couple who were friends of a friend. The guy was a mechanic, and just happened to have the time-cert kit that I needed to fix the cylinder head.
So, after 4 years of not running, and after a whole hell of a lot of work, I got it running again. And it runs fantastic. Below is a list of what I had to do:
*Repair spark plug hole #8
*Replace all 8 plugs again-(I blew some marvel mystery oil into each cylinder, changed the oil/filter, rotated the engine by hand, then with the starter to prime the engine prior to starting).
*Replaced the damaged #8 ignition coil
*Replaced the 8 rubber boots that tie the coil's to the plugs (I had a miss under load, and this fixed it).
*Replaced the serpentine belt (dry rotted)
*Replaced brakes on all four corners (rotors, pads, re-packed front bearings, replaced inner wheel seals)
*Had to drop the tank, and replace the dead fuel pump.The impact from the drunk driver did not trip the inertia switch located on the passenger side kick panel area.
*Clean the gas tank. (The gas was awful, poured it into two 5 gallon gas cans, still trying to figure out what to do with the old gas).
*Replaced fuel filter, and flushed out the fuel lines from the fuel rail back to the tank.
*Replaced all four shocks
*Found some brand new tires on craigslist, Michelin LTX MS-2's in 265/65/17, a little taller, but look great on the vehicle, and only slightly affected the speedo accuracy. These are about 900-1000 a set brand new, scored them for $300
*Replaced the inop drivers side lock/unlock switch
*Re-attached the rear view mirror to the windshield. Fell off in storage.
Left to do:
Have new bumper, fog lights, and front air dam valence left to install.
Flush trans fluid again (will be the third time since I have owned it) and install new filter
Flush coolant
Now my problem
After I got the thing running I drove it around a little and although the brake pads were wore out, and the tires were shot, and the rotors were warped (or had serious pad transfer) the brakes worked fine. (Fix it until its broke is my motto!) So, I replaced the front pads and rotors (I used Ultra-Premium brand rotors from RockAuto), re-packed the wheel bearings, and installed a new inner seal. I then flushed the brake fluid with a helper, pump up, hold, open bleeder, close bleeder, repeat. That's all I did.
Upon first test drive, the ABS pump would run right before coming to a stop, below 5mph, but here is the kicker. It will only do it after a hard stop (I was bedding the pads). If you just drive around normal, it won't activate the ABS pump. But hit the brakes really hard all the way to a stop, then take back off, and the very next stop, the ABS pump buzzes and the vehicle pulls to the left.
So, I replaced the passenger side ABS/Speed sensor, no change
I replaced the drivers side ABS/Speed sensor, no change.
I have ordered a rear ABS sensor now, and if that doesn't work, I am going to turn the original rotors, and throw them back on to see if the tone ring on the new rotors is causing some kind of issue. I didn't compare them before I threw on the new rotors. The old rotors are measuring 1.185" thick and I think minimum spec is 1.12" so I should have plenty of meat left to turn them. The only reason I bought new ones was they were on close out at RockAuto for $30 bux each and turning them was like $25.
Also, there is no ABS light ever. Even when the problem is happening, no ABS light flashes or comes on. No other DTC codes are present. I realize it takes a different scanner to read ABS codes, but there has never been a light so I didn't think any codes would be present.
Is it possible we pumped air into the ABS pump? My 15 year old was helping me, but he did fine, not releasing the pedal at the wrong time. And I didn't let the reservoir run dry when bleeding.
What about a rusty piston on the front caliper? The dust boots looked great, but the pads were beyond wore out, and the two pistons per side were fully extended.
I scanned the rotor temps with my infrared temp gun, and all were within a few degrees with the exception of the drivers side rear, which was 50 degrees hotter than the other three. It was at 212, the others were all 155-165 degrees.
Thank you if you have read this far. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mike
Thought I would share my LONG story of ownership. Skip to the bottom for my current ABS issue (I have read every thread I could find, and am hopefully getting close to fixing the issue). I have ALWAYS worked on my own cars except for the most extreme cases where I couldn't figure something out.
In 2004, I bought my wife a 2002 Expo 2wd "sport" XLT with the 5.4, load leveling suspension, Gray leather interior, and the 4r100 trans. I gave it to her on valentines day. It was a complete surprise, and she absolutely loved it. It had 39k miles on it when I bought it in February of 2004, and the out the door price was $19,500.00
At that time, our kids were 4, 9, and 14, so we needed a family hauler. That thing was dead reliable, never ever giving us a problem with anything. Over eight years of memories in old faithful. Until.....
So in 2012, with 173k ish miles on the clock and two of the kiddos driving themselves around now, it was time to get my wife into something smaller. We got her a 2009 BMW 328I, which has also been a really great car with very few issues believe it or not. While shopping, the most any place would give us was $1500 for trade. I couldn't do it, the thing still ran perfect. And looked great too. So, I put a for sale sign in the window and waited. I think I was asking about 4k. Three months later, my wife was driving the expedition to work just to keep everything working and the battery charged up, and the #8 spark plug blew out.
We towed it home, and let it sit for a year and a half in front of my house. Then, a drunk driver was running from the police late one night (in a stolen car no less, no insurance), and ran into it. About a week later, I get a note from the city to get the vehicle off the street (no current tags or inspection). So, I wanted to just dump the thing, but my wife would not let it go. She called a storage place, and had AAA haul it there.
So there it sat, for another two plus years. At this point, my wife had finally had enough of paying $45 dollars a month, and decided to call a junk yard to get rid of it. A few days later, we just happened to go to a hockey game, and met a new couple who were friends of a friend. The guy was a mechanic, and just happened to have the time-cert kit that I needed to fix the cylinder head.
So, after 4 years of not running, and after a whole hell of a lot of work, I got it running again. And it runs fantastic. Below is a list of what I had to do:
*Repair spark plug hole #8
*Replace all 8 plugs again-(I blew some marvel mystery oil into each cylinder, changed the oil/filter, rotated the engine by hand, then with the starter to prime the engine prior to starting).
*Replaced the damaged #8 ignition coil
*Replaced the 8 rubber boots that tie the coil's to the plugs (I had a miss under load, and this fixed it).
*Replaced the serpentine belt (dry rotted)
*Replaced brakes on all four corners (rotors, pads, re-packed front bearings, replaced inner wheel seals)
*Had to drop the tank, and replace the dead fuel pump.The impact from the drunk driver did not trip the inertia switch located on the passenger side kick panel area.
*Clean the gas tank. (The gas was awful, poured it into two 5 gallon gas cans, still trying to figure out what to do with the old gas).
*Replaced fuel filter, and flushed out the fuel lines from the fuel rail back to the tank.
*Replaced all four shocks
*Found some brand new tires on craigslist, Michelin LTX MS-2's in 265/65/17, a little taller, but look great on the vehicle, and only slightly affected the speedo accuracy. These are about 900-1000 a set brand new, scored them for $300
*Replaced the inop drivers side lock/unlock switch
*Re-attached the rear view mirror to the windshield. Fell off in storage.
Left to do:
Have new bumper, fog lights, and front air dam valence left to install.
Flush trans fluid again (will be the third time since I have owned it) and install new filter
Flush coolant
Now my problem
After I got the thing running I drove it around a little and although the brake pads were wore out, and the tires were shot, and the rotors were warped (or had serious pad transfer) the brakes worked fine. (Fix it until its broke is my motto!) So, I replaced the front pads and rotors (I used Ultra-Premium brand rotors from RockAuto), re-packed the wheel bearings, and installed a new inner seal. I then flushed the brake fluid with a helper, pump up, hold, open bleeder, close bleeder, repeat. That's all I did.
Upon first test drive, the ABS pump would run right before coming to a stop, below 5mph, but here is the kicker. It will only do it after a hard stop (I was bedding the pads). If you just drive around normal, it won't activate the ABS pump. But hit the brakes really hard all the way to a stop, then take back off, and the very next stop, the ABS pump buzzes and the vehicle pulls to the left.
So, I replaced the passenger side ABS/Speed sensor, no change
I replaced the drivers side ABS/Speed sensor, no change.
I have ordered a rear ABS sensor now, and if that doesn't work, I am going to turn the original rotors, and throw them back on to see if the tone ring on the new rotors is causing some kind of issue. I didn't compare them before I threw on the new rotors. The old rotors are measuring 1.185" thick and I think minimum spec is 1.12" so I should have plenty of meat left to turn them. The only reason I bought new ones was they were on close out at RockAuto for $30 bux each and turning them was like $25.
Also, there is no ABS light ever. Even when the problem is happening, no ABS light flashes or comes on. No other DTC codes are present. I realize it takes a different scanner to read ABS codes, but there has never been a light so I didn't think any codes would be present.
Is it possible we pumped air into the ABS pump? My 15 year old was helping me, but he did fine, not releasing the pedal at the wrong time. And I didn't let the reservoir run dry when bleeding.
What about a rusty piston on the front caliper? The dust boots looked great, but the pads were beyond wore out, and the two pistons per side were fully extended.
I scanned the rotor temps with my infrared temp gun, and all were within a few degrees with the exception of the drivers side rear, which was 50 degrees hotter than the other three. It was at 212, the others were all 155-165 degrees.
Thank you if you have read this far. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mike
