ot but need help- 1994 dodge diesel pickup

ericlb · Mar 15, 2011

last week a brake malfunction caused the left rear brake on my 1994 dodge pickup to go up in smoke literaly, i replaced everything from the backing plate out, including wheel seals, now the system is bled to the point of having no air period, but i cannot get the rear brakes to lock even with the truck in the air, it does have abs, so im not sure if it should be able to lock or not but this truck does not seem to use its rear brakes anyway, the good side was almost new, and ive never replaced them, the proporsioning valve does have a little pin in the front of it which deployes when the brakes are applied, should it do that? or does it mean that the valve has the rear brakes cut off? how do i fix that, ive tried bleeding it with no results, sorry for the long ot but i need this truck fixed so it can tow again

VicS · Mar 15, 2011

I don't have a clue how to help you but my 91 Diesel is exactly the opposite. The anti-lock light is on and the back brakes lock and slide if you stop hard at all. It makes me a better driver because I hardly use the brakes at all. LOL Vic

Bryan inIowa · Mar 15, 2011

look at the brackets that hold any brake hose . they tend to rust and swell the brake line shut . spread them open again and all is well .

ericlb · Mar 15, 2011

i checked that too as i had a truck do that to me, it was a front brake hose that swelled chut internaly on that one, but this truck seems all good

ericlb · Mar 15, 2011

lol i wish i had your problem, but ive run this truck 225000 miles and never did a rear brake job, the side that was still good, only had the shoes 1/8th inch thinner than the new ones that replaced it, so its got me wondering, the abs system has me buggered as all my other trucks are older and dont have it, the porporsioning valve bleeds like normal on them, but this dodge has no effect when bled it still will not lock its rear wheel brakes and when i haul i guess it stops with the trucks front brakes and the trailer brakes from what i can tell , i seem to have diagnosed myself into a corner, lol i hate that
i dont know if the thing is working as designed, or if the porporsioning valve has the fluid cut to the rear, or the abs system is messed up

Bryan inIowa · Mar 15, 2011

Rust jacked brake hose brackets ,,,,

huntingreen2day · Mar 15, 2011

Maybe that is the reason they lasted so long. They weren't working to start with.

onefarmer · Mar 15, 2011

Is the ABS on a separate fuse you can pull to eliminate it?

I had a 98 Jimmy I hated the abs. It caused me to hit a deer as it didn't apply enough stopping power. After that I removed the fuse and it worked old school.

Lou from Wi. · Mar 15, 2011

We had an older dodge,1979,that we couldn't get the rear brakes to work right.Called and talked to head mechanic @ our local Dodge dealer,he said the proportioning valve was not centered up,sensing the rear brakes did not have pressure,so loosen the front brake bleed screws a little,like you were bleeding those,and it would recenter the proportioning valve.It worked,but like I said,I can't say your system is the same as our older one,but it seems logical,sounds like the same problem we had.
Hope this helps,
Regards, Lou & Victor

willie in mn · Mar 16, 2011

Another thing to check, might apply in your case, might not.
Some trucks, don't remember which models, had a load sensing valve on the rears. Sensor mounted on frame, with a link connected to axle. Theory was that running light, rear of frame would be a bit higher, sensor would limit pressure to rear brakes, eliminating lock-up/ skid. Supposedly when adding load, the frame settled down a bit, allowing a bit more brake action. Can't say whether or not it actually helped, or if still in use.
If, & that's a big IF, your truck has this valve, & you have the truck supported by the frame instead of the axle, it could prevent brake action during your tests.
Think this is one of those times to bite the bullet & take it to a GOOD dealer shop, one that has the service info, equipment, & trained techs.
Willie

ericlb · Mar 16, 2011

going to check on that, i hope so, i dont like abs, big trucks or pickups i grew up without it and prefer the old system

ericlb · Mar 16, 2011

no rust, i checked for that but this truck has apent its entire life in nm, and az, no rust anywhere

ericlb · Mar 16, 2011

i agree, i wish we had a good dealer around here, the local one leaves much to be desired and the next closest is 200 miles away, ive tried to find a manuel, but the chilton, like usual these days just skips over the subjects that i bought the thing to read about in the first place, just dont know if its a abs problem or a porporsioning valve problem, but its obviously been that way for its whole life, just cant accept that dodge desigined it that way , no mechanical linkage for the load sensing valve, both my chevys have those but none on the dodge

Anonymous-0 · Mar 16, 2011

I have had the same problem with a 96 goat diesel. I unpluged the anti-lock brake box, adjusted the brakes and it was fine. I plugged it back in and the rear brakes would not lock up.
These trucks have lousey rear brakes. They will not properly self adjust. You have to do it by hand once in awhile. I have installed a 1 ton master cylinder and 1 ton wheel cylinders on it. That helped some.
I leave mine with the box unplugged cause I pull a goodneck a lot. It gets really crazy with it working. I also keep them adjusted and get by just fine.
Just my 2 cents.

oldironman · Mar 16, 2011

I wish they had all this stuff shoved right up there ads.

GordoSD · Mar 16, 2011

A metering valve is used to balance the braking force between the front disc and rear drum brakes. The valve holds off fully applied pressure to the front brakes until the rear shoes are in full contact with the drums.The valve is designed to maintain pressure to the front at between 3 and 30 psi, until the hold off limit off 117 psi is reached. At this point the metering valve opens allowing full fluid pressure to the front brakes.
The hydraulic system has completely seperate circuits for the front and rear brakes. If one system fails you should get a warning light when enough fluid is lost in either system. Master cylinder has two systems.
How well does the pasrking brake work?

Gordo

2cylpartsinfo · Mar 16, 2011

You might try the Turbo Diesel Register, it is an Owner's Club for Dodge pick ups.

Neb Super H · Mar 16, 2011

Make sure the bleeder screw on the wheel cylinder is facing up so you can get all the air out. If the bleeder screw is facing down then you will never bleed all the air out.

cshess · Mar 16, 2011

Posted before an this may not be your problem but like many pu trucks they are driven with wires to trailer modified an hanging down therby getting salt an eventually corossion an a ..possible short that disables abs. On mine while gowing down interstate i had to make a maxiam stop an that is when i found out fuse was blown due to above. Indicator light is not easy to spot an i did not know it .Braking felt normal in normal stops but would not hold as they should in panic stop.

Paul in MN · Mar 16, 2011

Is this Dodge one of those built with the ABS brain box located just below the truck battery? Or maybe the wiring to the ABS brain box passes below the battery? My brother had one of those for about a year, and it got totalled for lack of stopping ability. Upon inspection, there was battery type corrosion in the wiring harness beneath the battery, even though the harness looked good.

I like the idea of ABS, but both my brother and my son (driving a company Chevy) have totalled trucks when the ABS malfunctioned. I pull a big 5th RV, and other heavy trailers with my 02 F350 P.S., and the idea of how the ABS and the trailer brake controller might or might not work together spooks me. Given a truck the age of yours, and knowing that it was one of the early ABS units, I'd just disarm the dang thing and run with good ole regular brakes that work every time in a very predictable manner.

I think the 3 big PU truck companies have made a giant step forward with the integrated trailer brake activator system that is built in and engineered to work with the truck's ABS. But it may have been 06 or 07 when the first generation of that system came out, and I am a believer in NEVER buying a first generation of anything.

Best Wishes!!

Paul in MN

ASEguy · Mar 17, 2011

If you are accelerating on the lift with the truck in the air the ABS just kicked in. It doesn't know you are on the lift and will prevent rear wheel lock-up. Shut the truck off and apply the brakes severaltimes. Youshould have a high hard pedal. ALWAYS replace both sides fricitional materials. Hope this helps. Gerard

ot but need help- 1994 dodge diesel pickup

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