Community Forums

llorenw · 09-12-2012, 03:21 PM

Because the brake fluid gets hot in use and then cools it causes condensation. That is the reason for bleeding the entire system every 2-3 years. It certainly pays and it is not that costly when a tire shop does the job.

llorenw

SamSter0077 · 11-27-2012, 08:46 AM

it's been a while since my last post.. here is an update. I ordered the Motive Products bleeder kit. The first one I ordered had the wrong fitting, I had to call them and send it back for the correct one. For the Ford E450's it's the 1117 adapter. The whole kit can be ordered here 0117 Black Label Ford / Import 3-Tab Power Bleeder

It took me several weeks to get the right adapter and have the RV out of storage to do the work. I had my 12 year old son help me by keeping an eye on the pressure and pumping up as needed. I removed the old fluid (black) from the reservoir and then bled the new fluid through each brake line until it was clear. It was very easy to get to each bleeder screw without a jack, or removing the tires. Any handy man could do this at home in less than an hour.. you could even do it in camp. I could instantly feel a difference in the pedal.. We just took a trip across Texas and into the Guadalupe Mountains.. I went from 7.5mpg to 8.3 mpg on my usual stretch of road after bleeding the brakes. it's obvious my rig was in dire need of it.

The end reward.. well, everyone likes a picture. My 8 year old made it to the top of Texas!

ksg5000 · 11-28-2012, 05:18 AM

Same problem on the E-350 - discovered that changing brake fluid every couple of years is a must.

llorenw · 11-29-2012, 09:48 AM

The reason there is water in the brake system is that when brakes are used they sweat from the heat and then cooling. Thus after a while you have some water in the line. I have been bleeding my system for 25 years and it works. Also I learned that when you replace the pads always lubricate the slide parts and also the rear of the pads. This will stop squealing in the future. Always replace both calipers when changing one. llorenw

unca waldo · 12-12-2012, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamSter0077

I bought a 2006 Winnebago several months ago and love it. Last Friday my wife called me and told me the A/C wasn't working. She said it "hummed" but wouldn't start so I was thinking Start Cap.. well, when I got home and pulled the cover off... all it took was spinning the fan shaft by hand to loosen it up enough to start and work (never touch it when it's plugged in!). Crisis averted.. we continued to our destination by the beach for some fishing.

2 Days later on the way home, I notice the RV pulling to the passenger side. When I press the brake, it would pull to the driver side. I assume it's a tire going flat or something so I pull over at the next large parking lot. Get out and look, and the tire pressures look fine?? When I touched the wheel on the passenger side it was FAR too hot to touch. hmm... I compared it with the Driver's side and it was hot, but not nearly as hot as the passenger side. It reminded me of an old Dodge Caravan I bought, it was 10 years old and only had 30k miles... the same thing happened to it right before the passenger caliper locked up and started actually smoking while driving on the freeway. Turned out the car sat too long and the caliper was just stuck..

So, we limped it another 15 miles home (lucky us!) and took it apart. The Caliper looked like it was from Mars or something, covered in red dust and rust.. ok, that confirmed my suspicion. I was thinking "oh crap, where am I gonna get this part?".. I called my local O'Reilly's and damned if they didn't have it in stock.. oh, and it was $40.00 with core trade in.. wow! Cheap too! So, I got it and changed it and argued with the wife while trying to bleed the brake system (she wasn't pushing and holding the brake hard enough..) and fixed it. Took it for a test drive, everything checked out.. SWEET!

This morning, I decided to google it and turns out this is an extremely common problem with the E450 chassis. I read that I needed to change the brake fluid because it gets too much moisture in it and corrodes things.. I read that the pistons are an inferior construction and probe to sticking when hot.. I read that the hoses are crap, buy OEM parts to fix it.. I am sure the RV'ers that have had this issue have read all the same things. Can anyone confirm they had the problem, fixed it and never had the problem again (hopefully you kept the RV long term)?

My concern is it will happen every x number of years.. just curious if anyone here can shed some light on it.. it's totally new to me! Thanks in Advance!

I had exactly the same thing happen to with my motorhome, several years ago... after it sat, unused, for a couple of years. The piston in the right caliper froze... fortunately, I was able to "unfreeze" it by giving a good wallop with a hammer. That got us off the freeway.

After letting everything cool, we were able to continue on, very carefully, but the brake pedal felt "mushy". I bled the right caliper and that gave me back about 95% of my brake feel.

I ended up replacing both calipers, rotors and brake lines, had the entire brake system flushed and new fluid put in. The rotors were replaced because the right one had been severely overheated... I replaced both front systems, just to be safe. I figured, if the right brake failed, the left was soon to follow.