joel-cs

Woke up to -33 F registering on the Excursion yesterday (northern Vermont)! Went to put on the brakes at the bottom of the driveway and...not much happened. Felt like pushing on a brick wall. After a healthy dose of power on oversteer to avoid the snowbank and some repeated prodding of the pedal it started to loosen up and slow the truck. Now the ABS light stays on

I can only think that the brake fluid must have frozen??

jgrant

Brake fluid itself shouldn't freeze until much colder than that, but it very well could have been water in the brake fluid that froze, (it is hygroscopic by nature, after all) or water/snow/ice around the brake components themselves that might have temporarily frozen things if there was any kind of build-up.

Also, I've had a power brake booster lose vacuum in the cold due to some of the rubber seals getting cold/brittle.

924RACR

It gets very very thick and hard to move through the lines... I second maybe not getting much out of the booster, though... also some pads don't do much at those temps till they've been worked a few times. But if the pedal felt as described, that would make me think more of the booster, since that'll more have an effect on pedal effort.

Diesel? Poor vacuum or vacuum pump? Did you let the truck warm up at all before driving?

Sean F

sounds like a booster issue if it's a hard pedal. second the seals idea

actually just heard something very similar to this on "Car Talk" yesterday

Gary R.

Bad day for diesels I guess.. Mine started right up and I let it run for about 5 minutes, went to take off and it would only rev to 2K and sputtered and died a couple times. Check engine light came on so I parked it. Said WTH a little later and it started and ran just fine (CEL still on) so I ran and got her filled with fresh fuel. Seems to run fine now and the manual says it could be bad fuel or "something" in the emission system. Seemed like the fuel gelled to me but i'll have my dealer plug it in on Tuesday. New fuel filters last week....

Vlocity

When is the last time the brake fluid was changed.....It wouldn't take much moisture to create a problem. If it's time for a fluid change or it's never been done, then I would start there and work backwards. I just changed the fluid in my Expedition last weekend.....I was kind of ashamed how bad the fluid was....we kind of take our daily drivers from granted everyonce in awhile.

Ken

Gary R.

Joel, not running SRF in the truck?

I took what Sean drains out, run it through a filter and re-use it!

joel-cs

Ha! No SRF in the truck (yet ). It is a diesel and i leave the block heater plugged in whenever it goes below +10 deg. I also let it run a good 10-15 min before driving. Obviously doesn't do anything for the brakes... Will start with the brake fluid change. It has likely been a while.

Today, though - the truck lost all electrical power. First the radio blacked out, then the temp controls, then the gauges and windows. Some gauges flicker on and off. Truck runs fine - I am assuming bad alternator. Won't start without a jump. Ugh.

Gary R.

And to think you had a nice Chevy before...

Sean F

check the batteries. I just had my truck in the shop for servicing and both batteries were almost dead. couldn't find a drain, just warn down. Service guy didn't seem surprised...hmmmm

NJcroc

You should try moving to a place that wont get anywhere near that cold. I hope i never see -33