here is a letter i wrote to a friend of mine who is a magazine editor, please help me out!

Hi, my name is Joseph Brennan, I am an aircraft technician living in northern NJ. I have come across your website because of an issue I am having with the brake system on my 2002 dodge ram 2500. I recently had gotten into an accident because i was unable to stop the vehicle during a short stop on the highway. The brake system failed to deliver nearly enough pressure to the wheels and got no response from the abs system, nor were there any skid marks on the pavement. As of right now, the vehicle is in Wayne Dodge in NJ.
Dave, the maintenance supervisor told me "There is air in the brakes", has done no work to the brake system and now tells me "There is no issue with the brakes that we can find". He also told me they hooked computers up to the vehicle to check the abs and found nothing wrong.
After a week of being in the shop with no work done to it, unable to recreate the problem, they ask me to come test drive it and show them what the problem is. During the test drive i show them that the pedal now goes within 2 inches of the floor, which it previously never did. At that point i drove the vehicle on a dirt road and the abs kicked in and functioned properly. I also did a hard stop on a street surface and the abs enabled and worked correctly, in which i felt the pedal hammer very slightly against my foot as i came to a slow stop.
At this point i am sure they believe I am lying about the brake problem, even though i had 2 witness in the vehicle at the time of the accident who agree the truck brakes did not apply in full. The dealer is now willing to write me a legal notice saying that they have inspected the brake system and cannot find a problem. I have 3 problems with this:
1) they never line locked the brakes to test pedal hight during application
2) they never capped the master cylinder to test its operation
3) they never bled the brakes of the suspected air, that they cannot explain how the air got into the system without a leak or work done.
4)The pedal travel on the vehicle has lengthened at least 3 inches and they cannot tell me why.

I wanted to know your professional experience and advice on the matter, if possible. Also if possible maybe you would be able to refer me to a more qualified brake technician in the area.
I have extensive training in hydraulic systems and I would never sign off the departure of an aircraft with suspect fluid fluid contamination, or air in the hydraulic system. I also know that air or possible contamination of the hydraulic fluid can cause improper valve movement

Any information on this matter would be more than appreciated, I hope to hear from you soon
Thank you,
Joseph Brennan

 

Check you Power Brake Booster the diapragm could have a hole or a tear in it.

I alsoam A&P If you do have air in the system is it spongy or do you have a firm peddle feel ? remeber the master cylinder has 2 stages in case one fails if it fails it will give you half peddle only using one back upsystem.

Kind of like Aircraft you know pirmary and secondary, flight and combind if one fails in fight the other pick up the other Systems but not at full use just enought to get you back on the ground.

Have you tryed to back bleed it what color is the fluid, are you'r wheel cylinders good hows you brake caibers do you have a stuck or worn piston in one.

Me my self am leaning towards the Power brake Bosster when you keep you'r foot on the brake peddle at a stop while it running what is the peddle doing is it rising up in the stroke or going down, do you have to push down harder to get the brakes to engauge and stop the truck ?.

As for the dealer I know out here In California they have a state program call (BAR) Bureau Automotive Repair, also covered buy the states insurance investigation board for bad repairs or something like that.
I sure you state has some laws there that protect you for fly by night dealerships, and repair centers, Not as good as FAA but they should be able to help you out.

 

i had a very similar experience in an old dump truck years ago.the system failed, pedal to the flow, fully loaded ......... luckily i got it pulled over without incident. i couldn't find anything wrong and the brakes were perfectly normal when i tried them 10 minutes later.

the garage found atorn / worn o- ring in the master cylinder / booster.

 

After all this, found out it was a sticky caliper.. The dealership never took the wheels off to look at anything and gave me that bs.. appartently when i bought the truck it was given new pads on rotors that were scored up like railroad tracks, so there was only maybe 1/4 inch touching the brake pad on the right side caliper in the front realize how important it is to ahave all wheels stopping now. fixed that issue and put in better shocks so it dosent nose dive soo much . I apreciate the help i know it has been a long time but i havent had a chance to get back to post thanks guys