my 2004 ford ranger has been sitting for 4 years. got it started by putting in a new fuel pump. now the issue is that the brake pedal goes to the floor , the brake light comes on and when i start the engine i have no braking. i am a rookie at 69 years old and i am determined to get my ranger back on the road. i do not see any brake fluid leaks at the wheels or the brake lines
i have had to add brake fluid which seems to very slowly go low again. any suggestions would be appreciated as to what i should check next.
thanks
tony c

 

It's a sealed system, so if the brake fluid is going down, it's going somewhere. If it's been sitting for a few years, you could have rusted/blown lines, bad wheel cylinder(s) or a leaky piston. I'm still new to rangers, so I don't know the ins and outs of the common failure points on these trucks, but if you're not finding fluid around the lines or the wheels, I'd suspect the drum brake wheel cylinders. Pull the rear wheels and the drum and see if one or both wheel cylinders are wet.

 

Was the brake master cylinder empty?
If so you do have a leak for sure

And 2004 probably has 4WABS, 4 wheel anti-lock brake system, so that system will need to be dealt with which requires a special tool to open the valves

Look in the engine bay, if you see this: https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...10226-1819.jpg
Then you have 4WABS

You need to find the leak first, so put some cardboard down inside each wheel and then under the drivers side frame rail all the way to the rear wheels
Then fill Master and pump the brakes
Common places for a leak is the rear brake line in drivers side frame rail about 1/2 way between front and back wheels, that single line rusts out between gas tank and frame rail
Also the rubber flex lines on each from wheel and the one above the center of rear axle, rubber deteriorates

If the brake pedal is not coming all the way back up then brake lights will stay on, and the master and/or booster may be bad, they both have a spring to push pedal back up all the way, so either could be bad

 

thanks guys for the answers. i id find that when i do not have the engine running the brake pedal seems to have some pressure to it but when i turn on the engine and press the brake pedal it goes right to the floor no pressure at all. does this indicate what the problem would be? this is a novice question. why is there a rubber hose and a metal tube that goes to each of the back wheels?
thanks for your time

 

Rubber hose on back brakes has the Parking Brake cable inside, so looks like a hose but isn't one
Then metal tube has the brake fluid inside, there is a rubber brake fluid hose in the center of the rear axle so axle is free to move up and down, it can leak

Pedal having back pressure with engine off and going to the floor engine on is classic sign of air in the brake lines somewhere

Its possible master is bad but from previous post I would suspect air first

 

thanks again for the info now i know
i have another question regarding what you said about the hose that is in the middle of the rear axle. i have a rubber hose from the middle of that axle that is not connected to anything. i thought i read that its some kind of air relief.

 

There can be a rubber VENT hose, but its on the axle tube not part of the brake lines, it allows pressure to equalize as rear differential oil heats up and cools down by use

Each rear wheel will have one metal brake line that runs to the center of the rear axle, on the top, there will be a metal splitter there connected to those two lines, then there will be a rubber Flex-hose connected to that splitter that runs to a metal brake line attached to the frame/body of the vehicle
The flex-hose allows the axle to move up and down relative to the frame/body while maintaining rear brake function