2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Random ABS Warning Light, Slow Brake Pedal Return, and Brakes Not Releasing

[Ulu]

What a long and twisted tail this has been!

 

I’m surprised you have kept at it. 99% of people never could.

 

Except for my motorcycle, I have never owned a vehicle with rear disc brakes. I have worked on such for friends of mine, and found them  troublesome and unnecessary.

[JBNeal]

Just a few ticks shy of 250k, the starter in the QuadCab went into intermittent mode, so a solenoid contact kit was ordered...went thru this with The Blue Bomber a few years ago, waaay cheaper than starter replacement.  Studying my service records, I decided to go ahead and service the transmission, change the rear axle oil, clean+lubricate the calipers, and flush the brakes while the weatherwas nice.  Things went as well as expected, no surprises thankfully.

 

Master cylinder was siphoned out, then all caliper pistons were compressed with C-clamps to force more fluid back into the master cylinder for further siphoning.  Brake fluid was as dirty as I expected after 3yrs, starting with the RR caliper to get most of the filth out.  After the initial bleed, pedal was pumped to get pistons squeezing on the sorta evenly worn pads.  Brake fluid was observed to have a few puffs of contaminants during final bleed, with fluid mostly clear on all 4 corners.

 

After a few days of sitting on a shelf, I looked at that brake fluid again...that 1st pass blew out alotta crud, fluid was dark greenish brown with the sunlight through it...the last pass had very little crud, fluid almost pristine, but kinda looked like it had a few drops of water in it.

 

 

 

 

The test drive into town went well.  Before I did the transmission service almost 6yrs ago, on a flat stretch of highway, that truck would turn 2300 rpm @70mph; after service, it only turned 2000 rpm.  After the sludge blew out of the transmission valve body 18 months ago, the pan magnet had a mushroom of goo stuck to it...now it turns 1800 rpm @70mph, with plenty of low end grunt + highway acceleration, something this old buggy had not done in years.  And right as I rolled up to the stop sign at the highway back to the house, the odometer turned 250k...good times

[Veemoney]

On 2/8/2020 at 2:32 AM, JBNeal said:

Original RF caliper not retracting fully, LF dragging at 206k.  AA replacement units had loose bushings; NAPA LF replacement worked; RF replacement leaked at bleeder screw and was replaced under warranty.

On my 2010 Ram 1500 I had problems with the front brakes dragging. Things must of been good for short trips around town but a few miles more and I could smell the smell of the hot pads and that is when I noticed the problem. Replaced the pads, spring buffers and fluid, cycled the calipers to confirm they were moving freely, and the problem appeared again. I found out about the inconsistencies with the remanufactured calipers from threads on the internet. The problem with the calipers if your hard parts are in good shape is to replace the single O-ring in these calipers. They are just a few bucks for the kit and easily installed and comes with the new boot. The O-ring is round but it's profile is square. It is the square edges that grasp the piston as it is pushed out and pulls it back. As the corners of the square O-ring wear and round they no long grasp the piston as well.  I like the Sil-glide product as well.

Edited October 19 by Veemoney