General Technical & Electrical General technical and electrical discussion for the Ford Ranger that does not fit in any other sub-forum.

Brake and steering issue

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Old Aug 25, 2024
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TTE
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From: COLESBURG
Brake and steering issue

Hello, first time poster here, and hoping someone can shed some light on a bizarre incident I had with my 96 Ranger last week. I was on my way to work in a town at the bottom of a long, steep hill. There are a couple of speed bumps at the bottom of the hill entering town, and I went over one at the appropriate speed, but about 40 feet down the road all the lights on my dash lit up and I simultaneously lost both power steering and brakes - the steering wheel locked up and became almost impossible to turn, and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. Thankfully I was almost on the level and going maybe 10 mph so I was able to shift into neutral and roll to a stop. I shut off the engine and took a few moments to collect myself, then started the truck and everything worked normally!

I went over the second speed bump, and the same thing happened again. Lights lit up, steering wheel locked, and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. This time I steered, with considerable difficulty, into a side street and got it stopped again. Waited a few moments and started the truck again, and once again all was normal. My job site was just at the end of the block I was on, so I drove very cautiously there and worked for several hours. In the meantime I called my mechanic and described what had happened, but he was completely baffled and had no explanation.

After I finished work I drove back over the same speed bumps with some trepidation, but the truck ran completely fine all the way back to the mechanic's. He looked it over and couldn't find anything wrong with either the power steering or brakes, and still hadn't thought of any possible explanation for the bizarre incident. Said he'd never heard of anything like it. I asked if it could have been a computer glitch and he said that he thought that would have killed the engine too. Plus an issue with the vehicle's computer shouldn't cause the brakes to lose vacuum pressure and then regain it. So I still don't have an explanation, and everything has operated normally since then, but needless to say I'm a bit nervous about driving it very much!

Anyone ever heard of something like this?
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