Originally posted by Big Jim:

On some of the Contours, the rear brake pressure bias is controlled by pressure reducing valves in line where the steel brake line connects to the rear brakes hoses for each individual caliper. I wouldn't mess with them unless you like having the car swap ends on hard braking. When these valves act up, they cause that one caliper to not fully release. The valves are different between ABS and non-ABS and are not interchangable.




Thanks Big Jim ..... you are the first who has actually provided any insight into solving the problem. The other posts are interesting, but do not address WHY IS THE REAR ONLY 1% (when it should be 20-30%)

What year Contours have these PRV's? Disk only? Drum only?

If the LF and RR are joined and the RF and LR, that might be useful info. I thought maybe I had excess air the line, but even with air in the rear, that would even out the pressure to the front.
FWIW,

With a newfound search I located from 2/03
"
Late models (I have a late (99 1/2) Contour SE) with ABS use EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution). The ABS controller (Bosch) does this in the ABS module so there is no mechanical proportioning valve in the rear of the car."

Ah - so just what IF I have a bad EBD feature in my ABS?