This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My family and I had headed home from a family vacation and got only 4 miles from my wife's family home when a low break fluid level light came on suddenly. I drove for about 30 seconds before pulling over to the side of road to turn truck off, then on again hoping this might solve what I thought would be an electrical issue. When I turned the truck back on, the sensor was still on. I proceeded to drive about 1/2 mile further when I needed to slow a bit due to turn in road. The break pedal went down to the floorboard. This was less than 90 seconds total after the light came on to begin with. Knowing something was seriously wrong with the truck, we immediately pulled over for good and called a tow truck. Once it got to the dealership, they informed me that the break master cylinder and booster were shot and that Ford had already begun a recall on this issue, though had not notified the consumers yet and were not planning to do so until mid July. That was straight from the dealership that my truck was towed to. Knowing this, my father in law and I begun to call other dealers within 100 miles to see if they might have a master cylinder and booster available and of course, they did not as Ford had already begun recalling the old from the dealers. This is a serious issue and my family and I could have been severely injured had we not thought and acted quickly. Anybody who has ever driven a vehicle knows that most light sensors warn you of a problem that you have some time to look into. This issue is far more serious. We had seconds to pull over and get safe, or the breaks would have been completely dry of fluid levels and the vehicle hitting something or someone would have been completely out of our control. My vehicles now sits waiting for parts that may or may not be available anytime soon. Dealership just said to throw some break fluid in and go.
This vehicle is currently under recall for the master cylinder in the braking system. My vehicle already experienced the loss of the braking system in June of 2015 and had the braking system replaced. Ford has know recalled the master cylinder and won't have a fix for months and wants the owners to continue driving their vehicle. The system on this vehicle has already failed and I don't T think the vehicle is safe to drive. Ford wants you to continue driving until they get a fix or a tragedy occurs to my family whichever happens first. I spoke with Ford case #cas9744853 and don't feel this is right.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the brake system failed to engage. While attempting to stop the vehicle, it proceeded through an intersection and crashed into a vehicle. A police report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed by the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 34,492.
On 5/24/16 at approximately 5:30pm while driving on the Florida turnpike, a low brake fluid warning light appeared on the instrument panel. About 10 miles down the road, I lost braking in the truck - the pedal simply would go to the floor. Fortunately, I was in the far right hand lane and was able to get off to the side of the road and come to a stop. I called aaa and had the truck towed to the dealer I purchased it from.
Driving to work on the local freeway. Low brake light came on and I pulled off to a near by autozone.5 miles away. Check brake fuild which was almost completely empty. Bought a 32 oz bottle of brake fuild. Drive another 6 miles to work and the low brake fuild light came on. Poured the rest of the fuild to get to another autozone to buy another 2 bottles of fuild to get to a garage near my house. Used a total of 3 bottles and no sign of fuild leaking anywhere on my truck. The fuild could be leaking into the booter. As of right now waiting on my truck to be looked over for the issue of lost brake fuild at my local garage.
- Chandler, AZ, USA
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The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. While driving at various speeds and attempting to brake by depressing the brake pedal, the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard. The contact stated that the vehicle was stopped by pumping the brakes and using the emergency brake. The contact stated that the check brake fluid light illuminated on the instrument panel prior to the failure. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 34,700. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. While the vehicle was at a stop, the brake fluid warning light illuminated continuously. In addition, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the master cylinder pushed the brake fluid back to the brake booster and the master cylinder and the brake booster needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 63,000. The VIN was not provided.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 60 mph, the brake fluid warning light illuminated. When attempting to slow the vehicle down to come to a complete stop, the contact had to depress the brake pedal to the floor of the vehicle. The vehicle took longer than anticipated to come to a complete stop. The contact filled the vehicle with brake fluid and had it towed to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed that brake fluid was leaking from the master cylinder into the brake booster. The master cylinder and the brake booster needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.
I purchased the vehicle and a couple weeks after having it I got a brake warning and it said low brake fluid. I filled the brake fluid up and drove it a few more day and again low brake fluid appeared on the dash. I took the car to the dealer and they could not find a leak. And I drove the truck back home only to put more brake fluid in. I also told the dealer that my brakes don't feel safe when I push on them because they go all the way to the ground. I basically have been told they can't fix a problem they can't find.
On 5/17/2016 while backing out of a parking space, I applied the brakes to place the vehicle into drive and the brake pedal went to the floor. The truck did not stop immediately but I could hear the sound of what I assumed were the brake pads against the rotors and the truck slowly came to a stop. Immediately after the brakes went to the floor, the dash alarm indicated red and audible beeps telling me to check brake fluid. I left the vehicle in the parking spot and called for a ride home. We were approx 10 miles from home. The next day, Ford roadside assistance towed the vehicle to Ford of clermont. The service writer advised me that they would be replacing the master cylinder and the booster pump and should be repaired in a day or two. On 5/19/2016 the service writer calls me to let me know that they are replacing my lines as well and the Ford wants my brake system returned to them with fluid in the line so that they can inspect them for the failure. On 5/20/2016 I contacted Ford customer service and told them that although they are replacing the brake parts, Ford has not corrected the problem with the replacement parts. Ford did not offer to be proactive, they advised me that if the problem should happen again that I should contact them for assistance. I do not feel safe in this vehicle, I do not feel safe towing with this vehicle and I do not feel safe placing passengers in this vehicle.
While driving at 45 mph the [low brake fluid] light came on with an audible ding. Approximately 15 seconds later we stopped at a traffic light. Made a left upon green light traveled 2 tenths of a mile and readied to exit onto a ramp toward another road. When the brakes were applied the pedal went to the floor without any effect in stopping the vehicle. I immediately moved the vehicle's right side off the shoulder to slow down and pumped the brakes 4 more times which seemed to have a very minimal effect as I continued to completely let the vehicle come to a stop off the side of the road.once traffic cleared we turned the vehicle around and literally coasted 15mph into a food mart exxon 100 feet behind us and came to a stop as the wheels touched the curb. Then we called Ford roadside service for a tow to the dealership. After waiting 2 hours we proceeded to the dealership F-150 in tow. We were informed by the dealership that the master cylinder failed pushing all the brake fluid into the booster.
I got into my truck, started it - nothing unusual. Put the truck in reverse, it started back, I pressed the brake - the pedal went to the floor without stopping the vehicle. I believe it was probably idling a little higher than normal in warm-up mode. I had to engage the emergency brake to stop the vehicle and avoid hitting a fence. The low brake fluid warning came up afterwards, followed by a brake system red warning. I investigated, then had a mechanic neighbor assist me. There was no brake fluid leak evident - no apparent damaged brake lines or components. The neighbor indicated it was most likely an issue with the booster / master cylinder or the vacuum line. I put about 90 ounces of fluid in the reservoir during the trip to the dealership and it was 3/4 empty when I arrived. Still no external leak evident. The dealership treated the repair as a warranty item, and told me the fluid was saturating the booster which had failed. They replaced both the booster and the master cylinder. Allstar Ford: Prairieville, Louisiana.
While driving along a city street the brake fluid level low message came on while at the same time the brake light lit up on console. At this point had I had no brakes. Depressing brake pedal to the floor board only marginally slowed the vehicle. I was able to get it to a safe location without incidence. The dealer mechanic found the master cylinder had leaked and fluid drained into the brake booster. They replaced the master cylinder and booster. The vehicle only has approximately 29K miles.
While going down a toll road at 85 mph (the speed limit) a brake warning light came on. After pumping the breaks a couple of times it was obvious that I was losing fluid somewhere. Within 10 minutes the breaks barely responded to my pumping so I took the truck to the Ford dealer that was nearby. The master cylinder apparently failed with no warning or without any outside "issues". the truck has 69,000 miles so the warranty was no longer valid. Cost was almost $900 to replace.
Tonight on 5/13/2016 I had a complete brake failure and my low fluid brake light came on. I luckily was able to stop the truck without crashing but the gas me very concerned. I added a full quart of fluid and it was gone in 2 miles stein and I experienced another brake failure.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. While driving 20 mph, the brakes failed and brake fluid leaked into the master cylinder. The brake fluid light illuminated. The issue recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 45,000.
Low brake fluid light illuminated on the way to work. A few minuted later brake pedal started getting soft. Turned around and headed to dealership, brakes getting worse. Had to drive in low gear and double pump brakes. Got to an autoparts store after 4 miles. Master cylinder was empty. Bought fluid and refilled. Pedal was better, but not normal. Drove another six miles to dealership. Made it barely with no accident. Master cylinder mostly empty on arrival. Looked under the vehicle at both stops. No visible leakage. Also, when I took the top off the master cylinder to refill (engine running), could hear hissing. There seemed to be a vacuum on the master cylinder. Pretty sure that is not the way it supposed to be. I assume a seal failed somewhere and the vacuum assist sucked all the fluid out of the master cylinder.
I started to back out of my drive way and my brakes failed. The pedal went straight to the floor and a "low brake fluid" message came up on the gauge cluster. I had just parked the truck 1.5 hours prior and the brakes were fine. I looked in the master cylinder and there was no fluid. I didn't find any fluid on the driveway, don't know what happened. I almost hit the neighbors car backing out. I had to get my truck towed to the dealership. I should find out tomorrow what the problem is, but I find this very freighting that the brakes can just fail like that.
Service brakes - I have 29,000 miles and with out warning the low brake fluid light came on and loss of braking while I was sitting still. Went and got 2 bottles of fluid and filled drove 10 miles and all fluid was gone and so was brakes. Took truck to Ford and they replaced both the booster and master cylinder with the same oem replacement parts. This is not yet a recall but an investigation so with the same parts installed I am very nervous now to drive the truck until and remedy has been provided.
After driving to work I was existing the freeway, a low break fluid warning light can on. I proceeded about 4 blocks to the office I was working at, and parked the truck. When it was time to leave I started to back out of the parking stall and had a complete loss of brakes. I had to shift to park to stop the truck. With the truck in park I checked the brakes again and the pedal when all the way to the floor. I turned off the truck and called Ford road side service. I checked the brake fluid tank and it was completely empty, with no signs of any fluid leaking on the ground. After waiting 3 hours for a tow truck to arrive we finally got it out of the garage and delivered it to Ford of bellevue, in Washington state. The service adviser informed me that since I had about 37,500 miles on it it was not covered under the Ford 36,000 mile warranty. He said he would be in touch with me about what was wrong.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- The Woodllands, TX, USA