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.
On multiple occasions I have had difficulty with stopping the vehicle regardless of the weather conditions. I have had my brakes checked repeatedly and been informed that my pads, rotors, master cylinder are all in great condition. I have had the brakes bled, brake fluid change and it has not rectified the issue. On more than one occasion I have either ended up on the side of the highway or almost hit another vehicle trying to stop. There is no forewarning as to when this happens. The brake pad is extremely spongy and at times when being pushed goes nearly to the floor. This has happened on the street, on the highway, the worse and most scariest incident was driving highway 77-South through wv, going through the mountains. I have counted 13 incidents of this over the past year. There have been more incidents over the span of 3 years but on each previous occasion I was told that air gets in the brake line and to pump the brakes. This clearly has not elevated the issue. The most recent evaluation by a mechanic assured me that my brakes themselves were in good condition.
Driving the other day I lost brakes and almost had an accident with another vehicle. The brake light came on along with the service light. Which is still on. Drive home variously in low gear when needed. When in low gear I heard a constant grinding noise. Still patiently waiting on my takata air bag replacement thru Ford. This vehicle is new to me and I haven't made my first payment yet. Only has 40K for mileage. As is common with most Ford cats. I asks experienced surges in the vast. My lay cast was an 04 Taurus.
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Fusion. While attempting to stop the vehicle, the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard when it was depressed. The failure occurred on several occasions. An independent mechanic was able to duplicate the failure, but was unable to determine the cause. The failure was not repaired. The local dealer (sterman and larkin Ford in pittsburgh, pa) was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 106,000.
Very soft brakes. - the car kept experiencing soft brakes after the ABS would engage or if the car hit a pot hole of solid bump in the road. Not all the times but fairly often. We replaced the master cylinder in 2016 and the brake pads recently as well. In Dec of 2017, I was going about 25mph while approaching the exit of our neighborhood. There was a small patch of ice & water. I was braking for a stop when the car crossed the patch. The ABS engaged. From that moment on for about 2 weeks the brakes would go to the floor before they would slow the car to a stop. Then it cleared up. On Sunday April 22 around 1am, we were driving through a town on our way back from picking up our son. It had been raining steady for several hours. My husband was driving less than 35mph approaching a traffic light that had just turned yellow. He tried to stop for the light. The ABS engaged but the car did not stop. The light turned red before we got to the intersection but the car was not stopping. We ran the red light. The car did finely slow down to an almost stop but we were already through the intersection. Luckily there were no other cars around at the time but from that moment on the brakes have been soft. After finishing our trip home about 300 plus miles and going to the store where we live about 5 miles, we are afraid of driving the car anymore. It takes too long to stop and if someone stopped quickly while in front of us or if something ran out in front of us while driving, we don't believe we could stop quickly enough; safely.
- Beebe, AR, USA
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I had to hit the brakes really hard as someone pulled out in front of me. Moments later the brake pedal goes straight to the floor. The hcu is stuck. The brakes are soft and it takes significantly longer to stop.
Takata inflators: I am having a very hard time breaking when I need to break. Over the past winter, I've slid through several red lights and had to blow on my horn to alert on coming traffic to stop. I've been told by the shops that I should not even be driving my car. This is very dangerous and overwhelming. Ive came out of a lot of money on breaks, pads, master cylinder repairs, etc. And would just like to be able to drive normally. I have to press all the way down to stop my car at all times. My breaks never feel normal. This has been going on for a little over a year now
While approaching an intersection, brakes were applied for a red light which lost all hydraulic pressure after front right wheel went over a pothole. To fully stop the vehicle, the brake pedal had to be pushed fully to the floor. Subsequent driving showed virtually no return of hydraulic pressure in the brakes. This occurred within months of having brake pads, rotors, fluid, and master cylinder inspected by Ford-branded dealer.
Initially, on a wet city street at 45 mph, the brakes failed with the pedal going to the floor. Pumping the brake seemed to restore the brakes. Several weeks later, travelling at 35 mph on a dry city street, my brakes failed as I approached a yellow traffic light. With the brake pedal depressed to the floor, I travelled through the intersection on a red light. I took a back road to get back to my point of origin and was unable to stop for any of the stop signs. The master cylinder and the booster were replaced but did not solve the problem. After weeks of being checked out by a Ford dealer, the vehicle was returned to me but the brakes are still soft and feel unsafe. It sometimes feels like the car accelerates after I depressed the brake pedal before the braking kicks in. A longer stopping distance is required.
On three separate occasions over the past 4-5 years, my brakes have gone "soft". the first time was the second I started the car and began to leave my parking spot, the second time was after I hit a pot hole on regular streets, and the 3rd time was after I had to brake suddenly on the highway. All three times it felt like I had to push my brake entirely to the floor to stop. The last time resulted in such extended braking times, that I had to swerve to avoid hitting the person in front of me. The first time did not last very long, but the other two times required time and a lot of pumping the brakes to make the brake feel normal again. I have not had to take it in to the mechanic and I do not have insurance or police reports for the incidents. I believe this problem matches the current open investigation (NHTSA action number PE16017)
2009 Ford Fusion. Consumer writes in regards to brake issues experienced. The consumer stated at various times the brakes have failed without warning. The brake pedal drops to the floor without warning.
Initial experience was ABS engaging while making a turn thru antiskid gravel. Pedal immediately went soft, luckily not on heavy traveled road. Returned home, disconnected battery, reconnected after a while, issue seemed to have resolved itself. Next incident was 12/9/17 during a snow event here in ne pa. When I crested a slight hill and applied the brakes to slow for stopped traffic. (high traveled road) ABS engaged, pedal immediately went soft. I was unable to control the car with braking, so I steered off the road to the right shoulder area. To avoid striking a object head on, (cemetery headstone) I was able to steer back to the left, but then had to avoid a utility pole. I was concerned a) with electrical wires coming down, B) air bag deployment since vehicle is one affected by takata switches. I avoided the pole, but ended up striking a support guy wire. This resulted in over $3,000 damage to front of vehicle, but luckily airbags did not deploy. However, had the guy wire not stopped me I would have slid back out into traffic, as I was on snow covered grassy surface. Vehicle not driven after that. Dealer looked at vehicle in January, no codes in computer. Flushed and refilled brake system, had normal braking. Recently went around same corner as initial entry, (early March) problem immediately recurred, pedal almost to floor. As with other posters, pumping pedal does restore some brake capability, but only for that instance. Pedal is soft again directly after. I have spent $2,000 already, and dealer says either master cylinder or hcu, or both. Seems to be hcu based on other complaints. Car has 95, xxx miles. NHTSA needs to get on Ford to address this issue pronto, before there is a death. I purchased this vehicle based on cr reports. I am not happy. It seems once they have your money, they don't care. Car not purchased new, had low mileage, one previous owner.
While approaching a four way intersection stop light at approximately 20-25 M.P.H. in a 45 M.P.H zone on a highway headed into the city the brakes were applied and while doing so also hit a pothole simultaneously. The brakes failed to engage in any capacity. Released pressure from brake pedal and then reapplied brakes at which point the brakes engaged and stopped the vehicle but not before overshooting initial planned stop point by 6-8 feet into the intersection. With passenger as witness.pedal now feels fine and brakes work normal. A similar situation occurred 3-4 months prior and afterwards the pedal felt spongy but went away on its own. After this most recent incident a web search turned up others having this problem that was identified as a possible bad ABS hydraulic control unit. Accident was avoided but could have led to hitting vehicles entering intersection. Web results also revealed that similar incidents are being investigated by the NHTSA.
Brake pedal mushy goes to floor had to have ABS replaced to correct car would not stop in a short distance only 90000 miles mechanic says it a problem with a lot of Fusion 2007-2009 years
Cosumer owns 2009 Ford Fusion. On four different occasions vehicle lost significant braking pressure that was believed to be caused by wheels hitting potholes which resulted in sudden dropping of brake pedal to floor, a decrease in rate of deceleration of vehicle, increase in stopping distance, and loss of ability to control car's deceleration by increasing the foot pressure applied to the brake pedal.
After applying the brakes with much force to stop suddenly, the brake pedal remains soft/spongy. The brake pedal has remained soft/spongy since the event. The brakes still work and there is no warning or indicator light that indicating a problem with the brakes. I changed all four brake pads and the brake pedal remains soft/spongy. I have had to adjust my stopping distances.
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Fusion. While driving 40 mph, the ABS failed and the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard while attempting to stop the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated prior to the failure. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing and no failures were found. It was unknown if a dealer or manufacturer were contacted. The failure mileage was 82,000.
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Fusion. While driving 50 mph, traffic came to an abrupt stop. The brake pedal was depressed, but failed to adequately slow down the vehicle. The contact stated that the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard. Additionally, the brake pedal became spongy. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that either the ABS module or the ABS controller failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Blaise alexander Ford located at 2265 old turnpike rd, lewisburg, pa 17837, (570) 524-7267, was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 50,300.
While driving straight on an asphalt street (no unusual road surface conditions that I can recall) I braked hard to avoid a vehicle that ran a stop sign immediately in front of me. Since then any time I press on the brakes they are spongy for the majority of the press down and the stopping distance is increased. The reduced braking of the car is even, it doesn't pull to one side or the other. There don't appear to be any problems with the brakes at the wheels and the problem is evidently symptomatic of a problem with the anti-lock braking system.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- The Colony, TX, USA