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.
Recently I had difficulty getting my car to come to a full stop. It took much longer to stop my car and more effort to get it to stop. I had to depress the brake pedal significantly harder at a an extended period of time to the point panic set in because I feared my car would not stop before it entered the intersection. While braking I didn't have the usual feel of braking either. It didn't feel like the brakes were functioning. My car kept going even though I was pressing firmly on the brakes. It felt like I couldn't press hard enough to get a response from my brakes. My car was moving at a low to average speed (maybe 30mph) when this occured. It was not the first time this occured. It was on a dry local road on a clear day, approaching an intersection.
Braking failure 3 times from August 2016 - October 2017. Each time vehicle was traveling between 30 and 50 miles per hour when brake pedal was pushed, and then brake pedal 'went soft' or 'went to the floor' only slowly slowing the vehicle. Each time car was successfully pulled to a safe stop. Braking returned to normal after sitting over night. Brakes serviced after first two incidents. After Oct 2017 incident problem was duplicated by service tech by breaking quickly and turning wheel on freeway off ramp, I don't know how fast they were traveling. Have been told that problem is ABS pump.
After ABS engages, the brake pedal goes spongy, brake pedal goes to the floor while breaking. This has happened on quite a few occurrences. I feel like this is a dangerous situation while driving at highway speeds as you may have to break suddenly.
Hydraulic control unit has or is failing, causing loss of brake fluid pressure and increased compression of brake pedal to stop car. Event happens when car is in motion. If a valve in the hcu is stuck open or closed, brake fluid is not moving through system properly, and this could cause loss of braking power or the ability to stop at all.
While driving on a highway going approximately 70 mph, I took evasive action to avoid a deer in the roadway. I veered right and hit the brakes. Initially I felt the ABS engage and felt, through the brake pedal, a series of thuds. After about a second the brake system failed almost completely and the vehicle continued to move despite the brake pedal being all the way to the floor.
- Ada, OK, USA
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"takata recall" I received the notice to have my airbags replaced & bolton Ford has not responded. My driver door will not open from the inside of the vehicle & my brakes need me to go all the way to the floor before the brakes stop the car. Car was stationery when driver door would not open & driving coming to a stop when brakes need pushing to the floor to work properly.
Takata recall, my brakes failed my daughter and me several times I had the brakes replace thinking that was the problem but on 11/07 /17 I was existing off the freeway coming to the red light with the blessings of the lord the light was yellow I braked it wouldn't stop the person on my left waiting for the light to turn green notice I couldn't stop they waited until I made my left turn that was scary please tell me what I should do to solve this problem. [xxx] please don't wait until I have an accident I would loose my brakes and they will go all the way to the floor pumping them didn't help so I would drive in the far right lane when approaching a light or a car I would start pumping and pray all the way to my destination city street and highways been blessed so far. Thanks [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Continually noticed that increased pressure was needed to operate vehicle brakes. After incident where ABS system was required at highway speeds to avoid collision, the braking seemed to deteriorate. After several visits to local mechanic, and research by local mechanic, it was found that air was found in the ABS hydraulic motor, degrading performance of the ABS braking system. Mechanic was able to bleed the air from the lines, but advised that this would eventually occur again, and may require a new ABS hydraulic motor. (mechanic advised that a new motor would have the same issue.)
Two times in three months - after ABS event, the brakes go all the way to the floor. Stopping at high speeds with such little grab in the brakes makes travel extremely dangerous. I beleive it is the common hcu problem... actually im certain. Ford should issue a recall for this. Im sure there is a lot more people who havent reported.
The ABS system will engage and the brake pedal will go to the floor with no pressure and very little braking when going over railroad tracks. This has happened at least 3 times in the past 2 months and it doesn't matter whether you are using the brakes or not when going over the tracks. The brake pedal will not reset until the car has been stopped, turned off and restarted the next day.
I was driving to work, and hit a rough patch of gravel. The ABS system engaged, and my brakes went all the way to the floor. They were soft and totally unresponsive. Fortunately, I drive a manual, so I downshifted and used the emergency brake to come to a stop. If there would have been a need to suddenly stop, I would have certainly hit the car object in front of me. The brakes have been spongy since this incident.
When ABS brakes engage they malfunction and my brake pedal goes soft. It takes until the pedal is to the floor to brake. It happens every time the ABS needs to engage. This has been happening for about 2 years off and on. Now the ABS system is completely broken and the car is unable to be driven until the full ABS system is replaced.
This is my second occurrence of a previously reported problem. On 9/26/2017, after applying brakes while driving over a speed bump on a city street, my brakes got extremely soft, going all they way to the floor before slowly stopping the car. If II was traveling faster and this happened, the car likely would not stop quickly. The sponginess continued for several hours of driving before returning to normal. Independent brake mechanics again could not identify the cause of this second occurance in 6 months. It seems this problem is common and could lead to accidents with injury or death. Ford must fix or at least identify the source of the problem!
Takata recall air bags still have not been fixed due to lack of replacement parts. ABS braking system, brake pedal goes soft after hard breaking and turning, car continues to roll with very little stopping power. Once car was shut off and turned on again pedal came back and stopping power came back to normal. The vehicle was in motion on a city street in a drizzling rain and swerved to avoid a car that attempted to turn in front of me, I hit the breaks and swerved to avoid an accident, then when approaching a light approx. 3 blocks away, the pedal went soft and I coasted to a stop. This continued for the rest of the ride approx. 2 miles. I reached the destination and shut the car off, when I came back to the car I started it and the breaks worked fine for stopping from that point on to my home. I had to ride the break pedal for quite a distance before stopping when the pedal went soft. There was no accident however it was a very tense drive not knowing if I would be able to stop my vehicle and hoping that nobody would cut me off and I would need to stop quickly because that was not going to happen. I noticed there are many complaints regarding this and I feel that Ford should be recalling and replacing the parts necessary at no cost to the vehicle owner. According to a Ford tech it is the ABS control valve, and it is a costly repair.
Several times over the course of several years, after the ABS has engaged while driving, the brake pedal goes "soft" and has to be depressed all or nearly all of the way to the floor in order for the vehicle to stop. Usually, the brake pedal stays "soft" for several hours, then returns to normal the same day. In the past, I have taken it in to the dealer, and they have stated that they couldn't replicate the problem so they couldn't fix it. The last time this happened was on September 29, 2017. After several days, the brakes still hadn't returned to normal, so I took it in to the dealer (dewey Ford in ankeny, Iowa). They stated that the hydraulic control unit had to be replaced. With parts and labor, the repair bill came to $1,318.06, before taxes.
"hydraulic control unit (hcu)" I was driving home one morning following a truck on a two lane road at 60mph when a piece of furniture fell off the truck. I braked and swerved to the edge of the road to miss the chair and my ABS came on. I immediately felt ilike I couldn't stop and the ABS was not helping. I finally stopped and was able to avoid a collision. Later at the next stop light my brakes were very soft and barely worked. (pedal to the floor) I believe the hcu malfunctioned.
When driving over uneven or wet roads antilock brakes malfunction, causing brake pedal to go soft. This increases the distance it takes to stop. I have had to pull of the road or move to another lane to avoid collision. After stopping and pumping the brake or shifting from park back into drive brake pedal resumes normal tension. Cars sensors show no brake issue. My mechanic ran a brake check through the computer, no abnormalities showed up. I have noticed the antilock brake malfunction on city streets driving straight and while making turns. I have not tested the antilock brake on the highway.
Yesterday we slowly drove over a couple of very rough pavement grooves - the kind you drive over to warn you to slow down for a railroad crossing or stop sign. These were severe grooves and really rattled the car - btw they were at devils tower national monument in Wyoming. Don't see any need for them either. The next time I applied the brakes the pedal was very soft and stayed that way; the car is now unsafe to drive. In researching this online I see this is a known issue on Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan models. A defect in the cars' antilock braking system (ABS) hydraulic control unit is suspected to be the problem. Many drivers have lodged complaints that after an ABS-assisted braking maneuver ' on a rough surface or other irregularity in the road, for example ' the brake pedal was observed to "go soft, " requiring extraordinary pressure to activate the brakes the NHTSA reported an investigation on this on 12/27/2016. Please ramp up your investigation in this matter and require Ford to replace these defective ABS modules or any other component resulting in sudden brake loss.
On two occasions in the last two months I have attempted to stop my vehicle and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. The first time I was able to pump the brake pedal and get enough pressure to stop my vehicle. The second time I was not able to get any pressure back by pumping the brake pedal. After turning the car off each time the pedal was back to normal this makes it very difficult to have it diagnosed. I have read a lot of other complaints for the same thing on the Ford Fusion I think Ford should take these very serious before someone wreaks or dies because of this issue. I avoided an accident only by going into another lane which isn't always possible.
While driving my 2009 Ford Fusion at 25 mph, I came upon stopped traffic. The road was wet and a little uneven as I was crossing a short overpass but there was plenty of stopping distance. The ABS activated. I held the brake pedal to the floor but the brakes did very little to slow the car until the car ran into the stopped traffic. At 25 mph, there was no concern that the car would not stop in time even with the ABS activated, but it did not. There was no skidding or sliding of the tires. I believe that the ABS module just did not apply enough pressure to the brake lines. I think this falls under PE 16-017.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Sudbury, MA, USA