— A Ford soft brake pedal recall has been announced after problems were discovered with the anti-lock braking hydraulic control units.
After multiple crashes and at least three injuries, the Ford soft brake pedal recall includes more than 600,000 of these vehicles:
- 2006-2010 Ford Fusion
- 2006-2010 Mercury Milan
- 2006-2010 Lincoln Zephyr
- 2006-2010 Lincoln MKZ
Extended brake pedal travel may cause a driver problems when trying to come to a stop in the vehicles which were built at the Hermosillo plant in Mexico between February 22, 2006, and July 15, 2009.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a December 2016 investigation of 475,000 model year 2007-2009 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan cars after complaints about soft brake pedals.
Ford owners said the brake pedals went to the floorboards after activation of the anti-lock braking systems, such as when driving on uneven or slippery surfaces.
Ford says it is aware of 15 reports of crashes and two injuries, but when NHTSA upgraded its investigation in April 2018, owners reported the soft brake pedals caused 26 crashes and three injuries. In addition, safety regulators said they had received 544 complaints about soft brake pedals and braking problems.
Ford had trouble finding the cause of the soft brake pedals and NHTSA's investigators said the same thing when they tried to find the root cause.
Ford says valves inside the hydraulic control units that are normally closed may stick open due to corrosion, but the valves can then close as normal and leave dealer technicians unable to diagnose the problem.
Customers report paying for numerous repairs to various components only for the soft brake pedal problem to return.
According to Ford, the replacement anti-lock braking hydraulic control units have a different coating on the valves that do not currently appear to be experiencing corrosion.
Ford will mail the first recall notices in January 2020 informing customers of the safety risk, then once replacement parts are available the automaker will mail second notices. Ford says it may be March before those replacement parts are in the hands of dealerships.
Ford dealerships will inspect the hydraulic control units for signs of valve problems and replace the control units if needed. In addition, technicians will flush the systems with DOT 4 brake fluid and the DOT 3 reservoir caps will be replaced with new DOT 4 caps.
Concerned Ford, Lincoln and Mercury owners may call 866-436-7332 and refer to recall number 19S54.
