Driving on city street when "service brake system" message was displayed as well as ABS and brake lights on dash. Vehicle had no brakes and emergency brake had to be used to stop vehicle.
Ford Escape Hev brake failure problems
15 of the 64 owner complaints about the Ford Escape Hev describe brake failure, most of them for the 2006 model year.
- owner complaints
- 15
- worst model year
- 2006
- typical mileage
- 58,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
I was on ladson road in the middle of the hyway and no brakes. The light came on just before my brakes went out. I had to have a tow truck take me home. I am afraid to drive my car. Ten years I have had no trouble. I have to have my son take me anywhere I have to go. It is not very good. This is the second time I have reported to you about this situation. The number you gave me #14v526000. Report #7695006-v3doz3.
1/25/13 pulled out of driveway taking daughter to school ~ as I approached stop sign I had no brakes. Pedal to floor ... Thankfully no cars were coming ~ yanked wheel to the right and pulled up emergency brake to stop. Dropped car off at 5 star ford nrh, tx and now have been quoted over 4600.00 to replace hcu ABS module on a car with less than 60k miles?! The part alone is 4100.00 .... Are you serious?! I am disgusted that I have now seen and read so many instances of other consumers with exact same issue and with no recalls or liability on ford's behalf! This should not be tolerated and is a huge safety issue, to say the very least.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, he attempted to decelerate but the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. The contact also stated that stopping distance also increased. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the hydraulic control module was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 108,000.
Multiple problems have been happening for about 10 months now on this vehicle which relates to its safety. I bought this vehicle in fall 2011 from saint clair ford dealership in michigan. In jan of 2012, I was driving home from work via telegraph north around 50mph and near maple road the vehicle suddenly said -there is a theft, bring vehicle to stop safely in the middle of 50mph traffic(this road is very busy)! It was so scary. I was able to bring the vehicle to the shoulder finally. I restarted the vehicle and after about 2 more tries it started driving again and then few days later it happened again. I brought the car in to the dealer at village ford and they replaced some coolant pump ($600) and said it should be ok now. After couple days, this started again. After few weeks I took the car to another ford dealers(suburban ford waterford) and they replaced another cooling parts ($700) but the problem came back after a month again. Recently for the last few weeks, I am getting these serious problems sometimes together and sometimes by themselves at least 2-3 times a day -"theft" and brings vehicle to stop while driving, lf tire and brings vehicle to stop while driving, service soon, service 4x4, wrench light, ABS light, brake light, etc. But the error codes go away when I restart and then something new comes after driving 5 to 6 miles. When I had time to bring the vehicle to the dealer, they said there are no error codes to read. All the error codes get deleted after I turn the vehicle off. This time I got service soon light and service 4x4 light and brakes failed earlier for a while and I showed it to the dealer without turning the vehicle off. We will see if there are any resolutions. This is a very unsafe vehicle.
Six days after purchasing this vehicle used from a dealer, my father lost brakes while driving in town. The ABS light came on and the brakes had to be pushed to the floor. The repair involved replacing the entire hybrid system. The next times the ABS light went off while either he or myself was driving we would apply the brakes to make sure we had proper use of them. We decided not to bring the vehicle back in to be looked at because the ABS light would never stay on and the brakes seemed to be in working order. Also, we did not want be without the vehicle for the lengthy period of time we experienced in january. The next time the vehicle completely lost brakes was september 5, 2012 when my father was driving. This time the traction control and ABS lights went on. Our dealer sent us to the local ford dealer and they wanted nothing to do with helping us out on the repair to have a safe vehicle to drive. We took the ford back to our dealer who ended up putting a new axle on the vehicle and clearing the rest of the codes. I was shocked that I had to buy an axle. It was something to do with a the axle's tone ring being broken and not giving a reading to the speed sensor. The next time my father lost brakes was on september 26, 2012. This time the brakes went to the floor and he had no brakes at all. We had the dealer tow the vehicle this time. The service shop said they cleared the codes and could not get the problem to reproduce. By this time we are both done with this car. I told them I wanted something in writing that the vehicle was safe to drive in case someone got into a accident. They gave me the paperwork stating they could not get the problem to duplicate and the vehicle was operating as intended at this time . The very next day, my father lost brakes while driving to work. Again, we had the dealer tow in the vehicle.
The brakes failed while attempting to stop at a stop sign. The car went through the stop sign. A few minutes later while driving, the ABS and service brakes light came on. I drove the vehicle directly to the dealer. They were not able to look at it until two days later. I was told the brake hoses needed replacing. I replaced them. The brakes seemed to be working. A few days later, I got the service brakes warning, as well as the service 4x4 warning in the info screen. The brakes seemed to be working. This time they replaced the wheel sensor at the dealer. About a week later, I noticed the brake pedal was hard when initially pressed and softened when the car was turned on. I was driving down the road about 35 MPH when the service breaks and ABS warning lights came on and the brakes only worked if I pressed really hard to the floor and then it was jerky. I drove a short distance to return from where I started and turned off the car. When I turned it on again a few minutes later, the warning lights were off and I had braking power again. I drove a few miles to the dealer and when I pulled into the parking lot to park, the brakes failed again and warning lights came on. This was a sunday. They looked at the vehicle on monday and noticed the hard brake pedal, but he lights were not on. They looked at the computer service codes and informed me I needed to replace the hydraulic control unit/ABS module and possible the master cylinder at a price tag of $4300 - $5500+. The problem seems to be intermittent, but the vehicle is not safe to drive. I know I am not the only one with a 2005 hybrid that has experienced this major safety problem. *tr consumer does not own the vehicle anymore. It was about 5 years ago she had a brake failure. There was no collision. Updated 6/8/18
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 ford escape hev. While driving 60 MPH, the contact attempted to stop the vehicle; however, the brakes failed. The brake warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel and read "service brake system". The contact had to apply the emergency brake in order to stop the vehicle. He has not taken the vehicle to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The failure occurred without warning. The current and failure mileages were 80,592. Updated 06/08/09 *bf the consumer was informed the hydraulic control unit was defective. Updated 06/09/09.*jb updated 6/9/09 *cn consumer stated car was taken to drew ford where it was originally purchased, they took a look at it and stated nothing was wrong with the car and that consumer should pick it up. Consumer explained he had filed 20 complaints online with the federal safety agency. Following day, dealer tested the vehicle again and the brakes once again failed at the dealers parking lot. Updated 6/8/18*jb updated 06/10/09.
I started the car, and the ABS and brake warning lights came on. However, the brakes seemed to function normally. After I drove 1/4 mile, I approached a traffic light, and the brakes did not work. I was able to stop by getting onto the shoulder and pressing the brake to the floor. It took about 100 yards to stop starting at 35 MPH. When I restarted the car, the brakes appeared to work, and I drove slowly to my destination. When leaving the destination, I had the same problem, but I realized that the brakes did not work while in the parking lot. After restarting the car twice, the brakes worked, and I was able to drive it to the dealer. The brake warning light came on while driving, but the brakes seemed to work.
While driving on the highway, brake and ABS warning lights came on dash and brakes failed. Could only get minor stopping power when brakes depressed all the way to the floor. Managed to stop without crash. When car was turned off and restarted, the lights were off and the brakes functioned okay. Dealer claimed they could find no evidence of a problem because the restart of the car cleared the error log. Exact problem reappeared 2 weeks later. Brake and ABS light came on dash, brakes would not stop vehicle except very minor braking power when depressed all the way to the floor. This time, drove car to nearby dealer without turning off and demanded that they drive it to witness problem. Again, they insisted there was no problem until they actually drove the vehicle. Replaced master brake cylinder and bled brakes 3 times before brakes passed test. *tr consumer stated complaint was reported more than 8 years ago for a car that consumer hasn't owned for more than 7 years. Updated 6/8/18
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Ford Escape Hev brake failure
Which Ford Escape Hev years have brake failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2006 (7 complaints), 2007 (5 complaints) and 2005 (3 complaints).
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