2008 Ford Escape: brake failure

Filed Sep 1, 2023 · Brakes · TX

I was driving home at night with my child, and I stepped on the brake to slow the car down as we were going down a hill, and the brakes did not work. The brake pedal went all the way to the floor after softly stepping on the brake pedal and did not release. I could not stop the SUV, so I coasted as best I could, and THANK GOD WE DID NOT CRASH!

Filed Sep 17, 2022 · Brakes · TX

The brakes stopped working correctly and are very unsafe. The Regenerative brakes get disabled, and the ABS light is on, you lose the power brakes stopping power. I have to step on the brake pedal very hard for the vehicle to stop. It feels like the old school pre-power brakes. I took it to the Ford dealer, and they want to charge 5000 + dollar to fix it, they also say parts are no longer available, they instructed me to call my insurance company and have it totaled. I read the escape hybrid forums and I see many people having this same problem

Filed Aug 8, 2021 · Fuel system · CA

Car will run fine then, all of a sudden, goes into no drive mode. Will not go forward or reverse without a lot of gas pedal pushing ( like if the e brake is on then pop and lunges forward, but there is no brakes being applied, just gas.) Now car is sitting because mechanic pulled code P0A7C and said can't drive until fixed.

Filed May 23, 2021 · Brakes · PA

There is a major safety issue with the braking system. The brakes were getting soft (having to push all the way to the floor to get it to stop) A brake warning light then came on, i had a mechanic check it and he replaced all 4 brakes and rotors on it, a small improvement...then the ABS warning light came on.....it now brakes fine from speed until about 10 mph and then the brake pedal goes to the floor. Upon having the warning light scanned, it appears that the HCU (hydraulic control unit) needs replaced for a tune of $5000 plus. Upon more research there are many complaints on-line about this problem, unfortunately those of us that drive 13 year old cars typically cant afford such a repair bill for an obviously bad design flaw and must continue driving these dangerous vehicles because we have no choice. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed

Filed Jul 7, 2020 · Brakes · 197,667 miles · OH

This started in oct.2019,with brakes in the ford escape hybrid.I am not sure how many times the brakes failed last year,but this year alone they have failed at least 5 times.the last 2 times,very serious.I was on road with traffic,coming to a stop sign,trying to brake.put my foot hard on brake,it never went down rubbery like a brake going out would.it was like trying to push on a cement floor.I shoved it into park,it finally stopped.next time was even worse,it went right on through stop sign,made loud noise when I was shoving it into park,but finally stopped.made it safely home and it is still sitting parked.my daughter said she had heard they were recalling many for brakes.it is not safe at all.it was parked on july 1,2020,and has not been moved since.

Filed Jan 17, 2020 · Brakes · 137,000 miles · MD

When I bought the car, it was over 12 years old and had approximately 137k miles. I experienced recurring brake problems about a month after purchasing the car: on some days, when starting the car the ABS failure light and the red brake failure light would remain illuminated and the "check brake system" message would appear. Sometimes restarting the car cleared the errors, but most of the time they would remain the entire day. The following day the failures often cleared up. While these failure modes were active, the brake pedal had some pressure behind it, but braking took longer and strong braking LED to wheels locking up. (like in the days before ABS) over time, the failure modes persisted longer to the point where over the past two weeks, there was only one period of a half-hour where the car did not exhibit the failure condition. In addition, the "regen brakes disabled" message also started appearing, but that message may be deceptive because the battery status gauge shows a strong charge indication when the brakes are applied. In all cases, the failure modes appeared immediately on startup and persisted while the car was running. In the shop, these diagnostic codes were reported: c1313, c1478, c1480, c1526. The mechanic instructed me to take the car to a ford dealer because he was not convinced that replacing the master cylinder (an expense exceeding $2000) would fix the problem.

Filed Sep 11, 2019 · Brakes · 128,000 miles · VA

Driving at 40 MPH, ABS light came up first, then, brakes and then regent brakes disabled warning light came on. I was driving going home at 4:45 and stopped at a postal office when I noticed that to stop I had to push hard on the brakes to park. Leaving the postal office, I noticed the car wasn't breaking exactly when I wanted, to but decided that I wanted to get home, so I continue driving, but at a red light the brakes went all the way to the floor and I almost hit the car in front of me. I went into a panic and parked my car right there, in a bank parking lot, and proceeded to call a towing truck, to tow it to my friends house. I took uber back home and I'm not planning on driving that car.

Filed Jun 27, 2019 · Brakes · 86,090 miles · CO

All associated brake failure warning messages appear on dash. Took it to the local dealership where they diagnosed it as a hydraulic control unit failure. Repairs quoted at $5000.

Filed Feb 2, 2018 · Brakes · 148,000 miles · TX · crash · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owned a 2008 ford escape. While driving 25 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard, but the brakes failed to respond. As a result, the contact crashed into the rear of a volkswagen vehicle. The driver's side air bag deployed. The contact sustained injuries to the hands, neck, and forearm. The contact also sustained a whiplash, which did not require medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and deemed a total loss. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified and opened case number: cas14048964. The contact was referred to the federal safety agency. The failure mileage was approximately 148,000.

Filed Oct 24, 2017 · Brakes · 104,500 miles · IA

Daughter was driving home from her teaching position in marshalltown ia to ankeny ia. She called me frantic because her brakes failed. Pedal went all the way to the floor and the car would not stop called a tow truck and the vehicle went to tires plus in ankeny. They recommended an ABS brake bleed per some tsps they received from ford. While waiting for the tow...my daughter started her car several times and the brakes recovered. By the time the tow truck arrived the brakes were working fine. This happened in dec 2016 as well

Filed Sep 6, 2017 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 118,000 miles · PA

I was dropping my child off at school. I put my vehicle in park and when I pulled out and went to use my brake the pedal went to the floor and the pedal vibrated like ABS was engaged. I was able to stop but it was very slowly. I was going under 10 MPH.when I started to drive again my ABS and traction control lights came on and you could hear the sound of the traction control being engaged. I had to stop two more times on my way home and was able to do so by driving only 5 MPH with my four ways on. The traction control sound was intermittent and the vehicle would not accelerate properly. The brake pedal continued to go to the floor and vibrate. The brakes continued to not work properly and make sounds. I was only 1 mile from home and was able to get home without an accident. This happened in a residential area while I was making a short trip under 3 miles both ways. It happened right after I put the vehicle in drive and pulled out. After doing some reasearch this appears to be a common problem with the hydraulic braking system. I was very lucky that I was not involved in accident and that I was driving slow at the time. I just dropped my child off at school. Had this occurred at another time we could have been seriously injured or killed as well as anyone else that may have been involved. I have called the ford dealership today to have my vehicle looked at and am waiting to hear back from them. Since this is a common and serious problem I feel that ford should take responsibility and issue a recall on this before someone is killed.

Filed Feb 3, 2017 · Brakes · 88,000 miles · MS

Continual brake failure.. Brake pedal goes to floor. Will stop after reapplied but will feel mushy! Had master cylinder, one wheel cylinder replaced and they lasted a few weeks with same scenario happening again! Local brake specialty shop can't get to the bottom of problem! Ford should have recall to get to bottom of this problem before someone gets hurt or killed.