2016 Ford Expedition: brake failure

Filed Feb 8, 2021 · Brakes · 49,000 miles · IL

Low brake fluid warning, partial brake failure, similar to brake issue with f150 for which recall was issued--same parts used in expedition. Vehicle was stationary when warning first appeared. I refilled flued reservoir. Drove vehicle about 2 miles then parked. Restarted and reservoir had emptied, warning sign appeared, no fluid leakage visible under hood or on ground.

Filed Aug 25, 2020 · Brakes · 61,000 miles · GA

I was driving and my low brake fluid light came on and my brake pedal went to the floor. Took it to my mechanic and my master cylinder is cracked

Filed Jun 26, 2020 · Brakes · 42,000 miles · NJ

Received notification of low brake fluid. Shortly after, the vehicle would had trouble stopping and was nearly in an accident. Drove to local shop to have fluid added and look for leaks. No leaks found, fluid topped off, seemed to be fine. Within minutes, same 'low brake fluid' message appeared. Soon after, no brakes again. Again, nearly an accident. Searched online, saw the same problem happening to others and that there is a recall on the 2014-2016 f-150 that shares the same platform and is built in the same factory (the federal safety agency campaign number: 20v‑332. Ford's reference number for this recall is 20s31). Ford will not assist with the repair since it is at an outside shop.

Filed Jun 13, 2020 · Brakes · 48,700 miles · TX

While driving vehicle I had to come to a stop at a red light I pressed brake pedal and it went to the floor. I had no service brake available and went through red light and narrowly avoided hitting a car that had right of way. I rolled to a stop. The driver of the other vehicle was so upset that he drove around and threatened me with physical violence when he proceeded to beat me with a stick of some sort. I was able to diffuse the situation when I explained to him that I had a complete brake failure. I had a friend tow the vehicle on a trailer to my house where I refilled the reservoir. I inspected the vehicle and their was no evidence of leaking fluid anywhere on vehicle or ground. I checked vehicle again after a about 8 hours and reservoir had emptied down to below the low level. I added the remaining amount of fluid which put the reservoir at line just below the full line. At this point I stopped looking for leaks. I was preparing to call a tow truck to take it to mechanic when I heard about a safety recall for the ford f-150 brake safety recall the federal safety agency number 20v‑332 and ford recall number 20s31. I implore you to issue a recall for the 2016 ford expedition. It is a matter of life and death.

Filed Jul 31, 2019 · Brakes · 64,000 miles · FL

While driving the low break fluid warning came on and the break pedal went to the floor. There is no sign of a leak even though the break reservoir was empty. After filling it back up and checking for leaks, it emptied again. After more research, this is a common issue without a recall. Someone is going to get killed from this.

Filed Jul 14, 2019 · Brakes · 61,000 miles · CA

My vehicles brakes went out while driving. Fortunately I was pulling into my driveway, which is on a hill, and able to come to a stop and apply the emergency brake. After coming to a stop I checked the brake fluid and it was empty. There were no signs of any leaks. I refilled the brake fluid and the next morning was empty again. I checked again to find no sign of brake fluid leaks. I had to have my vehicle towed to gosch ford temecula for them to look into the issue.

Filed Jul 3, 2019 · Brakes · 60,000 miles · OH

I was traveling away from home and was towing my boat (about 4k weight). No performance issues or warning lights on the trip thus far. When leaving the hotel we stayed in, I pressed the brake to put the truck in gear. The brake pedal went straight to the floor. All the way down. The low brake fluid light came on and the brake warning light was illuminated too. The fluid reservoir, topped off a week before, was completely empty, yet no fluid was on the ground. Got the truck towed to a ford dealer. Needed a new master cylinder and brake booster, saying that the seal between those 2 parts failed and the fluid quickly transferred from the previously sealed master cylinder into the brake booster. Doing a bit of research, I see a the federal safety agency recall on f-150s that have the same master cylinder and booster. I also see an investigation underway for '15 and '16 f150s for brake failure. And I see story upon story of expedition owners on the expedition forum describing the same critical, potentially catastrophic failure. I'm grateful the truck was stopped when it failed. I truly feel I would not be here describing the situation to you if it had failed on the highway, on a boat ramp, or even in a city. It's remarkable to me that possibly a $2.00 seal (part) could have cost me my life, or those also in the truck. It's unacceptable to allow trucks to remain on the road with a cheap part that can fail that easily, likely causing death or significant injury to self and those you run into. Ford can do better. The federal safety agency can do better. Let's get this recalled before others die unnecessarily.

Filed Jun 26, 2019 · Brakes · 61,000 miles · TX

Issue with braking system. Warning light turned on indicating low brake fluid, and within mile, the brake pedal hit the floor. Vehicle was in motion on a city street, and the brake failure was immediate. Was very fortunate I was on an uncrowded city street and was able to roll into a grocery store parking lot without incident. No leaking identified anywhere near the master cylinder or brakes.

Filed Jul 25, 2018 · Brakes · 51,000 miles · KY

Catastrophic brake failure during normal operation on a city street I was able to safely stop due to a low fluid light but by the time I was at a safe place to stop the brakes had almost completely failed. I had to be towed to dealer. Was told the master cylinder, brake booster, valve assembly, and vacuum brake sensor all needed to be replaced because the mc was leaking into the brake booster causing them to fail. This is the exact issue that the 2013-2014 f150s (very similar platform) had a recall for. Https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2016/05/25/ford-motor-company-issues-one-safety-recall-and-one-safety-compl.html service tech stated the mc had likely been leaking for some time to cause the failure. I had the vehicle in for routine maintenance at the dealer which included a full brake inspection which was given a clean bill of health less than one month prior to this failure.

Filed Jun 21, 2018 · Brakes · 60,018 miles · VA

Wife was driving home from work when the "low brake fluid" warning light came on going 45 MPH. Less that one minute later when she went to stop and the brake pedal went to the floor and the vehicle would not slow down. Thankfully she was going up hill and able to get the vehicle to stop safely. Checked the brake master cylinder reservoir and there was no fluid in it. Checked the brake master cylinder for visible leaks and did not see any fluid.

Filed Jun 19, 2018 · Brakes · 46,000 miles · NY

Whie driving 2016 expedition el the light came on saying that the brake fluid was low shortly after the brakes went out completely ,pedal went to floor.thankfully used the emergency brake and down shifting to get car stopped .was very fortunate.my mechanic checked car -no leaks of brake fluid even thou the system was completely empty.his diagnosis was that the brake booster had failed and that all of the brake fluid was syphoned out and in to the engine. Very scary little warning just complete failure

Filed May 27, 2018 · Brakes · 21,000 miles · NJ

Approximately 21000 miles, sudden and complete brake failure while driving the vehicle. A warning message was displayed on the dash "low brake fluid". I touched the brake pedal and it depressed completely to the floor. I inspected the vehicle, no visible leaks at any of the wheels or in the engine bay. Brake fluid reservoir was empty. Refilled reservoir only to watch it drain with no visible leaks (into the booster?)