2012 Ford Focus: brake failure

Filed Mar 3, 2024 · Brakes, Driver assistance · IA

Intermittent loss of brake pressure. ABS would activate and leave the brake pedal feeling soft and having low brake pressure. This problem would randomly fix itself and then randomly happen again while braking normally or after the ABS would engage. Sometime the problem would last for weeks until suddenly the brake pedal would be firm and have strong brake pressure.

Filed Jun 4, 2023 · Brakes · MA

[Two incidents involving the same ABS control module. Early January 2023 and Late May 2023] ABS control module failed while going downhill (valve stuck open). Resulted in the brake pedal going to the floor. Had to stop by downshifting and the using hand brake. Whenever brake pedal is pressed after this, it goes a random distance to the floor with no pressure before applying some brake. Ford quoted me a 1 year lead time on replacing the part (and mentioned this is part of a pending recall. This recall will come out after they redesign a new module). They refused my request for a rental/loaner vehicle until it is fixed. I brought it to an independent garage to get the unit replaced. After that, my brake pedal worked as expected for a few months. Last week, the pedal went to the floor again. I brought it to a Ford dealership, and they confirmed that the new module already experienced the same failure as the original one. It is currently at the dealership, who will not have a part to repair my car again until August. I was refused a loaner vehicle by both the dealership and corporate Ford over this PENDING SAFETY RECALL, where they are unable to fix my car. I was told by they dealership that they won't stop me from driving my car in the mean time if I feel safe doing so. It is not safe, so I am leaving the car at the dealership. I do not have a date for when a new revision module will be made, along with official recall. Ford is refusing to reimburse me for my initial repair until they get around to officially announcing the recall. I also found out from them that they reprogrammed the ABS control module back in March 2013 while they reprogrammed a different module (I only new about the TCM reprogram). This means they knew the ABS module had issues 10 years ago, a month after I bought the car. They did nothing for 10 years despite the Fusions having the exact same issue. This is a blatant disregard for the safety of their customers' safety.

Filed Jun 4, 2023 · Brakes · MA

See incident 11525260 for details, as it describes both incidences where the ABS Control module failed. I am logging a second complaint so that the second module failure is recorded. Short version: The ABS control module failed again, leaving me with no brakes. The valve gets stuck open inside the module, making the brake pedal unpredictable and sometimes with no stopping power. Ford is unable to fix my car in a timely manner, and is refusing to provide a vehicle to drive until they fix it 2-3 months from now.

Filed Nov 23, 2022 · Brakes, Tires · 101,000 miles · IL · crash · 1 injury

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed but the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. The failure caused the vehicle to rear-end another vehicle. The contact sustained back injuries and scratches from the seat belt; however, medical attention was not yet received. A police report was filed. The contact then parked the vehicle in a parking lot, where it remained. The vehicle was not deemed totaled by the insurance company due to a lapse in insurance coverage. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the vehicle lost motive power with the ABS, TPMS, and brake warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure, and the ABS, TPMS, and brake sensors were faulty, causing the battery to drain rapidly. The dealer replaced the transmission and the sensors for the ABS, TPMS, and brakes; however, the failure recurred. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.

Filed Oct 3, 2019 · Fuel system · 57,400 miles · CA

I was driving on the freeway, at freeways speeds (approximately 65mph), my car's engine spontaneously stalled and shifted into neutral, all of the warning lights went on, and both the engine and brakes stopped working. While still moving at freeway speeds, I could not get the car engine to turn back on or get the transmission to re-engage out of neutral, and the brakes continued to not work. The brake pedal felt jammed, as if there was a power failure in the brake system; I could not get the pedal to move. I was able to coast without power to an off-ramp (I was still traveling >45 MPH on the off-ramp), and then use the emergency brake to stop once on a surface street. After letting the car sit for a few minutes, I turned it back on, and the problem did not return. I drove the rest of the way home on surface streets. Following up on this, the check engine light was on; an auto shop replaced the evap purge valve assembly and oxygen sensor (see attached repair invoice) and that solved the problem. Based on this experience, it seems like the car stopped due to an issue with the fuel system, making the fuel/air ratio in the engine too lean. I do not know why the brakes also stopped working. I feel very fortunate that this occurred at night when there was no traffic on the freeway. If there were other cars on the road, this would have certainly caused an accident as I could not safely accelerate or brake. The engine stalling was not preceded by any significant acceleration or braking.

Filed Jul 17, 2019 · Acceleration, Brakes · 47,000 miles · MD · crash

I was driving southbound in the left lane on I-495 from md into va, about to get to the ez pass camera. I seldom use the pass, therefore it is not affixed to the windshield. I had placed it on the dashboard in anticipation of the upcoming camera. Traffic was alternately slowing down and speeding up to approximately 35 MPH. The driver ahead of me suddenly slowed nearly to a stop, so I pressed my brakes, which caused the ez pass to slide across the dashboard and up against the windshield. Unable to reach it with my seatbelt on, and because the car was barely moving, I unfastened the seat belt to retrieve the pass. At the same time the driver ahead of me slightly increased her speed, then suddenly slowed again, which I did, too. However, this time I had to punch the brake. It went straight to the floor, my car sped up, and I was unable to avoid rear-ending the car ahead. It was such a helpless feeling to try and stop and have no brakes! A "crash mode" message showed up on screen behind the steering wheel and the sync system automatically dialed 911. The other driver got out of her car and walked back to ask if I was okay. I was fine, but because traffic in the right lane was speeding past, and some cars were even passing us on the shoulder, I did not attempt to get out of my car. Eventually the state police, emts and a tow-truck arrived. My steering no longer worked, but once the other car was towed out of the way the responding officer was able to walk alongside my car, pushing it onto the shoulder while I attempted to steer. The tow driver took over from there. I rode with him back to md to the body shop of the ford dealer where I purchased the car in 2011 and have had all maintenance performed and previous clutch issues addressed. It was in the shop for a month. I asked if there was something wrong with the brakes but was told there was no evidence of that.

Filed Sep 24, 2018 · Brakes, Engine · 68,000 miles · OR

This car has had problems since purchasing it as a certified used vehicle for my daughter. The stereo went out completely and had to be replaced. The transmission has been having issues but ford says the problem is not bad enough when hooked up to the computer for it to be replaced under their extended warranty which ford has put in place an extended warranty up to 100,000 miles and 7 years. Lastly twice while my daughter was starting to drive the car the steering wheel locked up and brakes stopped working. The second time the car was in reverse and continued to roll forward. Its a good thing she knew to use her emergency brake or she could have been hurt. The car is at the dealership to be diagnosed and repaired. Never buying a ford again.

Filed Dec 6, 2016 · Transmission · 68,000 miles · TX

My car has a problem with the transmission and I found out that there is a recall from the company. They have 3 recalls on the transmission: transmission control module reprogramming for overt TCM failure warning transmission clutch shudder / transmission input shaft seal warranty extension transmission control module extended warranty coverage I called them twice and they checked my VIN number and they found me eligible to get my car fixed at one of their dealers. I took my car there and the dealer refused to fix my car because my car has a branded(salvage) title. Now, if you can't build a car right, leave this business to somebody else.when you have all these failures in the transmission, this tells me the whole transmission is just a scam and it shouldn't be there.if a car got a hit in the trunk far away from the transmission and didn't even touch it, what this has to do with your mistake. Why do I have to pay for your mistake?do you even know what this transmission problem does to the car?here is what happened,I was driving my car on the freeway almost 70 miles/hour with my family and suddenly my car was not going forward and although pushing on the gas pedal,the car was not speeding. Do you realize that any car from behind could just hit me from the back because I didn't hit the brakes and no brakes lights were on nor any warning that I was slowing down.do you know how I was terrified to go from my lane to the shoulder while losing speed and any truck or car can hit me and kill me with my family.no,you don't know because you don't care about other people's lives. If you care you won't let these cars run on the roads. 3 failures in the transmission, 2 of them will cover my salvage title and 1 won't cover it, why?? The way I see it is you messed up in the transmission and they are all connected with each other, why do you cover 2 faults and not the 3rd one?

Filed Oct 21, 2015 · Transmission · 73,000 miles · IN

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While traveling 35 MPH and coming to a complete stop, the vehicle proceeded into the middle of traffic due to brake failure. The vehicle was previously repaired under a recall; however, the failure was persistent. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch assembly needed to be updated and possibly replaced. The vehicle was reprogramed, but not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000.

Filed Jun 16, 2014 · Brakes, Electrical · 72,000 miles · TX

The steering wheel would not move, there is an error message, steering assist fault. It happened before, but I turned the car off and back on again and it would turn. Before this incident there would be times when the A/C fan would adjust itself, by going higher or lower and the radio volume would increase or decreases without any help from me. This particular time it would not move and I was forced to leave it in a parking garage overnight. While attempting to get it to work by turning the off and on the brakes went all the way to the floor, suggesting the would not work properly if I were driving the car. Well, the car shut completely down and started to try to turn itself on without the key being in the ignition. After which it would not start at all. I had it towed in and of course it is no longer under warranty.

Filed Jun 9, 2014 · Brakes · 74,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the brakes failed when the contact attempted to stop the vehicle. The vehicle continued to accelerate when the brake pedal was depressed. The failure occurred for more than two months. The vehicle was not taken to a mechanic for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 74,000.