2007 Ford Fusion: soft or spongy brake pedal

Filed Oct 10, 2019 · Brakes · 85,000 miles · IL

In december of 2018 the vehicle hit a rough surface of road as I was stopping near an intersection. The brake pedal immediately went to the floor and I went into the intersection. Thankfully there were no cars passing through. Just after the incident the brakes firmed up and worked as normal. Car was brought to the dealership and no issues were found. I asked about technical service bulletins and was told there were none. Dealership thought the issue was a brief loss of vacuum in the booster. Told to keep driving the vehicle, and if it happens again they will replace the master cylinder. Now on 10/9/19 it has happened again. Vehicle went over a bump and the brakes went to the floor. Looking online, I quickly found a youtube video back in 2014 with a full explanation on how the hcu is malfunctioning on some of these cars. After the ABS event is over, the ABS valve is sticking and not reclosing resulting in the soft pedal. Yet not long after, the pedal firms up and the brakes work as normal. It looks like there are quite a few people experiencing this. Please look into at least having a tsb put out. I would have replaced it last december if I had known, as this is a dangerous problem. My daughter was driving this time and I'm just thankful she was in a situation where she had enough room to stop. Please, please issue the tsb now. The car should be recalled as it's unsafe, but at least a tsb gives the owner/dealer the information needed to get the car fixed. Have record of visit to dealership in 2018 if needed. It shows that they were concerned about the hoses to the booster. Nothing about the hydraulic control unit.

Filed Aug 13, 2019 · Brakes · 80,000 miles · CA

My father owns a 2007 ford fusion for about 5 years. About a year ago, he began experiencing soft brake pedal issues. The brake pedal did not have pressure and go all the way down the floor. The braking distance is also poor. The car travels significantly farther and takes longer before it come to a complete stop. My father took the car to a local licensed mechanic for a routine brakes service. The brake pads and brake fluid were replaced but the soft brake pedal and poor braking still persisted. The mechanic did research on the vehicle and found that our issue is consistent to a known issue in the 2007 ford fusion antilock braking system (ABS) hydraulic control unit (hcu) brakes system. My father said the brake issues occurred after the ABS came on after braking on an un-even surface. The mechanic said he does not have the expertise to perform the tasks and recommend us to file a complaint.

Filed Apr 22, 2019 · Brakes · 85,000 miles · WA

Brakes are extremely spongy started a couple of years ago with a complete brake failure that I had to veer to the right and hit a curb so that I wouldn't hit the car in front of me. Took a huge chunk out of my rim. I had 2 of my granddaughters in the car with me on that particular day and we were all terrified. After that they started working fine again and now for the past year they have been spongy and we have replaced every part of the brake system with no change, the brakes continue to be spongy. This has cost my husband and I a lot of money, headache and time. I'm afraid to drive my car now not knowing if it could completely fail at any moment. This is ridiculous, I see there are multiple complaints about the same problem. This is an ongoing issue and ford should be made to fix the problem due to the fact that so many of these cars if not all of them are failing. And to top it off I read that ford no longer makes the ABS system for the fusions with awd, which is what I have. What am I supposed to do. We've done our part keeping up on the maintenance, even replacing every part of the brake system including the ABS. Please, please, please something needs to be done. Ford needs to be held accountable and make this right. I often have my grandchildren but I don't feel safe having them in my car anymore. It's really messed up that I shelled out all this money for a safe car just to have them say it's not our problem when the exact same issue is occurring year after year in the ford fusions. I can't afford to just go out and buy another car and I shouldn't have to. Especially when the same part in all of these complaints is the problem. Whatever happened to accountability.

Filed Feb 6, 2019 · Brakes · 67,000 miles · WA

I purchased the car new and have never had any brake issues. Yesterday driving on compact snow and ice at about 25 MPH the anti-lock brake system engaged while slowing to start a turn. The brake pedal went almost to the floor before the ABS engaged a second time. At this point I was already passed the intersection. Since this happened the brake pedal is very spongy and will travel almost to the floor before any braking occurs. A quick search of the internet shows this is a common issue with this make and model. Information is not clear what the issue is. Some report the master cylinder others state the ABS control unit is to blame. There are many complaints of several service calls required and many $$$ to correct the problem.

Filed Oct 9, 2018 · Brakes · 120,000 miles · SD

Driving down a bumpy gravel road (some call it washboard), I went to apply the brakes and it was like the brakes were not there; the brake pedal went all the way down to the floor. I pumped the brake pedal and that helped. We did take the car to a mechanic, but by that time, the brakes had come back. He could not figure out what was wrong. Another time, coming up to a light when it turned yellow, I braked, the ABS kicked in, and instantly my brake pedal went to the floor again. This was on dry pavement. I could not stop. I made a right turn just as the light turned red. The brakes remained "spongy," but they came back shortly after the incident. This last example has happened at the same intersection twice. The light turns yellow, I brake, the ABS kicks in, my brake pedal goes to the floor. This last time, I drove back to the intersection and noted that there is a drop or considerable bump along a pavement seam just as you come up to the light. Enough of a drop that you can feel it in your car as you drive over it. Both of these times at the stop light I was unable to stop before the intersection. I had to proceed through making a right hand turn on a red light. I was not over-driving or speeding, I was unable to stop because the brake pedal had gone soft. This last time I took the car to the ford dealership in town and they verified that the hcu tested bad and needed to be replaced.

Filed Apr 23, 2018 · Brakes · 125,000 miles · MO

The ABS hcu valves in my 2007 ford fusion have become stuck causing the brakes to become very "spongy" and dramatically increase the stopping distance of my vehicle. After some research, it is clear this is a very common, dangerous, and costly issue that ford will not stand behind.

Filed Nov 14, 2017 · Brakes · 115,600 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

I was involved in a car accident that should have never happened. I was driving and traffic in front of me stopped and I attempted to stop, however when I applied pressure and then felt my pedal drop and get spongy, I then had to apply much more pressure but it wasn't enough. What should have been enough stopping distance almost doubled. I attempted to avoid a direct rear end collision and managed to veer off to the right and only hit the other car on the right rear side bumper. I have never been in any accident reports where I have rear ended a person and in this case I could feel the break pedal drop under me. I filed the accident report with my insurance company. This is the statement that I gave to them. "p1 was traveling w/b in the number 3 lane of us highway 50 with the flow of traffic at about 40 miles per hour on october 20th 2017 at approximately 6:19pm. Traffic was moderate and was beginning to come to a slow down. P1 needed to take exit 6b toward ca-99 south in 1.9 miles so I used my right turn signal to indicate I was switching from lane 3 to lane 2. As p1 proceeded to merge into the number 2 lane traffic was slowing down and I was entering the lane at 25 miles per hour. Still traveling west bound in the number 2 lane just north of the 59th street overpass, p2 who is now directly in front of p1 slams his breaks and begins to come to a complete stop. P1 was driving about 25 feet behind p2 at 25 MPH and also applied the full force to the breaks. When I applied the brakes I felt a spongy feeling on my brake pedal, and it didn't behave the same and I had to reapply much more force at which time it was too late. I collided with the other vehicle at about 10 MPH "

Filed Feb 21, 2017 · Brakes · 75,000 miles · PA

As of feb 2017, I have approximately 92,000 miles on my car. In winter of 2014 after going over a patch of ice and the ABS engaging the brake pedal became spongy and went to the floor. Brakes still applied but felt like manual mode. After several days of difficult braking the issue resolved itself and normal braking resumed. However, every time I braked in a gravel area or such with limited traction and the ABS would engage, it would create a brake issue for several days. In october 2015, the issue became permanent, however I found I could correct it temporarily by pulling the fuse associated with the ABS control module with engine off, starting the car with it out and reinserting the fuse seemed to reset the module and it worked properly again for a day or 2 at best before reverting back to the soft pedal issue. I also noted, pulsing the pedal and then slamming on the pedal, as you would during emergency braking, would create a normal pedal feel at times, but that is not needed during typical driving and would immediately revert back to poor pedal feel. I've recently called my local ford parts department, and was told that the part for a 2007 ford fusion, part # 7e5z 2c215a, is no longer available, and there is no guarantee that the part for the 2008 fusion would fit or work with a 2007 ecu. So I'm left with finding one in a scrap yard or taking a chance that a $1,235 2008 part may work with my vehicle. Please help, as if it were not that I am a cautious driver with my vehicle, accidents may have occurred due to this issue.

Filed Dec 28, 2016 · Brakes · 130,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 ford fusion. When the brake pedal was depressed, the brake pedal was spongy and slow to respond. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

Filed Mar 9, 2016 · Brakes · 65,000 miles · GA

While driving around 25 to 30 MPH on wet roads in stop and go traffic, I was braking normally and my right front tire was over a man hole cover. The ABS engaged and the pedal went to the floor. The brakes have never returned to a normal feel. I've had the master cylinder replaced and brakes bled on numerous occasions and was finally told that the ABS valve module was stuck open. I was quoted over $1,000 by ford dealership. Can't afford it so I've learned to live with a spongy brake pedal. I just pray I don't need to stop suddenly.