Breaks suddenly stopped working. Lights on dash including ABS came on. Car would not stop until pedal pressed almost to floor. Almost as quickly it started working again and our mechanic can not reproduce it. There a number (17) of other complaints describing the problem with more drama. (See [XXX] for one) Incident happened three times, twice going forward and once backing up. Please recall this quickly before someone is killed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
2012 Lincoln MKZ: ABS light or ABS activating
9 of the 146 complaints about the 2012 Lincoln MKZ describe ABS light or ABS activating.
- owner complaints
- 9
- of this car's complaints
- 6%
- typical mileage
- 104,000
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 2 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below
ABS light or ABS activating by model year
What owners say
The ABS system malfunction. All sensors light up and brakes did not work. You could push the brakes to the floor. Very dangerous situatiuon. This is the same ABS malfunction that has been the subject of a ford recalled of 600, 000 vehicles in the fusion,and mk's in the years thru 2010 but not 2011 and 2012 which yse the same braking system. This is a unacceptable and dangerous.
My wife and son left the house in our mkz and 1/2 mile down the road the mkz suddenly lost braking capability. My wife had to steer uphill in order to come to a complete stop. Multiple lights are now displayed on the dashboard including "service advancetrac", "brake", "ABS", and "check brake system". This incident happened without any advance warning of an issue. Research shows that this is a common occurrence for 2011-2012 mkz/fusions. There is an active recall for 2009 mkz/fusions for this issue that mirrors this scenario exactly. This recall should be expanded to cover 2011 and 2012 models.
In january 2021, my vehicle had reached about 60,000 miles. As I was backing out of my driveway, I noticed multiple warning lights on the instrument panel and as I tried to stop the car discovered that the brakes were not working. I pulled the emergency brake handle and stopped the car. Had the car not stopped, I probably would not have avoided going into the street. I turned off and restarted the car but the brakes did not work (after you start the car, the ABS light goes on and then the brake warning light goes on; the brakes only work a little near the floor). The vehicle was taken to the dealer and both the ABS module and hydraulic control unit had to be replaced at a cost of about $3200. I noticed a recall for basically the same thing but the recall only went up to 2010.
While driving, alarms dinged and lights popped up in my instrument panel. The warning lights illuminated were: brake system & parking brake system (or brake system warning?), check brake system, ABS, advancetrac, advancetrac off, throttle control/powertrain, check engine, and press reset to turn off rear parking assist. Pressing my brakes revealed that the warning lights were not all bark and no bite; there was in fact something going on. The pedal was soft, too easy to depress at first. Then it was very difficult to depress and ineffective. Not stopping at all until all the way down. This previously happened on 9/6/2020, but resolved after 2 days. This current incident happened on 10/2/2020 and remains active 5 days later. The service station found no cause previously. The first incident happened right after leaving my home. I was driving about 20mph on a rainy day. The alarms sounded and lights came on, when I attempted to brake for a stop sign is when I discovered the brakes not working properly. The second incident that is continuing began a bit differently. The lights popped up and alarm sounded while driving approximately 45 MPH on a sunny, dry day. The check engine light and powertrain light both came on about 2 days later. They came on while sitting at a red light.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 lincoln mkz. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the service ABS warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to schumacher lincoln of delray (2102 s federal hwy, delray beach, fl 33483 561‑454‑1800) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the ABS hydraulic unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 113,449.
The warning lights for traction control malfunction, ABS malfunction and brake malfunction simultaneously illuminated on the dash, along with warning chimes, and the brakes stopped functioning as designed. The vehicle would not stop with brake pedal application (pedal was soft, far too easy to depress, but ineffective). Car was steered into a residential lawn and emergency hand brake applied to avoid a collision.
The ABS module in my car failed on 11/20/19. The car had approximately 53,500 miles at the time of failure. The car had been serviced at the dealer five days prior on 11/15/19 including a multi point system inspection and replacement of the recalled air bags . No "warning" or indicator of a problem with the ABS system was identified. When the ABS malfunction indicator lights came on I had just turned the vehicle on and was pulling out of my driveway and so proceeded very slowly down my street (which has a downgrade) only to realize I had lost braking power and had to use my emergency brake to firmly / completely stop. I was towed to the dealer who indicated that there would be no warning in an ABS module failure and so could not have been identified five days prior. The dealer service advisor indicated he was able to stop the car in the service bay when pulling it forward at a low speed on a flat service. Had I been traveling at high speed or in traffic I am concerned this could have resulted in an accident with potential for serious injury or fatality.
While driving on city streets, brake pedal sinks to the floor when attempting to stop for lights, traffic, stop signs. Stopping distance is longer than expected until brakes finally engage. On highway (50+ MPH), pedal sinks for normal stops, and for emergency stops, if you stomp the brakes the pedal sinks and it seems that the ABS does not engage, because there is no noise or vibration.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2012 Lincoln MKZ abs
Is ABS light or ABS activating a common problem on the 2012 Lincoln MKZ?
9 of 146 owner complaints about the 2012 Lincoln MKZ (6%) mention ABS light or ABS activating. The model year with the most reports is 2008.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2012 Lincoln MKZ?
There are 0 recalls and 2 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2012 Lincoln MKZ
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