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Ford Explorer Brake Problems

62 messages,  Last post on Apr 27, 2013 at 9:44 PM

You are in the Ford Explorer Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Explorer, Ford Explorer Sport, Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Brakes, SUV

Messages Page 6 of 7

#49 of 62 Re: 2005 explorer - Eddie bauer [wwest] by mrgeagle1

Oct 23, 2011 (12:44 pm)

Replying to: wwest (Aug 16, 2011 9:40 am)
In the evening on October 17, 2011, I attempted to pull my 2011 Ford Explorer into a parking space in Sunnyvale, California. I was driving between 5-10 mph at the time. As I depressed the brake pedal to come to a complete stop, the car failed to stop. Instead, it rolled into a closed business that was being remodeled. The car came to a stop at the glass front doors to the business and did not penetrate the business. The good news is that no one was hurt in the accident. Additionally, the front airbags never deployed given the low speed I was traveling. The car has about 7,500 miles on it. Much to my surprise, the Ford dealership it was towed to was unable to find any problem with the brakes. In fact, according to the dealership, the brakes appear to work fine now. I have been driving for over 37 years and know the difference between a gas pedal and a brake pedal. I clearly recall pressing the brake peddle in my failed attempt to get the car to stop. I also recall the brake peddle going to the floor and looking down to verify that my foot was indeed on the brake pedal. If I had hit the gas pedal by mistake, the car would have penetrated the business and not been stopped by its glass front doors.
 
I discovered your web post regarding similar brake failure on your Ford Explorer. 2 questions for you:
 
1) Have you had any other brake failures, other than those listed in your post?
 
2) Did you ever find out what caused the brake failure and what if any repairs were made to the SUV'S braking system?
 
Thank-you in advance for any assistance you can offer.

#50 of 62 Re: 2005 explorer - Eddie bauer [mrgeagle1] by fordphobia

Nov 20, 2011 (8:39 am)

Replying to: mrgeagle1 (Oct 23, 2011 12:44 pm)
I had to do a panic stop in my '07 Explorer ad the brake peddle went soft. I felt like I was on ice. The Explorer would not stop and I hit the car in front of me. There was no damage to the vehicles but the driver of the other car received a jolt and went to the hospital. Now I have a claim on my insurance record. I took the Explorer to a garage and had the brakes serviced. They found nothing wrong with the brakes that would cause it to not work properly. I have tested the brakes myself, doing panic stop applications. The Explorer peddle feels mushy, it goes to the floor, the vehicle rolls on and eventually stops. I think the ABS is screwed up. The brakes do not pulse, like the ABS does, but 'feel' is similar .

#51 of 62 Re: 2005 explorer - Eddie bauer [fordphobia] by mrgeagle1

Nov 26, 2011 (12:31 pm)

Replying to: fordphobia (Nov 20, 2011 8:39 am)
I would suggest that you file an online complaint with the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NTHSA) and advise them of the problem you encountered. I did, even though Ford found no problem with my brakes and I also got stuck with an "at fault" accident, despite the brake failure.
The more of us who post the problem with NTHSA the sooner Ford will be forced to find the problem and come up with a fix.

#52 of 62 Re: 2005 explorer - Eddie bauer [mrgeagle1] by genec3

Dec 01, 2011 (12:16 pm)

Replying to: mrgeagle1 (Oct 23, 2011 12:44 pm)
I also have a 2011 Ford Explorer and experienced brake failure, luckily I was pulling into my driveway and had the same experience as you described. The vehicle was taken to the dealershp where I purchsed it, they checked the black box and it told them that there was no failure. I contacted Ford and after almost four months they decided that it was not their problem even though they never checked the brakes and we have pictures showing where only the right front brake grabbed pulling the vehicle to the right and into the house. Seems Ford is not worried about public safety. Its a shame because I have been a Ford customer for over twenty-five years and have purchased over 30 of their vehicles and I guess this will be my last. I will be contacting the NHTSA next. I'm sure they would want to know about this before it becomes an epidemic.

#53 of 62 Re: 2005 explorer - Eddie bauer [genec3] by mcclean

Feb 03, 2012 (1:10 pm)

Replying to: genec3 (Dec 01, 2011 12:16 pm)
We drive a 2006 Explorer Limited with 140,000 kms on the clock. Recently we had the same problem with the brake pedal going right to the floor for a second or two before the brakes engaged. Alternatively the brake pedal sometimes felt like the power assisted braking had failed and the pedal wouldn't budge, only to go soft a moment later as above. Most of the time this happened reversing out of the garage or rolling into parking bays. usually at low speewed. Only once or twice at speeds over 40kmh. We brought it to our mechanic who could find no fault. We brought it to a Ford dealership who initially wanted to change either the master cylinder ($650) or the ABS module ($2,500). I printed off the commentary on this forum and showed it to them. They ran some more tests and found some airlocks in the pedal assembly?? They now claim it is operating perfectly and have road tested it at low speed and high speed. We are collecting the vehicle this evening and if it's fixed I will post a complete description of what they did. The cost was $165.

#54 of 62 Teenager totalled car due to brake failure by lookinupinatl

Mar 24, 2012 (3:56 am)

Our 17-year-old experienced the exact problem that has been described here. She was not going very fast, having just turned out of her school. She tried to stop when traffic stopped, but even though she stomped on the brake she said the peddle went to the floor and the car didn't stop. She rear-ended the car, totalled her vehicle (94 Ford Explorer), and caused the truck in front of her to hit the car in front of them. The tow truck driver agreed that the brakes did not feel right. How can we get this problem some national attention? There could have been very serious injuries if she had been going faster!

#55 of 62 2005 Ford Explorer Brake Issues AGAIN by bamasmknmom

Apr 15, 2012 (11:36 am)

I have had brake issues for well over a year now. My brake pedal occasionally goes to the floor and the brakes fail. When this happens, I have to quickly lift my foot off the brake pedal and slam my foot back down. They then start to work again. This first began in October 2010. I took the truck to the dealership, paid them $850 to fix the brakes. All they did was replace the Master Cylinder. The brakes worked for about a week and the problem happened again. I took the Explorer back to the dealership, they determined they put a bad Master Cylinder in, so they replaced it again at no charge. Again, I drove it for about a week when it happened again Again, I took it back to the dealership. They couldn't find anything wrong with it and sent me home with it. This went on for about 6 months and six more visits. At one point they even told me I was crazy and nothing was wrong with my brakes! Finally on the last visit, they said that yep they felt what I was complaining about and replaced the Master Cylinder yet again! The car actually drove fine this time for a couple of months. This all happened in Jacksonville, FL. In June of 2011 I moved to Mobile, AL. I parked the car and just now started driving it again. Well, guess what! It's all happeneing again! I called the dealership inm Jacksonville and they said that the Master Cylinder was 10 days out of warranty! TEN DAYS! OK, I am so not thinking that my problem is the Master Cylinder now, it HAS to be something else, what are the odds that they put 3 bad Master Cylinders in! I have plenty of fluid, no leaks. The ABS light is on, the AdvanceTrac is off. Those two lights are the same lights that were on when I first took it to the dealership and they said Master Cylinder. My question is, has anyone else had this issue? Brake Booster maybe? ABS system maybe? I don't have the money at this time to just go replacing parts if that's not what the problem is...

#57 of 62 2011 Cracked Rear Pads 18000mi by gearhead_8

Aug 25, 2012 (6:14 am)

I was experiencing an unusual high frequency squeak at any speed that went away when I applied brakes. The issue was random, but happened more often than not and more so when the weather was hotter. At the time my ford touch was not active at all, so I brought to the dealer to have them look at the brakes and sync. The sync module was ordered, and then they told me they lubed up the sliders for the brakes. Brake problem came back again within the next day. When I brought the vehicle back in I again brought up the brake problem. The dealer called back and informed me that I had cracked rear pads and the rotors were glazed, so they needed to be turned as well, at a $200+ tag. I complained, and the service guy on the phone said nothing they could do because brakes are considered a wear item. Fine, I'll do it myself...after filling out the online survey that automatically came to my email from Ford with less than stellar marks about my experience, the manager of the dealership called and agreed to fix the issue. I am not a brake abuser by any means, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem? I did pull the wheel and caliper off and inspected the pads myself... both inside and outsides on at least the driver rear were cracked right though the middle, with very little wear. I didn't bother checking the other side. The caliper was very very tight as well. I wonder if the root cause is a caliper problem and if the issue will come back at some point down the line....
 
I have also had a middle row passenger side seat issue where the seat would not lock down after the seat had been lifted...this vehicle was one of the first made as I leased in Feb 2011.

#58 of 62 Ford Explorer Sport mystery break issues.... by shar11

Aug 28, 2012 (12:16 pm)

Hi all....I'm at a total loss. I have a 2000 Sport under 75000 miles. Really babied. This year I suddenly have this off and on issue I'm reading about here of breaking, feels mushy and pedal goes to floor almost. So far I do stop, but trying to keep distance between me what is in front of me. We have taken it in three times, breaks, pads, drums...everything is "perfect" so they tried taking the anti lock hook up off thinking a part of that may be the problem. Within two days it did it again. I notice if I go way down with pedal, then quickly rehit the break it tightens up and gets better. So today it's in again as I demanded a pedal check/inspection. They say nothing wrong...
 
I have been lucky, it does it maybe once a day on the average but of course I'm driving around always worried about it. I also see on this forum the accidents that have happened to others. I am new here, just starting to read everyone's issues....do we have any idea at all what this problem is???? I can't seem to get any help with this and not in market for new car yet. Thanks for listening.
Shar11

Messages Page 6 of 7

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