10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 20,571 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
1. I was traveling a 35 mph on a straight road during the daylight hours. The road was dry. The weather was sunny, and there was very little traffic in a two lane road. As I approached standing traffic at a traffic light I began to slow gradually with engine braking. As I appoached the stopped car I began to touch the brake pedal, and immediately noticed no braking effect. I than pressed the pedal a couple more inches, and still there was little braking effect. I then pressed as hard as I could, and the vehicle began to slow gradually, but not in time to avoid hitting the car stopped at the traffic light. There was minor damage done to the standing vehicle, but only because I was traveling so slowly and had begun to anticipate the stop in plenty of time. Having been an automobile mechanic in years past, I determined that the fault was in the vacuum booster of the brake system. I took the vehicle to an authorized repair shop and had the brake system evaluated. They examined the entire brake system and could find no reason for the failure. They said that it could have been a momentary failure of the ABS or vacuum booster systems, but they could not determine the fault unless it happened again while they were testing the vehicle. I would like to know if this same problem has happened to others.
- Nashville, TN, USA
Intermittently when braking vehicle changes lanes. Dealer has been notified. There have been three sets of brakes put on vehicle by a private mechanic.
- Sauk City, WI, USA
Consumer hears a constant grinding noise coming from the left front wheel, the dealer has replaced the brake pads, the solenoid valve block, and the rotors but the problems still occur, the ABS light comes on, the sound is still heard, the brake pads continue to drag against the rotor, and the ABS system does not respond like it should, consumer requests reimbursement.
- Downers Grove, IL, USA
Front pads were replaced every 19,000 miles, and rotors have been turned on two occasions. But, rear brakes still appeared like new; also, experienced front wheel lockup. Can NHTSA help in this problem or provide additional information.
- Lawrenceeville, NJ, USA
ABS braking system malfunctioned, causing the ABS light to come on and off, indicatating a problem. Dealer cannot determine the problem.
- Montgomery, AL, USA
Noisy ABS; did we and do we have working ABS? no help from Ford. Don davis Ford invoice 202541 12/15/97, middlekauff inv. 404267 12/18/97 & 436463 2/2/99, five star inv. C05234 6/2/98 pd for brake fluid flushing with brake job (5star ruined caliper too), karl klement inv. 36021 8/19/98. My husband & I flushed the brakes - looked like dirty motor oil. 3 second whee became a chirp, pd. Utter Ford inv. C02461 5/19/99 to bleed ABS control unit - whee is gone but does our ABS work? it's never engaged and don't know if it will. We are also now working with an independent garage to solve our summer stalling out problem.
- Grapevine, TX, USA
- North Ridgeville, OH, USA