Brake cylinder failure; took two weeks for repair at Ford dealer.

- Plano, TX, USA

On 24 Dec 2013 at 2:15 pm I had to brake hard trying to avoid a car coming across my path in a parking lot (there was a resulting accident with no injuries, but damage to the other vehicles front fender). I wasn't moving very fast less than (10mph) and instead of just grabbing the brakes the truck shuddered violently before the brakes actually grabbed. I've noticed this on several other occasions. I'm not sure if this is expected behavior with the anti-lock brakes, but I'm convinced I could have manually stopped the truck faster.

- Bellevue, NE, USA

On July 6,2015 I came out of the gym entered my truck, turned it on the brake light came on and the peddle went all the way to the floor, luckily I was parked and not driving when it happened or the outcome could have been different. I called my dealer they sent a tow truck, out to pick up my vehicle. Brake fluid was low it had leaked internally from the master cylinder into the vacuum line then into brake booster. They had to replace the brake booster and the master cylinder. I just wanted to let you know that it is happening.my truck is an eco boost V6 and it is now March and I am taking my truck back in as son as I can get an appointment because of the front brakes grinding and squeezing, making noise when I come T a stop. My vehicle only has 27,000 plus miles. The brake failing happened at 22,000 plus miles. I have the invoice and work order in my possession when and if it is needed. I 'm as I stated earlier was lucky I wasn't moving.my only displeasure was that I had to rent a car for 2 days or stay home, so even though they didn't charge me I still paid over $200 for a rental car.

- Charleston, SC, USA

Started 2 weeks ago it was a cold 20 degree morning and my brake light / parking brake light was on. A little later it was off and thought it must be a switch. Short while later it was on and off and on over and over. I checked the brake fluid and found it to be between the max and min levels. I have put more in since then. The trucks braking for the most part seems ok but have noticed at times in town the pedal does sink slightly lower than normal. Now I have see this problem and it makes since its having symptoms similar to what others are complaining of. It is a 2013 F-150 FX4 3.5 eboost. I hope Ford takes this serious I I'll be taking this to the Ford dealer here local to me and having it looked at. This problem makes me nervous does Ford even offer a updated part that won't break down again if I have my vehicle fixed? noticed if I'm parked on. On a hill facing down the hill the light will go off but flat or any other position light comes off and on also brake fluid is down little bit again.

- New Castle, PA, USA

We have had 3 wrecks in this truck from rear ending people because the truck would not stop or the peadalwould go to the floor I still own this truck because I still owe a lot of money on it. I cant afford to get rid of it. So I just hardly ever drive it unless I have to it normally stops except those three times it hasn't I don't know what it could be the mechanics that fixed it back after it was wrecked said everything was okay. All three times we were accelerating and had to stop abruptly. My wife wrecked it once and I twice. The second time I wrecked it was not 24 hours after I got it back from the body shop after my wife wrecked it. Something has to be wrong but it works most of the time.

- Maumelle, AR, USA

Brake master cylinder failed resulting in total loss of braking. The vehicle has a 5.0L V8 engine. I was approaching a left turn and applied pressure to my brake pedal and lost braking at that point. Very low mileage on the vehicle when it failed, 14,813.

- Brighton, MI, USA

I have had my vehicle for a little over two years and have had to have my front breaks and rotors replaced 4 times. The first time being within the first month of purchase of my vehicle. Ford did the first replacement for free, but I have paid for the rest. The rotors show unusual wear and warping every time. Even with new rotors and pads the breaks are squeeky and jerky. This has not caused me an accident yet, but I have had to replace the brakes every 20 to 25 thousand miles otherwise I feel like they would have failed.

- Centreville, MI, USA

I was sitting at a red light with my foot on the brake, when my truck suddenly started rolling forward. I pumped the brake multiple times and the pedal went all the way to the ground with no braking effect. I made contact with the car in front of me.

- Kerrville, TX, USA

Started vehicle at my work location, brake light came on, checked brake fluid resevior found it low. Filled with brake fuid, drove to dealer with less that 100% braking power. Dealer replaced brake master cylinder and booster. Dealer work ticket attached.

- Missouri City, TX, USA

While driving down the interstate with my wife and two young boys heading to baseball practice, I lost all brake pressure and had a difficult time bringing the car to a halt. After several days in the shop, the service manager informed me the master cylinder lost all its fluid which caused the problem. The vehicle was ~16 months old and had ~37,000 miles (just barely out of warranty). The dealership was able to fix it after several days and only charged $100 as it was close to being in warranty and seemed like a highly unusual event. I didn't think much of it other than a one off fluke but saw an article this morning that others had the same issue. I have had no other issues since the resolution but obviously concerned it could happen again without warning if its a systemic problem with the braking system.

- Columbus, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 5 mph, the brakes failed without warning. The contact depressed the brake pedal all the way to the floor and had to place the vehicle in park to stop. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the master cylinder and booster pump needed to be replaced. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000.

- Brentwood, CA, USA

Low brake fluid warning light came on and brake pedal went to floor. No visible leaks. I stopped the vehicle and added fluid, next morning reservoir was empty again, no fluid on the ground under vehicle. I took the truck to the Ford dealer for warranty repair. The mileage was 24088. Dealer stated "booster was full of brake fluid" and replaced booster pump and master cylinder. I have noted other online complaints for the same failure on this same model and year of truck. I feel an investigation should be opened due to the severity of the nature of this type of failure.

- Orlando, FL, USA

On 5/1/15, while backing out of my driveway, as I attempted to brake, the brake pedal went completely to the floor, and there was no stopping power. While attempting to pump the brake and use the parking brake, my vehicle crossed the street, went up the curb, and struck my neighbor's landscape wall, damaging it severely. Total distance travelled was approximately 2.5 truck lengths before impacting the neighbor's wall. Upon inspection by myself and later my insurance investigator, the brake fluid reservoir was empty, but there were no obvious signs of leakage. No puddles or visible brake fluid. Truck was towed to local dealer who diagnosed the problem as 'brake failure due to leak faulty brake master cylinder'. within a few days, the brakes again did not feel right with a strange pedal feel. Gradually, the worsening pedal feel was accompanied by a metallic scraping or grinding noise. A second trip to a dealer revealed a failed brake booster due to brake fluid ingestion, which also explained why there was no visible evidence of a leak after the crash. The brake booster operates at a vacuum, so as the master cylinder leaked catastrophically, the booster sucked in the fluid, causing it to ultimately fail as well. Both the brake master cylinder and the brake booster were replaced under warranty. I am surprised that there as been no action on this issue yet - the complete failure of the most important safety system of a 2.5+ ton vehicle - as there are numerous nearly identical failure modes with this model and year. I truly hope nobody is killed by this; it was truly terrifying to be without brakes while moving in reverse in a massive vehicle.

- San Marcos, CA, USA

Vehicle had been parked for less than one hour. Returned and started vehicle. Depressed brake pedal to shift and pedal went to the floor and the low fluid light illuminated. No braking action. Stopped vehicle and checked brake fluid level. Reservoir had less than one quarter inch of fluid. Checked under and around vehicle and found no evidence of fluid leak. Added 24 oz. Of fluid to reservoir. Brakes still very mushy with very little braking action. Drove 11 miles very slowly and parked vehicle in driveway. Resevoir again almost empty with no visible leaks. Vehicle towed to dealership. Dealership said they had not heard of this problem before. Appears the master cylinder and booster are both bad. Truck had just rolled over 13,000 mi. When problem occurred. I have read at least 15 similar reports on this problem going back as far as 2011 F-150 vehicles. This is a potentially deadly problem.

- Greenville, NC, USA

Low brake fluid warning came on while driving. Pulled into gas station, saw brake fluid reservoir was near empty. There was no signs of a leak. Bought and refilled brake fluid and drove to dealership-1 mile away- brake fluid reservoir was 1/2 full. Service representative, knew right off hand what the issue was, brake master cylinder failure bleeding into the reservoir. Luckily I was able to get to aservice C enter. Took days to get parts. Seems like a known issue with Ford and they're avoiding a recall...

- Rochester Hills, MI, USA

On october19 2015 in yuma, AZ., I was dropping daughter off at school at approximately 720 a.M. on my way work when my "check brake fluid" warning light illuminated, everything seemed normal but as I was driving I started to notice that the brake pedal started to feel mushy and as I continued driving at 55 miles per hour I was coming up to a major intersection and as I tried to decelerate by pressing the brake pedal the pedal went straight to the floorboard and I was not slowing down, but 5 minutes prior my brakes worked fine. I had to sharply veer of to the right to avoid slamming into another vehicle that was slowing down, driving over the curb and having to manually downshift and utilizing the emergency brake to avoid crashing into a parked bus. As I have been reading this seems to be a recurring issue with this vehicle and a very dangerous issue that needs to be addressed, I am thankful that I did not have my daughter in the vehicle at that time and am very lucky that nobody was hurt or god forbid worse. The F-150 was towed to the dealership and amazingly the service rep told me what was wrong before even looking at the truck which tells me that they are aware of the problem. Just like everybody else here that this has happened too, when I check my brake fluid, go figure it was empty even though it was serviced about a month ago. The truck has 32,000 miles on it. Ford needs to do something about this. Very, very dangerous

- Yuma, AZ, USA

Rapid loss of brake fluid while driving resulting in brake failure. Warning light came on. Adding new fluid resulted in immediate loss of flid.

- San Jose, CA, USA

Travelling at 60 mph on interstate 5 South bound at 0445 hrs I observed brake lights approximately 1/4 mile ahead. As I applied brakes the pedal was spongy and brake fluid warning light came on. While in heavy traffic the brakes failed. I was able to exit freeway by down shifting and using emergency brake.I got to a local retailer and purchased 1 12 oz bottles of brake fluid and put it in the empty reservoir. After pumping the brakes I checked the fluid level and it was empty again. I purchased 2 more 12 oz bottles and added them to the reservoir. Pumped the brakes and everything seemed fine. Decided to go home (slowly) instead of work. After about 15 miles the brake fluid warning light comes back on. Pulled over and bought two more 12 oz bottles to put into my now empty reservoir. Drove 7 miles to my home and the low warning comes back on. Opened the hood to check brake fluid level and once again it is empty. Looked through engine compartment and the underside of my truck and there are no visible fluid leaks. This is a huge problem to life and limb. I see I'm not the only person with this issue yet nothing as far as I can tell is being done about it. Does someone have to be injured or killed? 60 oz of brake fluid just to drive 22 miles safely is not reasonable by any stretch of the imagination. Fortunately my wife or one of my children weren't using my truck when this happened or the outcome could have been very different. Waiting to hear back from my local dealer.

- Saugus, CA, USA

On 8/26/15 drove truck to town had no problems. Parked truck at house, short time later went to leave and low break fluid light was on, check under the hood and it was under the min mark found no leaks. I went to the store purchased a bottle of break fluid. On 9/6/15 same thing happened again, light came on checked around reservoir and under truck and cannot find a leak. Went to store purchased another bottle. Found numerous complaints online here and other sites about no breaks with no fluid in reservoir and no leaks found. I have contacted Ford directly about inspecting and repairing under warranty.

- Leesburg , GA, USA

The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. While driving 40 mph, the contact stated that the low brake fluid light illuminated on the instrument panel. While attempting to engage the brakes, the brake pedal sank to the floor. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the master cylinder needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 32,000.

- Mount Pleasant, SC, USA