[Jamooche]

I love my Ford Fusion and have had zero problems until this past weekend. I was driving into New York City and as soon as I turned off the parkway into Manhattan, the brakes failed! The car was on, drove and steered fine, but there were no power brakes. It was as if a manual transmission car had stalled, but even worse. An error light came on the left panel saying "Check Brake System" and the parking brake light was on. I was able to quickly pull over. I put it in park, turned the car off, and then immediately started it up. All was fine with no lights or bells. On the way home the next day, the brakes failed just before I got on the highway and after I got off the highway 2 hours away.

Fortunately I was able to drive it to the Ford dealer today for servicing. They've, of course, never heard of this problem and can't believe it happened. It sounds to me like a computer / electronic problem.

Anyone hear of this issue?

[rfruth]

Not heard of this myself, be sure & let us know what the outcome is

[Oman]

The 1st half of the brake pedal travel is completely computer controlled. The computer will enable electric braking and then start to use hydraulic braking to assist. Once the pedal travels past a certain point you are using the stand-by direct piston backup braking. Its a good thing that they still require that back-up! I have heard that there have been problems with the electrical connector on the brake controller. It appears that Ford wants the dealers to cut the whole thing out (with the connector connected and intact) when there is a failure so they can try to figure out what is going on. Let us know what the dealer finds - brake failures are a serious matter (as you can attest).

Jon

Jamooche, on Nov 9 2009, 10:21 PM, said:

I love my Ford Fusion and have had zero problems until this past weekend. I was driving into New York City and as soon as I turned off the parkway into Manhattan, the brakes failed! The car was on, drove and steered fine, but there were no power brakes. It was as if a manual transmission car had stalled, but even worse. An error light came on the left panel saying "Check Brake System" and the parking brake light was on. I was able to quickly pull over. I put it in park, turned the car off, and then immediately started it up. All was fine with no lights or bells. On the way home the next day, the brakes failed just before I got on the highway and after I got off the highway 2 hours away.

Fortunately I was able to drive it to the Ford dealer today for servicing. They've, of course, never heard of this problem and can't believe it happened. It sounds to me like a computer / electronic problem.

Anyone hear of this issue?

[Jamooche]

Oman, on Nov 10 2009, 12:19 AM, said:

The 1st half of the brake pedal travel is completely computer controlled. The computer will enable electric braking and then start to use hydraulic braking to assist. Once the pedal travels past a certain point you are using the stand-by direct piston backup braking. Its a good thing that they still require that back-up! I have heard that there have been problems with the electrical connector on the brake controller. It appears that Ford wants the dealers to cut the whole thing out (with the connector connected and intact) when there is a failure so they can try to figure out what is going on. Let us know what the dealer finds - brake failures are a serious matter (as you can attest).

Jon

Thanks Jon. That's exactly how it felt...a long travel of the pedal to get to the hydraulic assist part which felt unassisted. I'm away later this week, so the dealer has my car for the week. I'll let you know what they find out.

[apreece]

Mine's been in the shop twice for this. There's actually a TSB (technical service bulletin) on it now and yeah it's a faulty connector. I can get the TSB number for you when I get home if needed. Still loving my car though.

[Jamooche]

apreece, on Nov 10 2009, 10:46 AM, said:

Mine's been in the shop twice for this. There's actually a TSB (technical service bulletin) on it now and yeah it's a faulty connector. I can get the TSB number for you when I get home if needed. Still loving my car though.

Did they fix it twice, or just the 2nd time?

Yes, if you could get me the number, that would be great. Thanks!

[apreece]

Jamooche, on Nov 10 2009, 01:29 PM, said:

Did they fix it twice, or just the 2nd time?

Yes, if you could get me the number, that would be great. Thanks!

Sorry for the delay, been busy. They thought they fixed it the first time, but that was back in April so I don't think they had a handle on what the problem was yet. The second time they performed ABS System test 1011-1C28 and performed TSB 09-12-13. Hope it helps.

[Jamooche]

apreece, on Nov 14 2009, 01:18 PM, said:

Sorry for the delay, been busy. They thought they fixed it the first time, but that was back in April so I don't think they had a handle on what the problem was yet. The second time they performed ABS System test 1011-1C28 and performed TSB 09-12-13. Hope it helps.

They called yesterday and said they replaced the electronic brake module and did a reset. I pick it up next week and will report any more info. Thanks for the info.

[walts51]

The same thing just happened to me yesterday in my 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Any updates on if the fix worked? I'm calling the dealer tomorrow to have them check it out. One brake failure is one to many.

This post has been edited by walts51: 26 November 2009 - 10:20 AM

[Jamooche]

walts51, on 26 November 2009 - 10:17 AM, said:

The same thing just happened to me yesterday in my 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Any updates on if the fix worked? I'm calling the dealer tomorrow to have them check it out. One brake failure is one to many.

The dealer did the TSB where they replaced the electronic brake module. So far all seems ok and it drives fine.

[walts51]

Good to hear and I'm assuming this was covered under the warranty.

[apreece]

I haven't had any problems since the second replacement, but it is concerning that now we have three people on this board (a very small sampling of the FFH driers out there) have the problem.

[Jamooche]

walts51, on 26 November 2009 - 10:48 AM, said:

Good to hear and I'm assuming this was covered under the warranty.

Yes fully covered.

[Jamooche]

apreece, on 26 November 2009 - 03:05 PM, said:

I haven't had any problems since the second replacement, but it is concerning that now we have three people on this board (a very small sampling of the FFH driers out there) have the problem.

Good point. If it happens again I will be trying to get the lemon law or "return" going.

[rlawson4]

If there is a TSB on something, should we go to the dealer for replacement? I know they now correct problems on the assembly line now so could the FFH others have already have the issue resolved? I am reluctant to have any repair on something that has not had a problem for me, so I wonder how people use the fact the a TSB exists for any issue.

[walts51]

apreece, on 26 November 2009 - 03:05 PM, said:

I haven't had any problems since the second replacement, but it is concerning that now we have three people on this board (a very small sampling of the FFH driers out there) have the problem.

That's the same thing I was thinking. Although must not be wide spread (yet?) because this is the only place I have found that has mentioned it. You would think or at least hope that something deadly serious as breaks randomly going out. There would be some notice to owners making them aware of this problem and have some type of test to see if your car is defective. It happened to me with a little over 10k miles.

[apreece]

Jamooche, on 26 November 2009 - 04:27 PM, said:

Good point. If it happens again I will be trying to get the lemon law or "return" going.

I thought the same thing the second time it happened.

rlawson4, on 26 November 2009 - 05:46 PM, said:

If there is a TSB on something, should we go to the dealer for replacement? I know they now correct problems on the assembly line now so could the FFH others have already have the issue resolved? I am reluctant to have any repair on something that has not had a problem for me, so I wonder how people use the fact the a TSB exists for any issue.

I don't think dealers will do TSBs unless the problem happens to you. I doubt seriously this will happen to everyone. If it becomes a widespread issue there will be a recall and all FFH owners will be encouraged to bring their car in for the solution.

walts51, on 26 November 2009 - 09:59 PM, said:

That's the same thing I was thinking. Although must not be wide spread (yet?) because this is the only place I have found that has mentioned it. You would think or at least hope that something deadly serious as breaks randomly going out. There would be some notice to owners making them aware of this problem and have some type of test to see if your car is defective. It happened to me with a little over 10k miles.

That's interesting to note when it happened. I only have 5k on mine and it's happened twice you get to 10k before it happens. When did yours happen Jamooche?

I would like to note though that as negative as this thread sounds, I still love my car and would get another in a heartbeat.

[Jamooche]

apreece, on 27 November 2009 - 10:46 AM, said:

I don't think dealers will do TSBs unless the problem happens to you. I doubt seriously this will happen to everyone. If it becomes a widespread issue there will be a recall and all FFH owners will be encouraged to bring their car in for the solution.




That's interesting to note when it happened. I only have 5k on mine and it's happened twice you get to 10k before it happens. When did yours happen Jamooche?

Mine happened at 8K miles.

[toyz]

Is this electronic braking system unique to the hybrid or is it used on other Fusion models as well?

[walts51]

I brought it in to the dealer ship today. Might be able to look at it tomorrow or Monday. From what I gathered from talking to them. They don't know anything about it. Told them about the the TSBs (Thanks!) and they said they would run a scan on it. As a side note: Dealership said they don't do rentals. Said that Ford does not allow them to do rentals anymore. Said they would call enterprise for me and I could get a rental for $23 a day. Got the Ford Focus. Miss the Fusion already.