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Check Brake System light on, help please!


aliciamt7
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This issue happened to me this week. My car was built 12-2009. Two questions.

1. Would the tsb apply to my 2010 fusion hybrid?

2. Can anyone agree or disagree that the part that Ford is recommending replacing be justified based on the symptoms.

 

Check brake light first started Sunday. I still had regen brake and hydraulic brake. Monday took it to a Ford dealer. They recommend replacing the Brake Pedal Assembly, $950 part and $200 labor. Tuesday Wednesday Thursday no check brake light. Today light came on again.

 

Thanks in advanced.

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  • 5 weeks later...

This also just happened on the 2011 Fusion Hybrid I just purchased for my daughter. It has about 43K miles and was a 1 owner car, looked to be in perfect shape and well maintained.

 

As she started to apply the brakes, the check brake system and ABS lights came on and she slid through a stop sign! Fortunately it wasn't a busy time of the day and she was also going slow.

 

The dealership is working to find the issue(and these guys do great work) but the problem has disappeared with no error codes.

 

This model has remarkably few TSBs and doesn't appear to have the software issue although this sounds a lot like the issue Consumer Reports found while testing the 2010.

 

I'll post here if the dealer finds anything.

Edited by rmbowie
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When this happens, push farther DOWN on the brake pedal and full power mechanical braking is available. The Owner's Guide merely says to continue pushing on the pedal. There should have been a recall on the Owner's Guide.

An event like this will leave traces in the computers. Your dealer needs to contact Ford so they can tell the dealer where to look.

Edited by lolder
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Maybe, my daughter says she pressed the brakes all the way down, felt the pedal push back, and could not get the car to stop normally, just slow down.

 

It's not like she was learning to drive a manual and getting confused with the clutch, there is still just one brake pedal and we all know to stand on it if the car doesn't stop!

 

She didn't try pumping the brakes, all the cars she has driven were built this century, but it doesn't appear that would be suggested in the owners manual. ;)

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A Consumer Report's test driver had a similar computer brake failure while testing a 2010 FFH. He thought he had lost all brakes. You cannot lose all brakes in a FFH but the psychological effect of having to push more than an inch farther creates a loss of brakes feeling.

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  • 1 year later...

I have a 2011 FFH with a little over 55,000 miles on it. I started to get the "Check Brake System" warning a couple of months ago and had it checked. One of the codes said there was a leak in the vacuum system. It said to replace the vacuum hose which I did. Now the code says to check the vacuum pump. So far I have about $450 invested in having the hose replaced and I still get the warning light. The estimate to replace the vacuum pump is another $850. The car runs fine and the brakes work fine. The only problem I see is that the electric motor does not come on at times. I don't know if that is related to the warning. My mileage has dropped off from around 38 mpg to around 33 mpg. What do you think will happen if I decide not to replace the pump? I'm 80 years old and obviously I don't drive the car that much.  Unless I'm in for a catastrophic failure, I can live with the warning light.

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You paid $450 to have a vacuum hose replaced?! That's robbery. Codes don't tell you what to replace, the people reading them and trying to make money do. A Ford dealer that is EV certified should be looking at this if it involves the hybrid powertrain, not a private shop. Have another shop look at it.

 

BTW, if you are tech savvy enough you can buy a $20 OBD-II code reader, modify it, and read all the codes yourself with a program called FORScan. If I know the specific codes I can help more, otherwise I'd just be taking wild guesses here.

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The actual cost to replace the vacuum hose was $300, two hours labor at $125/ hr and $50 for the hose. The new hose has two check valves instead of one on the one replaced. The other $150 was charged by another shop who wanted $700 to replace the hose! The hose is buried under a lot of parts and hard to get to. It seemed high to me also but I was stuck. The Ford dealer is quoting $225 to do an analysis. California's not a cheap place to live...

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My electric vacuum pump is increasingly running more the last few months so I have a leak somewhere also. No warning lights or DTCs yet. The hose is really buried between the ICE and transmission. I notice the fitting on the pump where the hose attaches can be wiggled a little. I don't know if that's normal. Not having access to the hose I can't see where the check valve in the intake manifold branch is but it has to have one at the "T" otherwise the pump would suck from the intake line, There's a check valve at the brake booster assembly but that's buried also.

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  • 3 months later...

My 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid "check brake system" light came on today.  Luckily I was in a parking lot when it happened.  It certainly felt like I had no brakes, but after reading this post, I understand I might have just lost power braking.  I'm having it towed to the dealership now for investigation/repair. 

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It's good that you've having it brought to the dealership to check the issue, as they should be able to provide the most comprehensive analysis of the problem.  If you were able to stop at all, then it's likely you either just lost power braking, or perhaps lost a portion of your brake system, such as a slave cylinder failure, or line failure to one wheel.

 

Let us know what the dealership tells you.

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Glad to hear they were able to pinpoint the issue quickly.  I hadn't considered that as the source of your problem, but it makes sense, considering your description of the issue.

 

You might be able to get a cheaper quote from an independent shop, but $1145 is not a terrible price, considering it will come with warranty from the dealership.  I'm assuming that includes the diagnostic charges as well.  What are you planning on doing?

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12 hours ago, AndreaJN said:

Thanks for your comments @sirtanon  It's a relief to get someone's opinion :-)  Total was $1156:  $262 labor/diagnostics, $796 for the part BE5Z-2C219-H, $30 misc, and $68 tax.

 

I found that part for $495 at another dealer. List price is $750 so I guess they make a lot of money in parts...

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  • 2 months later...

In January I posted this...

" I have a 2011 FFH with a little over 55,000 miles on it. I started to get the "Check Brake System" warning a couple of months ago and had it checked. One of the codes said there was a leak in the vacuum system. It said to replace the vacuum hose which I did. Now the code says to check the vacuum pump. So far I have about $450 invested in having the hose replaced and I still get the warning light. The estimate to replace the vacuum pump is another $850. The car runs fine and the brakes work fine. The only problem I see is that the electric motor does not come on at times. I don't know if that is related to the warning. My mileage has dropped off from around 38 mpg to around 33 mpg. What do you think will happen if I decide not to replace the pump? I'm 80 years old and obviously I don't drive the car that much.  Unless I'm in for a catastrophic failure, I can live with the warning light. "

Up until this week, I haven't had any problems. I didn't drive the car for two and a half weeks and when I started it, the brake warning light and check engine light both came on. When I backed out the brakes felt sticky  and jerked. When I drove on the road it felt like the power brakes were off and I had to push pretty hard on the pedals to stop. I drove for a couple of miles with it this way and parked. About 45 minutes after being parked, the car started up without the check engine light but the brake warning light came on. The car drove normally after that and the brakes felt fine. I don't know what to conclude from that. The brake fluid level is fine.

 

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You probably need to replace the electric vacuum pump. They are a maintenance headache on Ford turbos and now hybrids. The are used more for brake booster vacuum supply on turbos because they usually have pressure in the intake manifold instead of vacuum. The hybrids get a lot of vacuum when the ICE is on. My 2010 vacuum pump is getting noisy and probably will fail sometime soon. My car is going to my Grandson in the next month as I've just received my Tesla Model 3. It's revolutionary. I'm 81.

 

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Mine isn't a Hybrid, but I know my 2012 has been sitting for over 6 weeks, and once the battery started getting weak it always said "Check Brakes" when I started it up. Once I put it on the battery charger it stopped saying that when I started it up (I wasn't letting it run long enough to charge up the obviously deteriorated battery that needs changed next).

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  • 2 years later...

My daughter's 2012 Fusion Hybrid has started showing both the "Check brake system" and "Service AdvanceTrac" warnings.

 

The first time, a little over a week ago, she was on the road and stopping for a stop sign when they went on. She said the brakes stopped working, as in she had to use the emergency brake to stop.  From what I read above, she probably had some braking ability if she'd pressed the pedal hard enough. Fortunately, she was going slowly on a quiet side street, there was nobody around, and she stopped without incident.

 

The lights went off after she restarted the car, and the next day we took it in to a Ford dealer. They checked out the mechanical parts, couldn't find anything wrong, drove the car around with the intent of recreating the issue and couldn't. Charged us $100-plus for the diagnosis, and said if it happened again we would need to replace a module which would cost something like $1600 for the part and another $400 for the service.  (I assume that's the ABS module.)

 

Anyway, the car lasted for a week before the lights went on again.  She was just starting it up in the driveway.  Turning the car off and on didn't clear the warnings.

 

I don't have a lot of confidence in this dealer.  It sounds like they want to gouge us for a part that should cost around $500, and their labor's no bargain either.  $2000 is more than half the value of the car at this point, so maybe they're hoping we'll buy a new Ford and trade in the old one for pennies...good luck with that.  I think I should take the car to an independent mechanic I trust and just have him do the replacement; what is the argument for bringing the car back to the dealer?

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  • 2 years later...
On 11/19/2014 at 3:36 PM, aliciamt7 said:

Hello everyone,

 

I'm hoping to get some insight here and maybe you guys can help me. We have a 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid and we had the check brake system light come on at start up. Initially it felt like we lost all brake pressure and would push the brake all the way to the ground but it did stop. Subsequently it would be fine but still have the light on. We took it in to the dealership where the brake light suddenly was off and they couldn't find anything wrong. They said our rear brakes were extremely worn and we needed new rotors (even at only 42k miles)--also told us our front brakes were absolutely fine. We had them completely replace the rear brakes and rotors, then it was fine for the past 4 months and now all of a sudden the check brake system light is back on with the same issue. Before we bring it back to the dealership again, I just wanted to research a little to see what the potential problem actually could be, I'm afraid they would just tell us the front brakes need to be done now even though we have barely driven the car (under 1000 mi since the rear brakes were replaced), and they would try to take us for a ride.

 

Thanks for any insight! I know there was a recall on 2010-2011 hybrid models regarding a brake software issue, but affected owners were supposed to be notified back in 2012. Is it possible that is the problem here?

 

Thank you!!

 

Hi everyone, I have my ford fusion Hybrid 2010 yet, and so far what you mention is happening to me, at this moment there is no recall for this problem, and the dealer is not aware of it that had it, I already changed the all brake system and the "check brake system" sign still appearing. The important here is when shows the signal the brakes is extended but when dont shows the signal the brakes works perfect. Do you have any recommendations for me, please help me, thank you

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  • 1 year later...

Brake issue 2017 Fusion Hybrid SE

so the big red Warning Low Brake Fluid display comes up when starting the car and also have the smaller brake warning light. Fluid is NOT low at all. Brakes work perfectly. Can engage and disengage the emergency brakes no issue (can hear them moving when doing this). 

 

This issues (warning light and message display) started after driving through approx axle deep water very slowly during one of Las Vegas’ infamous heavy seasonal rain deluges. Do not have any other warnings or error lights. Is it possible one (or more) brake sensors malfunctioned / shorted out when driving through the water (it was about 20 yards)?


is there a way for me to reset the brake sensor system and see if error comes back or narrow down where in the braking system the fault it?

 

Thanks in advance !!

 

Jeff 

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