general problems of the 2008 Ford Escape - part 2

Without any warning the abs and traction control lights came on the dash and the car acted like it was sliding on ice and the abs system was working on clear roadway. When trying to take back off after stopping the car it felt like the car lost power. Shut the car down and it started working correctly, but it is an intermittent problem, and has happened three more times since it first happened the day before. Just test driving the car in the neighborhood the abs system feels like it is engaging on clear roads.

Warning icon appears on dash for abs. Message says "check brake system", then "regen braking disabled". Brakes are very ineffective, requires lots of pressure to stop. Increase in electronics clicks from under the hood when starting the car. There is also a continuous high pitched noise from under the hood, like an electronic alarm at very low volume. After topping off brake fluid, problem went away for a few weeks, but it showed up again when I started the car tonight.

I was dropping my child off at school. I put my vehicle in park and when I pulled out and went to use my brake the pedal went to the floor and the pedal vibrated like abs was engaged. I was able to stop but it was very slowly. I was going under 10 mph. When I started to drive again my abs and traction control lights came on and you could hear the sound of the traction control being engaged. I had to stop two more times on my way home and was able to do so by driving only 5 mph with my four ways on. The traction control sound was intermittent and the vehicle would not accelerate properly. The brake pedal continued to go to the floor and vibrate. The brakes continued to not work properly and make sounds. I was only 1 mile from home and was able to get home without an accident. This happened in a residential area while I was making a short trip under 3 miles both ways. It happened right after I put the vehicle in drive and pulled out. After doing some reasearch this appears to be a common problem with the hydraulic braking system. I was very lucky that I was not involved in accident and that I was driving slow at the time. I just dropped my child off at school. Had this occurred at another time we could have been seriously injured or killed as well as anyone else that may have been involved. I have called the Ford dealership today to have my vehicle looked at and am waiting to hear back from them. Since this is a common and serious problem I feel that Ford should take responsibility and issue a recall on this before someone is killed.

2008 Ford Escape. Consumer writes in regards to issue with abs tone ring. The consumer stated the dealer was notified, but did not offer any assistance.

Abs system causes brakes to lock up. Not all the time. Never know when it will happen.

Hit brakes hard and abs hydraulic control unit failed, two inches from very bad wreck that could have killed people.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at 55 mph and when the contact attempted to apply the brake pedal, the brake pedal required excessive force in order to respond. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer and was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

A reoccurring soft brake pedal issue. Seems to occur after and hard braking incident where the abs is engaged. After a few days to a week the pedal travel and feel returns to normal. This has been a continual problem with the vehicle for the last two years that we have owned it.

Abs control module / hydraulic control unit hcu has gone out on my 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. It has left me with very little braking ability. If this was to happen on the hwy it could have been catastrophic. It is a $6,000 repair and it apparently requires a full replacement of the $4,000 part, the abs control module / hcu. Ford needs to take ownership of this issue and correct the problem with their faulty hcus in these cars!.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. While driving 25 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to haldeman Ford (607 NJ-33, trenton, NJ 08619, (800) 939-6659) to be diagnosed, but the mechanic was unable to retrieve a fault code or duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 71,101.

While breaking hard on rough road the breaks will loose pressure and go soft. They will eventually return to normal after a few times after the car is restarted.

I was driving home at night with my child, and I stepped on the brake to slow the car down as we were going down a hill, and the brakes did not work. The brake pedal went all the way to the floor after softly stepping on the brake pedal and did not release. I could not stop the SUV, so I coasted as best I could, and thank god we did not crash!.

A 2008 Ford Escape hybrid with only 33,585 miles was purchased on 06/02/16. The brakes were not working so I took it to a Ford dealership. They bled the brakes which made them work. A 20 year old girl was driving this vehicle and the brakes went completely out again only after 16 miles from Ford doing the repairs. She almost wrecked but managed to control the vehicle and pull off on the side of the road. She could have seriously gotten injured or been killed or killed someone else. The Ford dealership towed the vehicle to the dealership at no cost and inspected the vehicle. They are now saying it will cost approximately $4600. 00 to repair this vehicle in order for the brakes to work properly. This is a huge safety hazard putting many lives at risks for serious injury and/or death. There are numerous complaints about the hybrid braking system defects. Ford should be responsible to issue a recall on this defect immediately and be responsible for the repairs to this braking system at no cost to the owner. Most individuals and especially a 20 year old girl cannot afford a $4600. 00 repair. She should have a safe, dependable, and affordable vehicle .

Abs and traction control lights came on. When braking, it took longer to stop and was like you were stopping on ice. When starting out again, it took awhile for my vehicle to accelerate again and I had to pull off the road until it could start again. I had my daughter and granddaughter in vehicle. This presented a dangerous situation as it impeded braking ability plus the hesitation with the acceleration could cause an accident.

When vehicle suddenly makes a hard stop and brakes; it looses brakes momentarily yet returns to normal after 1) pumping several times or 2) cooling off . No signal or warnings.

When I would try to accelerate whether from a stopped position or already in motion my gas pedal sticks. I'm unable to press it down and I lose speed. Each time I press the gas pedal or brake pedal I hear a pop. I was trying to merge onto the highway and it suddenly wouldn't let me accelerate for a few minutes. This is very dangerous and frightening. It also does this if I'm already in motion of if I try to accelerate from a stopped position. I fear for my life and the life of my family. I take my husband to work an hour away, this is terrifying and unacceptable. I also transport my children to their jobs and schools. Please help before someone gets killed.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. When the contact started the vehicle, the abs, traction control, brake, and service engine warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was serviced under NHTSA campaign number: 14v284000 (steering) and felt that the recall remedy was the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 22,000.

Tl-the contact owns 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated the abs and traction control warning indicators were illuminated intermently. The steering wheel became difficult to turn and the brake pedal was depressed and failed to respond intermently. The vehicle was taken to independent mechanic and advised the right and left drive axle and axle assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage 91,259. Lb.

I put my car in reverse to back out of my sloping driveway onto a very narrow and busy hillside residential street. With cars coming down the hill past our driveway it is especially critical that I have an operational braking system. When I pressed on the brake pedal there was no response and I went shooting out into the street. I had the car towed to a nearby repair shop that I frequent for most service appointments. They got in the car to test drive it and had no problem whatever with the brakes. They put an electronic scanner on the engine and it reported that there was one or more problems in the braking system although the test drive went fine. They said that with the scanner message that was reported, I would have to take it to a Ford dealer. I have made an appointment with same and will have the outcome in a couple of days. None of that really matters at this point because I now have a car that is not safe to drive, let alone have someone else drive it. From all of the similar, if not exact, incidents I have been reading about on the web it does not sound likely that the dealer is going to find a definitive answer as to what is causing this problem. Furthermore, that car is useless to anyone else so what do I do with it.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph and decelerating, the engine suddenly seized then stalled. The abs band and skid control warning lights illuminated. The engine was turned off for fifteen minutes and then restarted but the computer reset itself and showed no failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated the abs band needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified who stated to contact NHTSA and file a complaint. The failure mileage was 58,000.

I pulled into a parking space at around 5-10 mph, hit the brakes and the accelerator pedal stuck. The car took of at around 40-50mph jumped a fence and crashed into a raviine, hitting a big tree. I was pinned in the automobile hit my head and injured my leg. I was taken to the emergency room where I suffered a spinal cord injury and a huge hematoma on my left leg.

I was pulling into a parking space at a speed of < than 5mph and suddenly the vehicle sped up out of control to a speed of 40-50mph tried to mash brakes to the floor, but vehicle continued jumped a fence and hit a huge tree off in a ravine. Two men were watching as the car sped up and ran to pull me from the wreckage after the crash, I was pinned in on the driver side, I suffered multiple injuries.

My third Ford and again right front abs ring cracked and had to be replaced.

Right front abs tone wheel is cracked found during oil change. My understanding this is a very common problem. . .

After making a slight left turn, I was coasting down a hill with a slight downhill slope without my foot on accelerator and was approaching a stop sign. In preparation for stopping, I started applying the brake. When I pressed the brake pedal, it went to the floor and made a clicking sound- almost as if the antilock brakes were activated. The vehicle did not stop. I turned into a parking lot immediately and the brakes began working appropriately again.

I was coasting down a hill with a slight downhill slope without my foot on accelerator and was approaching a stop sign. In preparation for stopping, I started applying the brake. When I pressed the brake pedal, it went to the floor and made a clicking sound- almost as if the antilock brakes were activated. The vehicle did not stop immediately but slowed until I got to the stop sign.

Tires problem. . . . 04/09/2011-purchased (used) Ford Escape 2008-XLT 4 wheel- mileage 37583. 07/08/2011-mileage- 40668- driven 3085 miles* the dealer replaced rotors, brakes in - (no cost to me), due to rusting & corrosion, dealer claimed probably sat on lot too long without being moved. Tires at this time were reported in "green" code- 08/11/2011-mileage- 41229- driven 561 miles* oil change, tires at this time were reported in "green" code. 02/23/2012- mileage- 44144- driven 2915 miles* inspection failed- due to tires dry rot! total miles driven in 10 months* 6561. Tires are goodyear/michelin x cross terrain 225/65r17 dotb93t.

While driving at about 40 mph, my car unexpectedly applied the brakes itself, without me touching the brakes at all, rapidly bringing the car from 40 mph to about 5 mph. Luckily, I was driving on a back road with no one behind me, so there was no accident. In order to move the car out of the way to somewhere safe along the side of the road, I had to shift down into first gear and almost floor the gas in order to fight against the heavily applied brake system. Once out of the way, I called a tow truck and had the car repaired at a local garage. The garage fixed the problem by replacing a broken "tone ring" on the car - a toothed ring around the axle that the abs system uses to measure whether the wheels are slipping. A crack in the ring had widened the gap between two of the teeth, making the abs computer go haywire thinking that the wheels were slipping. Since then in 15000 additional miles, I've had all three other tone rings brake, causing similar situations to different degrees. I've been told by multiple mechanics that this problem is common on the Ford Escape, and that the tone ring - despite being highly exposed to the elements on the undercarriage of the car - is made out of very corrodable material and they see them break all the time. My experience affirms this observation, and highlights a very dangerous situation that could easily be fixed by Ford using more robust quality materials to make the tone ring.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the abs tone ring became fractured. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and repaired however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.

Abs tone ring cracks because of rust on the axle and then it spins on the axle and causes the abs to activate and the traction control to activate because it believes you are skidding. Then the abs and traction control warning light activate to say there is something wrong with the system. After much research, this is a very common problem, is a design flaw, and is a safety feature for the vehicle.

At about 50,000 miles my 2008 Ford Escape developed the following symptoms: both the abs and traction control lights in the dash instrument display come on a few minutes after starting out on a journey and stay on until the engine is turned off. From a few instances of quick stops, it is apparent that the abs system is not operative. This is a potential accident waiting to happen. I did not notice any effect on driveability as a result of the traction light being illuminated. Upon investigation on the internet, I found that the most likely cause of these lights being lit was a failure of a "abs tone ring"; sure enough when I jacked up the car and looked carefully at these toothed rings just inside the wheel bearing/steering knuckle housing, I found that the front driver side ring was broken with about a 1/16 to 3/32" gap. The most likely cause of this failure is reported to be corrosion of the steel hub that the ring is pressed onto. The corrosion causes the ring to be stressed by the expansion of the area under the ring as the iron turns to rust, probably enhanced by the copious amount of road salt used in PA in the winter for ice and snow melting. Reported costs to repair this poorly designed engineering fiasco are in the $500-700 range at a dealers shop and ironically the ring itself is available for about $7-15.

Anti-lock brakes activate at both city and highway driving speeds. The abs and traction control light turn on and off intermittently. Road conditions at the time of the activation were dry.

Brakes has been squealing and soft, pedal going all the way to the floor off and on since vehicle purchase a year ago. Took in for service to dealership did not find anything wrong. On 10/30/2010, was driving on highway, traffic was heavy therefore going only about 40mph. The car in front, braked hard and as I applied my brakes they went all the way to the floor and the only way I stopped was because I rear-ended the car in front of me, airbag was deployed. I'm afraid if I would have been traveling any faster, the accident would have been tragic, considering my twin 4 yr old nephews were in the back seat. As soon as vehicle is repaired, I will follow-up with the dealership.

The steering wheel pops when turning. When the weather is cold the brakes won't push down. Battery goes dead if not driven daily. Radio wont play after replace battery that was dead.