Brake Light On problems of the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid - part 1

Intermittent abs and brake warning light with almost complete loss of braking.

After starting the vehicle,(vehicle is stationary) the abs lights, and brake lights turn on. The brakes go into a safety mode, and don't work unless you push the pedal all the way down to the floor. I can almost roll down my driveway with the brake pedal pushed down all of the way. My driveway has a slight angle to is. Not much of an angle though. The vehicle is not safe to drive on the highway if you don't know if the brakes are going to go out or not.

Brakes failed at 10 mph. All brake lights system on dash turned on. Brake was hard and unable to stop vehicle when approaching stop sign. Brakes then released and got soft and would not stop vehicle. Hydraulic cylinder unit failed & master cylinder needs to be replaced. Was approaching a major intersection if brakes failed a few seconds later may have been a fatal accident.

While driving (not braking) the car on an interstate highway for about one hour, the abs and brake lights illuminated on dash along with the message "service brake system" and a ping sound. When brakes were next applied they had become very soft and not as responsive. I pulled into a safe area and turned the ignition off. After waiting a few minutes, the car was restarted and all of the above mentioned lights and messages were gone and the brakes were working correctly. Continued to drive again and the message didn't reoccur for several hours. The problem has happened several more times on both highways and rural roads and always fixed by turning the car off and letting it sit for a couple of minutes. The problems don't initiate when we are actually braking. Took the car to our Ford dealers service department where they ran a diagnostics test. The report they gave us said " verified customers concern. Retrieve coda 1524, 1526. Brake pedal travel sensor related. Also retrieve codes for traction battery cooling fans. " the service dept recommended replacing the brake master cylinder (at a cost of $2078. 95) and the hybrid battery cooling fans (at a cost of $716. 99).

Brake light intermittently comes on. Abs light also comes on - loss of braking ability at highway speeds when abs comes on.

My vehicle has 75,000 miles on it. I bought it oct. 9,2015 with 72,000 miles on it. In may 2016 the engine started cutting out and the message would read "service engine" along with a yellow wrench appearing on the dash. I had the vehicle taken to the local Ford dealer and was told I needed a harness. I paid 1004. 00 for the new harness and they also installed a fan for the hybrid system. The car did it again a few days later and I had it towed back to the dealer. The service department told me they had made a mistake and had to call Ford to get the correct codes to fix the car. I was told it was done and picked it up. The same thing happened less than 4 days later. I had the car towed again and let the dealership send my car home with a mechanic for 2 days. I was told nothing is wrong and picked it up. I now have the abs light coming on, the red triangle safety light coming on, the red brake light coming on, the low tires light coming on (it stays on) and the yellow wrench light coming on. At night when I turn on my right blinker the high beams come on. The dealership says there is nothing wrong and no codes come up on their machine. When I brake I have to push very hard and sometimes the brakes lock up on me. I have avoided accidents so far but I am concerned at this point. I do not want to be injured or killed and I certainly do not want to injure or kill anyone in an accident that could be avoided, if Ford had a mechanic that knows what is happening with the car. When I am driving the car will suddenly shut off in traffic and I have to stop, put the car in park and restart it. This is good for about 10 minutes before it acts up again.

Vehicle dash brake light came on intermittently. Took vehicle to dealer for diagnostic. Dealer advised master cylinder needed to be replaced for $2500. In adition, hydraulic control unit might also need to be replaced, for an additional $4000, but the dealer could not tell until the master cylinder was replaced. At this time, there are no brakes and the vehicle can only be stopped using the hand brake and is not safe to drive.

Driving on city street when "service brake system" message was displayed as well as abs and brake lights on dash. Vehicle had no brakes and emergency brake had to be used to stop vehicle.

Driving car and brakes failed completely. Had to jump on the brakes to get any traction whatsoever. Was fortunately able to use the emergency brake before I got into an accident. Yellow abs and red brake lights are on, along with messages of check brake system and regen brakes disabled. Appears to be a common problem with Escape Hybrid that it is the hydraulic control unit - a part to repair which is more expensive than the car is worth.

Nearly impossible to brake, major safety issue with the hydrolic regenerative breaking system and abs. While driving the vehicle on city streets, speeds between 0-40mph the brake pedal will become very hard and impossible to press with loss of braking. When this happens I am forced to rapidly release the brake pedal and brake again (pumping) the brakes in order to stop. On several occasions this pumping of the brakes has cause the break pedal to go from hard/impossible to push to completely soft hitting the floor with no braking capabilities. On these occasions I am forced to pull of the road quickly, downshift to low gear and even use the emergency brake to avoid causing an accident. Only about 60% of the time when this event occurred does the abs light, brake light and service brake system warning indicators illuminate or display. When this occurres I am usually forced to turn the engin off, remove the key, let the system purge (makes noise) after the vehicle sits for a couple minutes and then restart the vehicle in order to keep driving and fix the issue. Sometimes it fixes to issue for the rest of the driving time while others only work temporarily and the issue returns almost immediately. I feel that this braking issue is a huge safety concern for my family and I and our piece of mind in the safety of this vehicle is not good. As an additional note this brake issue only became evident after we had another recall issue fixed on this vehicle for stalling. Before that fix we never had any braking issues.

My abs and brake light came on and brakes became manual. When I checked on the codes (c1478, c1313 & c1480) I found that there are quite a few complaints of this exact problem, that the repair cost is ridiculous at approximately $5000. And that this is a very common problem with this 2006 Ford Escape Hybrids. This is a safety hazard and should be a recall by Ford!.

The brakes on our 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid began grinding around February 2016. We had the pads and rotors replaced and it braked better, but within a mile after leaving the Ford service center the brake light came on and shortly after - while moving - the brake pedal went to the floor and there were no brakes. We had to coast to a stop and pull over. When the car is stopped and turned on and off, you can sometimes get the brakes to work for less than a mile. Its so unsafe, we had it towed to service centers for estimates. Two Ford dealers and one other service place investigated the problem thoroughly and all came back saying the hydraulic control unit must be replaced at an average cost of $4,500. Otherwise, we like the car, but this one repair is greater than the blue book value and is very dangerous.

The brake system is very irritating because my abs and brake light are on at weird times and to fix they said it would cost me $4500. That's ridiculous I can't afford something like that. It also just started spitting gas out at me when I go to fill it up. Did it to me twice the other day and I have no idea what the reasoning was for that never had happen before. Then when I go to drove off sometimes the vehicle likes to make a pop noise once or twice not sure what that's all about. These cars are have more problems then they are worth.

Basically, this is happening at least 1 x / day. I am taking back to the dealership tomorrow, but Ford really needs to recall this vehicle and get this fixed. I was driving on a regular road and my abs brake light and service engine light came on with the warning bell. My hydraulic brakes failed again! I put my flashers on, pulled to the side of the road, I depressed the brake all the way the floor and rolled to a stop with throbbing emergency brakes still working. Then I turn off my vehicle after putting it into park, take out the key, wait a few seconds, then start the car again. It works again temporarily. Now, I know how to deal with it and I plan for it since it happens all the time, but if I am ever in a situation where I cannot control my environment, I cannot guarantee someone will not be harmed or killed as a result of this failure in my vehicle. Please! help us do something about this. This needs to be fixed!!!.

Driving down the road I had a complete loss of normal and effective braking. The abs and brake service lights both came on in the dash and in order to bring the vehicle to a stop it, it became necessary to depress the brake pedal as hard as possible all the way to the floor. Whenever attempting to brake the vehicle would lunge to the right, clearly indicating that (at least) the front brake on the passenger side was completely useless/ineffective. Needless to say, this was a very traumatic experience as it took all of my skill as a motorist to avoid a collision with the vehicle in front of me and to protect my wife and two children who were also with me. After getting online and reading countless forums and articles, I discovered that it is a disturbingly common problem with Ford Escape Hybrids to lose effective braking by way of a faulty hydraulic control unit: a part to which I later found out costs an approximate $4,200 to acquire. After bringing the vehicle to a local Ford dealer, I discovered that this was, in fact, the exact problem with my escape. This vehicle, apart from the faulty hcu, is in incredibly good shape and has no other mechanical issues. It is an absolute atrocity that Ford has not issued a recall for this part. It has been made very clear that they have no intention of recalling this dangerous unit until, inevitably, fatalities occur.

I was driving my daughter to school and my brake light and warning sound came on when I tried to brake for a red light. I had to push really hard to get the car to stop and we were almost hit by oncoming traffic.

Approximately 8-9 months ago I felt like the master cylinder was going out in my 2006 Escape Hybrid. I took it to a local shop that I trust a few days later and the mechanic drove it and thought it was ok so no repairs were preformed. However, at this time he did not perform any sort of a computer diagnostic test because he felt the brakes seemed ok. Fast forward to approx. 8/17/14, I pulled into my garage and before I turned my car off both the led message board indicated an issue needed attention (can't recall exact wording) and the red brake warning light on the dash lit up indicating the brake unit needed service. I took the vehicle back to the same mechanic and he performed a computer diagnostic test. He got back to following: "brake system diagnostics code: c1471 high pressure accumulator volume consumption plausibility failure. Recommend replacement of the master cylinder first and recheck system. If code returns the hydraulic control unit will need to be replaced. " the cost to perform this work is nearly $8,900. 00 and almost all of that charge is for replacing these two defective parts, not labor. The cost to replace the failing hydraulics exceeds the blue book value of the vehicle also. This vehicle has only 91,589 miles on it and the whole hydraulic system is failing. I checked out various internet boards and it looks like my problem is the same exact problem scores of others have experienced, and many of them right at the same approx. Mileage interval.

While driving my 2006 Ford hybrid escape on the highway, the abs and parking brake lights came on as well as a warning alarm sounded. The brakes went completely out, and I had to push the brake pedal all the way to the floor before I could slow down. This is the second time in about 3 months that this event has occurred.

Car had been parked at airport parking lot for a month. When retrieving it upon return brakes failed, abs and brake service warning light came on, and peddle went to the floor. We parked the car in the lot, rented a car to get home. Next morning we arranged aaa to tow vehicle. When tow operator came the vehicle braking systems was perfectly fine. We chose to pay him and drive the car home. Took vehicle to dealer and explained the issue. They never acknowledged any understanding of this problem. They replaced rear brake pads and rotors because there was also loud brake noise. Now one year later, July 27 2015, [97000+ miles] slowing for a right turn on a rural highway and the brake system failed again. With no warning the peddle went to the floor. With a concerted effort I was able to slow the vehicle and make the turn without incident. The abs light and service brake warning lights were lit. Condition persisted as we continued a few miles to the shopping plaza. After shopping we decided to return directly home, but when car was started the fault had cleared and the brakes functioned normally. We have just spent the morning searching internet and find this is an issue Ford knows about and is denying to acknowledge. And apparently it is very expensive to resolve with the need to replace the hcu. We now understand what the problem is but are among the many who feel this is certainly a serious enough safety issue Ford should participate in its resolve for owners with defective brake systems. Our experience so far is, that though there is some ability to brake it is not anywhere equal to the 'normal' braking capacity and that is dangerous. And the intermittent and random occurrence is troubling to say the least. We will contact the dealer today to get the reaction to our concern.

The contact owns a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the brake warning light illuminated. The contact also stated when the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle would not instantly stop and traveled abnormally to the floorboard. The failure recurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the hydraulics code was present as a result the master cylinder needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000. The VIN was not available.

At approximately 1:30pm, I was driving in sacramento making a right turn merging into traffic with my foot on the brake pedal when all of a sudden the petal dropped to the floor with no hydraulic pressure in it. The abs light came on, the brake light came on, and the panel said "service brake system. " I had my son in the car with me and I pulled over to the side of the road pressing extremely hard on the brake pedal to get it to stop. I immediately went to pep boys around the corner without brakes (except when I pressed hard on the brake pedal all the way to the floor). Pep boys looked at it and said it might be the master cyclinder but they were not willing to sell me one until I had a Ford dealer look at the vehicle. When I turned the car back on, the abs light was off, the brake warning light was off, and the service warning was off. Ford dealer looked at the vehicle, drove it around for 22 miles and nothing out of the ordinary happened. I advised Ford that pep boys had advised me there was a technical service builletin (TSB) on intermittent brake loss for 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid. The Ford representative immediately snapped back at me "that doesn't mean its covered under warranty?" I then said, I care about my safety and want to know why out of the blue my brakes failed. When I went back to see if they found a problem, they stated everything was in normal working order and there were no codes in the system to indicate brake failure.

The vehicle was and has been driving normally until standard braking situation of coming to a stoplight. As the brakes were applied the abs and brake light came on and all power assist to the brakes was gone. I had to crush the brake pedal to get any braking at all. Luckily I'm strong enough to manually bring the vehicle to a stop. This was the first time (December 2013) since I've had the vehicle that this happened. It's now April 2014 and the same issue has returned (twice in a week). A very dangerous potential situation. However, after braking to a stop the vehicle can be turned off and back on to correct the situation (abs and brake light turn off) and the brakes return to normal. I purchased this vehicle at auction from a fleet of vehicles. The sticker did say brake problems, however, after driving it I found only normal braking and attributed the "brake problem" to worn brake pads etc. I can only say that the "brake problem" they mentioned on the sticker must have been the same situation I've run into - so the fleet personnel must have been experiencing the same thing. This situation seems to me to be a much deeper design flaw and after researching online and seeing so many other similar complaints - this obvious flaw should be exposed and corrected on a vehicle recall basis before there are fatalities. It seems to me only a matter of time. . . . . .

Bought the car from novato Ford, now journey Ford in 2008. A few days ago I had to brake hard, but as far as I could tell the antilock braking system (abs) did not engage. The brakes worked and the car stopped/. The next day I noticed that as soon as I started the car the abs and brake light were on. I took it to a local repair shop where they ran a diagnostic scan, which returned code c1475. The non-Ford repair shop said they would need to follow Ford's technical service bulletin and the repair would cost 3500 in parts and another $700 in labor. I am writing because it seems highly unusual to me and the service personnel who have reviewed this matter for this to occur. . Read more...

Wife and I were enroute home from vero beach, FL traveling west on FL hiway 60 about 10 miles east of the FL turnpike around 8:30 am. Traveled over short stretch of repaved road. At that time heard beep, noticed red brake light and amber abs light on. Cruise control on moving 60 mph. Tried brakes, noticed excessive brake travel, but still had some brakes. Continued on until turnpike junction. Pulled off road, stopped, shut off ignition. Upon restarting (after 5 seconds), warning lights stayed off, had good brakes. Proceeded 130 miles to home w/o incident. This has occurred 3 times before and have had it to the dealer's service dept. On July 5th. I am detailing this incident because I have the most information about it. When it occurred all 4 times, it was either after crossing railroad tracks, hitting a pot hole or in this case after a change in road surface. And it doesn't happen all the time when crossing rough surfaces. The dealer (nick nicholas Ford in inverness, FL) cannot seem to find and fix this. I have to ground this vehicle because I cannot trust it with my wife driving by herself. It could cost up to 7k for Ford to swap out componets to try to fix it - my cost. This is a safety issue! not a wear and tear issue.

The first incident was the abs light illuminating and a chugging sound in 2013. . . . Took it to the local Ford dealer and the tone ring on front driver side was broken and replaced for $350. 00. On 12 January 2015, both the abs light and brake failure light illuminated, along with message to service brakes. Took to local Ford dealer where I was informed the problem was failure of the abs hydraulic system --- approx. $4,000. 00 to replace. I don't have $4,000. 00 plus available to invest in this 2006 Escape Hybrid. . . . This is a known problem, has been repeatedly reported, and is a vehicle safety issue that Ford appears to be dismissive --- much like gm and the acceleration issue. Fortunately, there have been no reported deaths due to this issue. . . . . Yet. We need to get a recall before that happens.

Part 1: I purchased this used vehicle from what is a well known dealership in my area of living on 3/21/13. As you can see from the date the first brake failure happened, it was 4 days after I drove the vehicle off the lot. The brake and abs lights illuminated on the dash on my way home from work. Thankfully, besides being scared to death, I was ok. The dealership towed my vehicle and stated they "miraculously" (my sarcasm) had brakes when driving it from the tow truck into the shop. They had great difficulties figuring out what was wrong and had even talked with the Ford company and came up with the hydraulics system being the issue which was then replaced by the dealership. At a later time with further occurrence, I was informed the modular had also at the first brake failure been replaced, although there is no proof of that on my service record (another issue). After replacing these items, the dealership continued to have difficulties trying to get the brake and abs lights from illuminating on the dash and apparently had to unhook some vacuum pump to correct issue. Following this I was assured everything was fixed. Second brake failure was on 5/26/13. Thankfully,I was just coming to a stop at my residence when this occurred! again vehicle was towed. An error code was found and reset and assured everything was ok. This is also when I did some digging and requested the previous owners name. To my amazement, this had happened once to the previous owner. . . . . Funny, the dealership and Ford were involved and stated it could have been a modular or a "fluke" and nothing was done at that time and the vehicle was traded shortly after. Hmmm. . I inherited a problem.

I was about to exit the parking lot of a grocery store when the brakes went into a non-power brake mode. I was rolling to the stop sign. I probably wasn't even going 15 mph. As nothing happened when I touched the brakes, I hammered them and came to a sharp jerking halt. It was a little frightening as oncoming traffic was going 45-50 mph. Then the abs and brake system lighting came on. If I had not known how non-power brakes felt, I probably would have slid into oncoming traffic. This could have been fatal. I see online a lot of complaints with this same issue with the braking systems of the Escape Hybrids. I am not sure why it is not covered on the 100,000 mile/ 8 yr warranty and also, why there has been no recall. I see there is a recall for windshield wipers. I seriously think this is a little more of a safety issue.

Abs light and brake light came on when I got into the car to go to work after driving it the previous day with no problems. Brake pedal became soft and braking was not smooth and when brake pedal was pressed it made a squealing noise. Dealer diagnosed it as a faulty abs module replacement cost of $3000.

Brake light comes on, service brake system message on dash displays, and abs light displays. Vehicles brakes fail and even when applying brake pedal completely vehicle does not stop completely without pumping brakes several times or using emergency brake. This happened a couple times last week (without warning lights) and took it to a local mechanic who inspected brakes and advised everything looks fine. Occurred again this evening with warning lights. Turned off vehicle & restarted and no lights and no problem braking. Researched online and there are numerous complaints of this in blogs, comments, etc.

*this is the second time that I have had a complete "brake failure" while driving my 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid in traffic. This last time, I was driving on a freeway in bedford, texas and observed that traffic in the distance was stopping for construction. I applied my brakes but the peddle went to the floor. I had to exit the roadway onto the shoulder to avoid other vehicles. I put my vehicle in low gear from drive and applied my emerengy brake to stop my car. This is the "second" time I have had to take evasive action to avoid a collision with this bake problem. The "abs" light came on, the red brake light came on, and there was a computer message on the dash that read "service brake system". The first time that I experienced this same problem, I took my car into the grapevine Ford and Lincoln dealership in grapevine, texas for warranty repair. They advised that since the "code lights" were not on at this very moment, they were not able to diagnosis the problem. I was instructed to drive the escape until the "code lights" came back on and then bring it back for service!!! I complied to this request and bought the truck back in with the "code lights" on and the message reading. Grapevine Ford worked on the vehicle for several days and the assist service manager drove it for a couple of days to check it out. The truck was returned to me with assurance that the "brake problem" was fixed. On July 9, 2011, I again had a "complete brake failure" with my truck(see above) on July 11, 2011, I took my Escape Hybrid back to the grapevine Ford Lincoln dealership and advised the assistant service manager, darren hayden, about the problem and what almost happened to me in traffic. I also showed him some of the other complaints about this same type of "brake failure" that has occurred on other Ford Escape Hybrids. (see edmunds. Com) I have also called Ford corporate to start a complaint! "does it take someone getting killed or injuried before something is done?".

Brake failure resulting in the brake pedal going to the floor and a loss of hydraulic or power braking. Vehicle does stop after a hard pressing of brake pedal. This is sometimes followed by a yellow abs light and red brake light warning. The problem is fixed by turning the car off and back on. I am not kidding. Its like rebooting the computer. This started about 2 years ago. I reported it to Ford who said they do not know anything about it at the dealer and national level. I took the car in for an oil change at the dealership and mentioned the intermittent brake failure. After the oil service, the problem went away for a year. I thought Ford had secretly fixed it while they were changing the oil. Then about a week ago the problem has returned and has happened 10 times. I think it is related to the car not having anough power because this happens while the ice (internal combustion engine) is off. Perhaps it is related to running the air conditioning since it stopped after the summer and returned again. The ice turns off while braking at speeds below 40mph so that is porbably related.

While traveling home on an interstate at 70 mph the red brake light came on after a light breaking situation. I did the system check available on the vehicle and the brake fluid was shown as ok. The brake pads were replaced not long ago so I was confused. A short time later the yellow abs light came on. When I went to brake my foot went to the floorboard and the vehicle was not stopping. I swerved onto the shoulder of the interstate to avoid an accident. It took a great distance ( I would say more than 100 yards ) for the vehicle to stop. I was never so scared in my life. I drove home on side streets at 25 mph with my warning lights flashing and virtually no brakes. After taking the vehicle to a Ford dealership I researched the break failure issue and to my amazement found numerous other such incidents. After five days in the repair shop and three failed attempts by the technician to bleed the break lines I was told that I needed a $4200 computer control unit. I believe this is a serious design flaw in the electrically controlled break system of the hybrid vehicle and no person should have to go through the terror of attempting to stop from 70 mph with the breaking system shut down. This is a timebomb waiting to go off in the form of a fatal accident.

Ford Escape Hybrid 2006 abs and brake failure light come on, lose power braking. Must push very hard on brake petal to stop car, has happened approx. 8 times. After stopping car, I can usually turn key off and then restart car and problem is gone.

Brakes on my 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid failed at highway speed and the abs and brake light came simultaneously. By pinning the brake to the floor I was able to slow the vehicle in the shoulder. Turning the car off and back on "resolved" the issue and I was able to drive home. The problem happens randomly and without warning. I have placed a call to the dealer but have not heard back yet. Looking on line it seems to be a common problem, yet no recall has been issued for this very dangerous situation.

A couple months ago, I took my Escape Hybrid to have the brakes checked out. Needless to say, they checked it out and said everything was fine and I was on my way a couple of hours later. Then yesterday, my abs and brake lights illuminated and then check brake system came on. After this occurred, my brakes go out and then I must come to a rolling stop on the side of the road while trying to avoid hitting anyone. It occurred 6 times at different speeds (20mph & 70mph) I then returned it to the dealership yesterday and asked them to look over it. Today, I am told that I need a new abs system installed with the hydraulic/electric control units totally $7,400. Of course, there is no warranty for this. I have been researching this issue online and have noticed several posting regarding a similar issue however still no recall. I would assume a factory defect regarding the brakes would be significant enough for a recall before someone gets killed.