Brake Light On problems of the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid - part 2

One morning, no prior warning, or issues with brakes or mechanical systems what so ever, I start to drive to work and after turning out of my neighborhood onto a major street my brake lights light up and at the next stop sign my brakes don't work! I pressed all the way down and ended up using the emergency brake not to go through the stop sign. Someone could have died for sure, and it was a heart stopping scare! I pulled over and walked back home. Looked up online and found many complaints about this vehicles brakes suddenly going out and that it is a $5k fix!! I had the escape towed back to my house. The next morning I wanted to try a few things to eliminate certain problems I found online. Now, the keyless entry doesn't work, I manually open the door, stick the key in, no lights, no sound, nothing. I turn the key and again absolutely nothing. We hook up cables and it starts right away and everything works. No brake warning lights so I try a slow drive in the neighborhood, brake lights go on after about 1/2 a mile and the brakes are very soft, have to depress to the floor just to slow down from 15 mph. I called Ford and they said just bring it in for diagnosis, for $200/hr minimum 2 hours just to tell me what's wrong with it!! no thank you, $400 to tell me it's a $5k problem when the car's worth maybe $6k private party! so I now have a worthless hybrid sitting in my driveway. Do not buy a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid!!! read all the complaints major safety issue - Ford has not recalled!!.

Abs light, regen light check, brake light and emergency brake lights came on and brakes failed and worked in degraded mode. Brought to dealer, they advised recalibration and internal bleed procedure, abs module reflash and calibration, which was performed at a cost of $221. 49 advised if code returns , hcu replacement will be needed at $5400. !!!! outrageous, the car was bought new and maintained meticulously. Car now has 79,397 and we are deathly afraid to drive it as the brakes may fail. When the brakes failed the car was restarted on the peaking lot after being stopped for 15 minutes.

2008 Ford Escape Hybrid with 109k miles on it. Two recent incidents where the yellow abs and red brake lights came on, with messages of check brake system and regen brakes disabled. Brakes became completely useless and vehicle became dangerous to operate. I was able to let the vehicle sit and retry and the lights didn't come on. Brought in for service at dealership and they found codes c1478 and c1480. They're quoting me $5,300 to replace the hydraulic control unit. After the dealer diagnosed the problem, the check brake system warning message is on all the time and the vehicle has no brakes. I've left it at the dealership because it is no longer safe to drive. . Read more...

I was driving with family. I applied the brakes and it went totally flat. The abs and check brakes light illuminated. The brakes are currently totally unoperational. I took car in for repairs, told that a new abs control module(hybrid ecu & hcu) required - cost $4000.

I was driving in a residential neighborhood, approximately 35 mph, straight road with a slight downhill slope. As I pressed the brakes, the pedal would not move. I released pressure and pressed again. An extreme amount of effort was needed to press the brakes (brakes now in safe/manual mode). I got an abs light, brake light, and check brake system warning. After I stopped, I pulled over shut down the motor, waited a minute, and restarted. After restart, brakes world normally. This has also happed several times within the past 6 months.

Regen brake disable light estimate for repair is $4700.

Went shopping on a Saturday, 4/4/15. Came out to my car and started it. Abs light and brake light came on, along with messages stating, "service brakes soon" and "regen brakes disabled". Brakes were sensitive and unpredictable, but car didn't need any extra effort to stop. Hydraulic control unit made noise when applying brakes, like a stripped gear sound. Took car to a reputable mechanic with an updated modis. Checked codes and came up with a dozen codes. ( p1a0d, p1a0e, p1a0f, p1a10, p1a14, u0418, c1321, u2023, c1475, b2172, p0a0a, p1a0a) also, when he tried to get certain tests to work, these errors came (an error occurred 34 (0x22) [#155] (manual msg - Ford (can) hybrid brake system air bleed check) (test has aborted error 22 - conditions not correct. Cycle key and retry. ) after doing these tasks and not being able to complete them, any assistance towards braking was gone. The car reverted to fail safe mode and required much more effort to stop. It took the mechanic much more time and persistence, but he was finally able to go through his tests and cleared the codes and reset the brake system. As of now, everything works as it should. There's only one problem. Nothing was actually a confirmed fix. The is no guarantee the braking system won't give out again. I'm more than certain it will and I don't like taking chances with my vehicle. Judging how other hybrid escape owners have reported on this problem, I guess I feel a little lucky the brakes didn't give out while driving. Yet. Who knows when they will and what will happen when they do. I cannot afford to fix this problem, as I've heard it's over $4000. I also cannot sell it as-is in good conscience. I am at a loss here as I agree with others that this is a major safety concern and something should be done way before something tragic happens.

Often when starting my car, the abs light and brake light comes on and a message says regen brakes disabled. The brakes are weak when driving in this state. When I turn the car off and back on, the error usually goes away and the brakes work normally. Occasionally, the error occurs while driving and the brakes get weak, and I pull over and turn car off and on to clear the error. It has been happening with increasing frequency. The dealer had never heard of the problem and said the diagnostic codes did not give clear action for fixing it. The dealer replaced the brake pads and rotors for $850 but the error continued. Now they recommend replacing the entire abs module and hydraulic control unit for $5200. I have seen many other complaints describing this dangerous defect. I think Ford should issue a recall or offer some payment for this expensive repair.

Driving home from work I was pulling up to a stop sign and my foot went to the floor, after driving thru the intersection, luckily no cars were coming, I pulled over and the abs light and parking brake light was on , I shut the car off waited 10 minutes started it back up and the brakes worked this has happened on and off a half of dozen times now. Dealer quoted me $4659. 00 to fix master cylinder, this is a serious problem id be surprised if no one hasn't got hurt because of this.

Abs light and brake light went on heard a beep and had no brakes what so ever . I eventually stopped by entering the car in to neutral and hitting the emergency brake. Turned the car off and when I turned on again it went away, my mechanic says its going to cost $1200 master cylinder needs to be replaced. I think Ford needs to recall the parts related with this issue since it's safety related.

While exiting a state route on a off ramp I was applying brakes on a turn. The brake light, abs light, check brakes warning came on and I lost all of my brakes. Fault codes that are setting are u2023,c1526,c1477. Ford is aware of this problem and to repair it you must replace the master cylinder $850 and abs pump assembly $3500.

Same thing that has been happening. I have photos for each incident. Abs lights, check brakes light. And e-brake lights light up. Regen brakes disengaged. I have spoken with bruce at future Ford he asked me to bring it in the next time it does it, during business hours since there are no options for after hours. I get off work at 5pm and pick up my kids and by the time that is done there is not time to make it back to dealer. I am making arrangements to have someone else pick up kids so when it happens again tomorrow I can go straight to dealership after work or on my lunch. I also plan on having them check the tone rings. Ford motor company says they are unable to help, but have still not addressed my concerns about the number of complaints others have had regarding similar issues.

I left work. Picked up daughter. Check brake system, abs, and emergency brake lights came on @ 530pm. Drove to pick up boys from summer program. Get in car. Lights off. 553pm. Put car in reverse. Same lights reappear. 555pm. Regen brakes disabled. Takes pedal to floor to stop and feel pressure of brakes. Car feels like it is in neutral and rolling back on incline unless brakes are all the way applied. Talked to bruce at dealership earlier. Said to bring in when lights were on, during business hours. Said that Ford was unable to help due to no warranty. Said it sounded like hcu unit. I asked why this wasn't mentioned at my inspection a week ago. He said it appears to be working fine when they look at it.

Brake warning lights came on agian. They have not come on for 2 days, and they are back on. Had car serviced a week earlier. Ford said they can't find anything wrong with brakes, but they "suspect" master cylinder possibly. Internet search yeilds disturbing information about other Ford Escape Hybrid owners having similar issues. Lights seem to occur more on days where temperature is higher.

My wife left work yesterday and when she started our 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid fwd the abs light and check brake lights were on. During her short drive home the regenerative braking system disabled warning came across the info display. Braking felt funny so we took it to be serviced and were slapped with an estimate of $4700 to replace they hydraulic control unit. The vehicle only has 69,000 miles on it and we find it absurd that we should be making a $4700 repair in that time frame with that many miles. After doing a quick google search it seems that this has occurred in multiple Ford Escape Hybrids since 2005 and in most 2008 models with the same amount of miles. We are going to make the repair, but we will never buy another Ford in our lives. This seems like a problem that is apparent for 2005 and newer Ford Escape Hybrids. Do something Ford. And if you're thinking about buying this vehicle, don't.

Started vehicle and both the abs and the brake light were on - the message said regen brake had been disabled and there was a brake issue. Took the car in to the dealership the next day and was told the hydraulic brake system needed to be replaced and would cost 4 grand to fix. It seems this is occurring quite a bit with Ford Escape Hybrids but there is no recall as of yet.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle, the abs and emergency brake lights were illuminated. While driving approximately 10 mph and depressing the brakes, she noticed a jerking sensation. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they advised the contact that the hydraulic control unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure and the current mileages were approximately 48,000.

Driving on the highway and abs and emergency brake lights came on, along with message "system brake faliure" and "regen brakes disabled". At this time, the brakes almost feel totally out (1/2 pressed) or very touchy (full press). Took it to a Ford dealership and they said they needed to replace abs module ($2500) which we agreed to. A few days after it was replaced, same thing happend (lights, messages and brakes issues). We took it back, and by the time it was to the dealership the lights, messages and brakes were back to normal. They couldnt find an issues. A few days later, it happened agian while in a traffic jam (very scary!!!) took it immediatly to a dealership to have them check the codes. Took the codes to the original dealership and they took my escape for 2 days, syaing they reset the codes and it was a computer issue. 5 days later it happened agian in our downtown (very scarry). No one seems to know what is going on. I have contacted Ford and they are not familiar with this issue however I have seen other mentions about this online.

2008 Ford escape hev needs a hcu (hydraulic control unit) replaced at 61,667 miles. Car was parked (emergency brake off) and when started both abs and brake warning light came on. Took to dealership this morning and they indicated it was faulty. This appears to be a common problem with 2005 and later Ford escape hevs. Might be worth investigating. We were lucky the brakes didn't actually fail while driving!.

Purchased 2008 4 wheel drive feh used in Nov. 2010. On two occasions the brake pedal went to the floor. First occasion abs brake warning light came on. After start/stop ignition brakes came back. Took to Ford dealer for codes. No codes noted. Second occurance oct. 2011. Brakes failed while pulling into a parking place. Abs and regen brake disabled lights came on. Took to local dealer kept car 8 days. Could not replicate problem. Codes did register. Talk of a master cylinder replacement, but favored recharging elec. Battery and changed dirty filter on it. I was very lucky - if the brakes had failed as they did and I was approaching a stop light with another car ahead of me I would have hit it. Dealer says it probably ok. Bought car for our 16 year old son to drive - too unsafe and unpredictable. Traded in.