Brake Master Cylinder Problems of Ford Explorer

With no warning or hint of anything going wrong on the brake system, as traffic slowed to stop for a light, the brakes went completely out on my Ford Explorer. The pedal went to the floor and pumping had no effect. I was in mid day traffic and had almost 2 car lengths between myself and the SUV in front of me, which unfortunately, was what stopped me. Thankfully, I was only going 20 mph and no one was hurt nor did air bags deploy. After the police arrived and had us pull into a parking lot, the pedal felt like it had the brakes back however, the brake pedal went to the floor after cranking up. I was able to stop from rolling out the other side of a parking space in the back of the lot by using the emergency brakes. Even though the truck has shows high mileage,most of which is highway miles, the truck as been maintained. I had the truck towed to the shop and two mechanics could find nothing wrong. I had the master cylinder and booster was changed even though I was assured it was fine. That seemed to help my peace of mind for about a week until I was stopped at a light and the brake pedal eased down to the floor. I ran an internet search to see if anyone else has had this problem and surprised to see it seems to be a common problem with Explorer. I'm sure everyone who mentioned having this problem has not reported it that should have.

See all problems of the 1997 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while attempting to park the vehicle, she noticed smoke and flames coming from under the hood. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire and the origin of the fire was unknown. A fire report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic where the failure was located at the master cylinder. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was contacted and a claim was filed. The contact was awaiting further instruction by the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 68,000.

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My 2004 Ford Explorer caught on fire today. The fire began under the hood. Per the fire department, the fire started around the cruise control and brake master cylinder area. Ford does not have a recall out for this year model, unlike the 2003 and older models, but this is definitely a manufacturer problem. The car was driven to several points, drop the kids of at school, one at daycare, and a stop for breakfast. Nothing was wrong with our car. After arriving to work, my wife got a call that her car was on fire. There were no signs, malfunctions that something was wrong with the vehicle. Regularly scheduled maintenance were always performed.

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The contact owns a 1996 Ford Explorer. While placing fuel in the vehicle, the contact noticed smoke underneath the hood. He opened the hood and noticed that the vehicle was on fire. The fire was doused with a fire extinguisher. The contact examined the damage and noticed that the wiring harness for the cruise control had melted, as well as the master cylinder. There were no warning signs prior to the failure. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 127,000.

See all problems of the 1996 Ford Explorer 🔎.

My wife was driving our 1997 Ford Explorer when she saw white smoke come from under the hood. She was parked in mcdonald's parking lot. She called me telling me there was smoke coming from under the hood. I asked her if there was liquid running from the car and she said yes. It was clear and on the drives side. The next thing I heard was the truck was on fire. When I got to the body shop to see what the damages were I found the master cylinder completely melted away and the wire harness burnt. The vehicle is a total loss.

I bought my 06 Explorer with 12k miles. Soon after purchase, I noticed the brake pedal felt soft and seemed to require a longer stopping distance than my old Explorer. The dealer acknowledged a problem and replaced the master cylinder. The brake pedal then felt slightly better, but only for a short time. Since that time, there has been multiple times when I was attempting to brake for a turn but the vehicle did not slow down enough to turn, despite having the brake pedal almost to the floor. Most recently, when driving in snowy conditions, when the abs kicks in, it feels like the brake pedal cannot be pushed down and the vehicle does not stop, causing me to slide through a red light, despite going slow and braking a long distance before the light. The brake system on the Explorer does not feel safe and needs to be recalled!.

See all problems of the 2006 Ford Explorer 🔎.

: the contact stated while driving 65 mph on a dry interstate, there was a loud pop that sounded like a balloon popped. When the brake pedal was applied, the pedal would not move. The vehicle spun around and ran into a ditch which resulted in an accident. There were minor injuries sustained and a police report was taken. The vehicle was towed to an independent body shop who determined the master cylinder had fractured apart.

Update to odi id number 10080842 - same owner; brake pedal master cylinder just started leaking again; has been replaced twice already; year 2000 vehicle has less than 42,000 miles on it; very costly repair to have to do every 2 years!.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The contact stated while driving vehicle caught on fire. The fire started in the brake reservoir. The driver was able to pull the vehicle off the road before it became engulfed in flames. The vehicle was deemed a total loss. No police or fire department was contacted.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Master cylinder on 2000 Ford Explorer has been replaced three times.

In early 2002 I noticed the brake pedal was feeling soft and practically went all the way to the floor with normal braking and the pedal made a hissing/vacuum noise at times. For hard braking it felt like the SUV wouldn't stop. I took the car for service on 6/8/02 at a Ford dealership which bled the brake system. This did not correct the problem. Took the SUV back on 11/9/02 and was told it was a vacuum leak from the power booster and the master cylinder was replaced. Pedal and braking was normal after this until recently, the brake pedal is failing again as before. I have not yet taken it to the dealer.

The consumer stated the brake pedal faded before the vehicle responded to the pedal. The dealer diagnosed master cylinder failure. When tested on gravel, only the back brakes worked which was only after the pedal was almost to the floor. Complete failure could have resulted.

Master cylinder failed, causing loss of brakes, resulting in extended stopping distance. Dealer has been notified.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Explorer 🔎.

While driving consumer heard a loud bang, applied brakes, and pedal went to floor, and no braking action. Used emergency brake to slow vehicle down. Dealer found 2 bolts that hold brake master cylinder to booster had sheared off.

During routine brake inspection, master cylinders were found to be leaking. Brake pads were found to be in good condition. This concerns me as '95 Explorers were recalled for problems with master cylinders, not to mention the numerous other problems with this vehicle.

Accelerator pedal is too close to brake pedal one inch away. The master cylinder developed a leak allowing the brake peddle to travel past the accelerator pedal, because the accelerator pedal is so close the incidence of hitting both pedals becomes greater as it was with my vehicle. We had come to an almost complete stop then the 1996 Explorer accelerated into the vehicle in front of us. Simple fix bend the accelerator arm away from the brake peddle. On 98 Explorer's the accelerator pedal is three inches away indicating Ford discovered the problem, fixed in later models, but failed to notify 96 Explorer owners or their dealers.

Master cylinder replaced by Ford technitians then 14 days later the master cylinder failed again.

Braking system has failed on this vehicle 4 times in less than 40,000 miles , 3 master cylinders not counting the original, and 3 complete braking systems on all 4 wheels. This vehicle is being repaired at scarff Ford in auburn, wa and put back on the road, if it has not been fixed the four time , what makes them think the fifth time will do it. This vehicle is not only a hazard to whom ever gets it, but to everyone around it. Why are they allowed to put a vehicle back on the road with known problems?.

Vehicle was parked. Was checking the oil & noticed fluid leaked onto garage floor. Checked closely & leak was coming from master cylinder. Took vehicle to dealer & was advised not to drive vehicle. Problem with accelerator pedal sticking. Needed cable change (2/24/98). Consumer stated accelerator cable has been changed.

The defective brake master cylinder went bad, causing no braking ability which almost resulted in an accident.

When the applying the abs brakes the pedal goes all the way to the floor and sometimes foot will catch the gas pedal. The master cylinder was replaced at (150) miles or less.

Brakes failed while in parking lot without warning due to failure of brake master cylinder. Consumer states that vehicle is serviced every 3500 miles.