Automatic Emergency Braking problems of the 2020 Ford Transit Connect

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Transit Connect. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the braking system erroneously activated causing the front driver side and the rear passenger side brakes to overheat and the vehicle to decelerate. The contact stated that after his wife exited the vehicle, she discovered smoke coming from the front driver’s side wheel well. Additionally, during the failure the forward collision avoidance system warning light activated. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 28,000.

On two different occasions the dash indicator stated as follows: "pre-collision assist not available". When this error message appears, the car does not accelerate properly. The transmission seems to fluctuate between gears, and the car will not accelerate, and the vehicle seems as if the pre-collision alert is engaging or attempting to engage, but does not however, stop the vehicle, rather, the vehicle hesitatingly or haltingly will not accelerate properly upon pressing the accelerator pedal. On both occasions , I immediately stopped the vehicle in a safe location, turned the vehicle off, and turned the vehicle back on again. It seems as if the computer module is reset upon turning the vehicle off and then on again. Upon turning the vehicle on again, in both instances, the problem disappeared. However, the most recent instance of this problem, upon turning the vehicle back on, the error message disappeared, and the acceleration of the vehicle returned to normal, but the yellow engine light remained on, until restarting the vehicle the next day.