Brake Failure Warning Light

[kirkster57]

On Sunday morning i jump into my Hybrid turn the key and a bunch of warning lights come on along with dinging tones telling me of brake system failure. I shut the car off and turned the key back on and everything was normal. I drove around off an on all day and everything was fine. On Monday morning I jump in the car to go for the day and the same thing. WTF? I called the dealer and made an appointmnet to bring my car in today. I jumped in hte car this morning to bring it in and it dosen't happen. Dealer said he would check for error codes and guess what? There were none. They told me if it happens again just bring the car straight in, no need for an appointmnet. I hate these kind of issues. Anyone else experience this one?

 

Kirkster

[rfruth]

No problem here - ya may get lucky & just be low on fluid but that would mean a leak, don't let um tell you some evaporation (of fluid) is normal cause its not !

[lolder]

On Sunday morning i jump into my Hybrid turn the key and a bunch of warning lights come on along with dinging tones telling me of brake system failure. I shut the car off and turned the key back on and everything was normal. I drove around off an on all day and everything was fine. On Monday morning I jump in the car to go for the day and the same thing. WTF? I called the dealer and made an appointmnet to bring my car in today. I jumped in hte car this morning to bring it in and it dosen't happen. Dealer said he would check for error codes and guess what? There were none. They told me if it happens again just bring the car straight in, no need for an appointmnet. I hate these kind of issues. Anyone else experience this one?

 

Kirkster

You've been here awhile so I guess you know about the other threads about this in the past. The "recall" seems to have eliminated these problems but they mostly occurred while driving, not at startup. I assume you have done the recall software update.There was some discussion in the past that dealers weren't properly interrogating the codes to find the brake problem and when instructed by Ford were able to find the codes. Query the dealer on that.

[bbf2530]

Accidental double post. Sorry. :banghead:

Edited January 18, 2011 by bbf2530

[bbf2530]

On Sunday morning i jump into my Hybrid turn the key and a bunch of warning lights come on along with dinging tones telling me of brake system failure. I shut the car off and turned the key back on and everything was normal. I drove around off an on all day and everything was fine. On Monday morning I jump in the car to go for the day and the same thing. WTF? I called the dealer and made an appointmnet to bring my car in today. I jumped in hte car this morning to bring it in and it dosen't happen. Dealer said he would check for error codes and guess what? There were none. They told me if it happens again just bring the car straight in, no need for an appointmnet. I hate these kind of issues. Anyone else experience this one?

 

Kirkster

 

Hi kirkster. :D In addition to the good advice you have already been given, I would throw out one other possibility (however remote it may be): Since it has only happened in one particular spot both times, do you happen to park on an uphill or downhill slope (car is not level) when you are starting the car in the morning? If the brake fluid is slightly low but the car is parked on a slope, it may give a false low reading. Of course, this is probably not what is causing your issue, but figured I would play it safe and mention it.

 

We had a 1999 Mercury Cougar, (the smaller front wheel drive model) that had that known issue. When parked on a nose-up slope, the brake fluid sensor would detect a false low fluid reading, even when the fluid was at the full mark. The recommended cure for that problem was to slightly overfill the reservoir. However, you have a new vehicle, so I would not recommend you do that. Look for other possible contributing causes and bring it in if/when it happens next time (without restarting it or turning it off when you get to the Dealer). You have a new vehicle, so let it be diagnosed and repaired correctly (my opinion, of course).

 

Just as an FYI, this is a copy and paste from the Hybrid Owners Manual, concerning checking the brake fluid level (2010 in this case):

BRAKE FLUID

The fluid level will drop slowly as the brakes wear, and will rise when the brake components are replaced.

Check fluid levels with the ignition in the on position. Fluid levels between the MIN and MAX lines are

within the normal operating range; there is no need to add fluid.

If the fluid levels are outside of the normal operating range the performance of your brake system could be

compromised; seek service from your authorized dealer immediately.

 

Also, contrary to popular belief, not all warning lights or issues cause a code to be stored. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, more issues do not throw codes than do.

 

Let us know how you make out.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited January 18, 2011 by bbf2530

[kirkster57]

This problem hasn't occured since I brought the car in on Tuesday. A mystery...

[rfruth]

What did they say, can not duplicate, apply software update (or had that already been done) ?

[kirkster57]

Well...the car is in the shop now and has been there all day. They have been on the phone with engineering and servcie support for Ford. They know the error code now but they can't figure out how to fix it. Am I the only one with the mysterious problems? Last time it was the blue smoke thing.

 

 

Kirkster

[kirkster57]

I guess they think its a bad point in the wire harness. They are going to order a new one, but in the meantime they have rerouted the suspected bad point to a different one on the harness. If the problem continues, then they msidiagnosed. If it dosen't come back they will replace the harness. Whew...