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Bad brake booster?


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So tonight we are leaving a friend's house and my wife screams WTH is wrong with the brakes! I have no brakes! Luckily we were barely moving and she was able to stop using the parking brake. So I got in an confirmed the pedal was crazy firm and had little braking power. I limped it home but noticed sometimes it actually felt like the pedal was pushing back. Other times if I pushed real hard then the pedal would go super soft and then it sounded kind of like air leaking out of a balloon. Looking at the extended warranty it mentions a soft pedal and make it sound like braking is maintained. I clearly am experiencing something different, mostly a firm pedal and minimally effective brakes. I did find some posts saying that their bad booster had a firm pedal too but could this be something else? Can't believe this wasn't a recall if it is the booster. Even if a small percentage fail without notice in this manner they should be proactively fixing them. Losing faith in Ford by the day.

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Yeah knew about the extended coverage but txs. Was just thrown by how it failed. Drove fine to his house then going down the driveway she freaked out.I just can't believe this isn't a recall. Had we not been in his driveway and were on rt80 in traffic there would have been an accident. I had to plan on braking distances to be 3-4xs longer than normal...like driving in an ice storm.

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Well it was the brake booster. The dealer replaced it under the extended coverage which is great but I am still amazed that Ford hasn't issued a recall for this. The failure was so sudden and reduced braking to maybe 25-30% of normal that I am surprised this hasn't caused an accident yet. I think I will file a complaint on NHSTA.org. Thankfully we are all safe but if this happened on Rt80 during rush hour things could have been very different. So maybe if I issue a complaint it might end up forcing them to do something and keep others safe too.

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  • 2 months later...

I have a 2007 Edge SEL FWD and my brakes recently started acting like I don't have power brakes anymore. There is a hissing sound coming from the brake pedal when I apply pressure. I've read about the extended warranty for 2010-2013 models. Is there any chance they would cover mine? It has 137k miles on it.

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The booster went on my 2012 Sport in May of 2014. Got it replaced by Ford under the extended warranty on the part. It went out again 15 months later. Got it replaced again but they busted me a $100 deductible this time because it was over 12 months.

I would try to check if the part number they used the first time matches the part number in the TSB/extended warranty. Maybe they used an old part.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Had exactly the same thing happen on my 2011 Edge SEL (56K) last night. Approached a junction pressed on the brakes as usual and... Uh oh after a split second of oh S@&T I stood on the pedal and stopped. Just dropped the car at North Central Ford here in Dallas, awaiting their verdict.

 

This should be a recall, but this is a bean counter spreadsheet exercise until someone is unfortunate enough to have a really bad wreck or worse.

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With mine there was no warning (at least that I noticed) ithe pedal just did not respond as usual, I've owned the car from new and it's always been main dealer services etc.

 

Fortunately it was late with not much traffic so even if I had overshot the junction it would have been ok. But under other circumstances it could have been very bad!

 

Still awaiting the call from the dealer.

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Glad to hear you are OK. Hearing more and more stories like this gets me really pissed off. We had no indication there was a problem until it went. We too were lucky that we were on my buddies driveway and not out on Rt 80 in rush hour traffic when it failed. It makes me angry because the letter I received specifically said that even if it failed the only difference would be pedal feel. This clearly was not the case for us as my braking distances were easily double if not triple the normal length. This really should be a recall.

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And this has been my point of contention all along. Even though technically the brakes haven't failed, the power assist has. And guess what, pretty much all of the car driving universe is now acquainted only with the notion of "power brakes". They don't know any better when the assist fails, and that leads to an avoidable accident. More and more disabled/partially disabled people are driving vehicles around, and I have doubts they would be able to use the manual brakes anyway.

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Quick update. North Central Ford here in Dallas replaced the booster under warranty so I'm pleased about that, but as everyone says it is dangerous and only a matter of time.

 

Fortunately I'm used to no servo assist as my 66 Mustang replies on leg muscles to stop and not air (which would be bad in that system).

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One point I would like to make is I have driven cars with out power brakes, some MG's etc and this was far worse. Maybe somehow having the system in there to boost the output reduces non-powered operation or something but this was far and away worse than any old car I have driven.

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On my edge it was a gradual failure. I heard the tell-tale hissing noise and it progressively became worse over two weeks time. Eventually I was standing on the brake too, and there is no control over the brake pressure, so stops are jittery and not as graceful as with the power assist.

 

My edge is way out of warranty. I bought a new brake booster and installed it without disconnecting the brake lines. I removed the cowl completely and the shelf behind it that supports the PCM and windshield wiper motor and mechanism. The booster came out without much room to spare and the new one went in with some coaxing (nothing bent or dented). Not sure why people are breaking the brake switch, but it needed to be removed, but not unplugged so that the pedal can be disconnected from the booster.

 

I'll upload pictures later if anyone is interested. Long night. 3 hours minimum with power tools.

 

On my way through, I noticed my upper transmission mount was bad. A few days after my brake booster replacement, I took on the transmission mount. That was a struggle, but now smooth as glass. Now to do the dog bone underneath.

 

Happy trails.

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I totally understand the comment about driving older cars that don't have a brake booster, the problem with this one is that one minute You have a brake booster the next you don't. So it's the sudden change in needed braking pressure that is the danger. The car still stopped fine IF you knew you had to apply much more pressure. If it had been a different day and a different braking situation then there may well have been an accident.

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Some pictures of the brake booster R and R. You'll need to take the wipers and the tray under the cowl to remove the booster without disconnecting the brake lines. Personally, I prefer to work on the brake cylinders and not so much the master cylinder if I can avoid it.

BRAKE BOOSTER PN

Part number for a 2008 Edge

Booster vacuum line PN

Part number for the booster vacuum line.

Remove the battery

Remove the air box, intake tubing and battery.

Remove the battery tray

Remove the battery tray.

20160929 194258 50%

Remove the master cylinder from the booster. Keep it level. Don't let the brake fluid spill out of it.

20160929 213305 50%

You can try, but you won't be able to wiggle the booster out yet.

20160929 215058 50%

Remove the cowling, remove the wipers and wiper mechanism. Loosen the tray. You'll only lift it up for a little more wiggle room.

20160929 215101 50%

The PCM needs to come out of the tray so it'll move a little more.

20160929 215342 50%

Old brake booster removed.

20160929 224834 50%

New booster in.

 

Here is the reference PDF I made just for information. No need to remove the master cylinder, but I wanted to know how it looked and interfaced with the booster. Same with the pedal bracket. It is not necessary to remove the pedal bracket assembly. But the four bolts on the booster go through it and it helps to know what that looks like too. The brake switch turns a specific way, push the brake pedal down with one hand and twist the brake switch out of its bracket. Leave it connected, and dangling, it is unnecessary to electrically disconnect it, unless of course you've broken it. It's a puzzle to get the booster out, but it will come out.

 

Good luck!

Ford Edge Gen1 BRAKE BOOSTER REPLACE.pdf

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