JOEHIO Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Even thought I have a MKX, I am posting here, because this is where the activity seems to be. I have a '12 MKX (31,000 miles), to the dealer for issues with the ABS brakes. We had a little snow here last weekend, went to stop, the ABS kicked in, and there was more than the normal pedal sensation. I felt a vibration in the floorboard, and it sounded like galloping horses inside the car, and it took longer to stop than usual when the ABS would kick in. The service dept said that all checks out okay, and this vibration & sound is normal. The tech said that he took out another MKX out, and it acted similar to mine. I'm shit scared to take it out in snow, and my wife now refuses to drive my car. She was in the car when the vibration/sound happened. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. One of the service writers at the dealership said that she experiences the same thing with her Ford Edge Sport. I am not happy with their answer. The next substantial snowfall will have me headed back to the dealer, and let the general manager drive the car, and tell me that this is normal. I forgot to mention that the previous week, the car was in for a PTU leak, and NEW PTU was installed. Got the car back, all was okay with breaking on dry pavement, then the snow came a few days later, and the problems started. Maybe I'm over reacting, I don't know, but this body of mine has too many miles left in it, don't need to get killed in a accident ! This is my 3rd winter with the car, and the ABS NEVER acted like this before ! Edited January 9, 2015 by JOEHIO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 See if you can get the service guy to ride with you in your mkx and another AWD edge or mkx back to back in the same conditions. That's the best way to see if it's normal or not. If it was the PTU I'd expect it to happen any time rear torque kicks in - like WOT launches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Sounds like you just got into "ice mode" where it detects extremely low friction and pumps the circuit very significantly. This can sometimes happen if you go over a pothole at the same time you're braking and one of the wheels is in the air for a short time. It's not easy to do, but the best thing is to release the brake for a split second and then try again. Certainly in the next snow go out and find a safe place and give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omar302 Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 ABS (with its vibration & sound) will kick in considerably more on snow & low traction situations compared to dry roads. If you want to test it, brake hard on a wet patch or some sand/gravel/mud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOEHIO Posted January 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Thanks for your reply, Waldo. We did get some snow this morning, took the car out (garaged), and it wasn't as bad as last Saturday. It did do some groaning, but not as bad as last week. Next time it snows, I'll compare my car to my wife's '09 MKS (luv that car), and if a big difference in the performance of the ABS, I'll go back to the dealer, and have them compare my MKS to one of theirs. I've gone thru 2 winters with the car, and never before experienced anything like this. I stopped by a local repair shop this morning, this guy I've know for over 20 years, and let him hear the video recording I did when the ABS acted up. He said that he NEVER heard anything like this. He said if it does it again, bring it over, he'll hook up to his computer, and see if he gets any codes. This did this repeatedly last week, not just a few times. Every time I hit the brakes, and the ABS kicked in, this happened. I have about 6 recorded video's on this. Joe Edited January 9, 2015 by JOEHIO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOEHIO Posted January 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Thanks Omar, I'll try it when it rains next week, see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Well chances are if there's really something wrong, it's not going to be the ABS itself, it's going to be something else that is making contact with something in the ABS system. The ABS really only has so much "power", it's not suddenly going to be capable of generating forces that pass that much more energy into the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beluchi Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 Thanks for your reply, Waldo. We did get some snow this morning, took the car out (garaged), and it wasn't as bad as last Saturday. It did do some groaning, but not as bad as last week. Next time it snows, I'll compare my car to my wife's '09 MKS (luv that car), and if a big difference in the performance of the ABS, I'll go back to the dealer, and have them compare my MKS to one of theirs. I've gone thru 2 winters with the car, and never before experienced anything like this. I stopped by a local repair shop this morning, this guy I've know for over 20 years, and let him hear the video recording I did when the ABS acted up. He said that he NEVER heard anything like this. He said if it does it again, bring it over, he'll hook up to his computer, and see if he gets any codes. This did this repeatedly last week, not just a few times. Every time I hit the brakes, and the ABS kicked in, this happened. I have about 6 recorded video's on this. Joe Hi JOEHIO, did you get to resolve this problem as it seems I have the same problem with my Ford edge SEL, 2008. The difference here is that there is no snow here in Nigeria and this happens on dry surface. Every time I apply my brakes slow I feel the vibration on the floor pedal and there is also a noise to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 If it's on dry pavement it's probably a bad or blocked wheel speed sensor. It thinks the wheel isn't moving or isn't moving as fast as the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted January 14, 2015 Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 If it's happening when braking slowly, it's not ABS at all. More likely it's just time to replace your rotors and pads. In general Nigerian driving conditions include a lot more exposure to dust and sand than in North America, so that's going to eventually get into the brakes and cause vibration issues like you describe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOEHIO Posted January 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2015 My MKX brakes fine on dry pavement, waiting for more snow, probably not until a week from now, according to the weather forecasters. We'll probably get a snowstorm tomorrow ( LOL ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 We were driving Sunday and the roads around here were very slick, nearly frictionless at certain intersections. My 09 MKX did just as you were describing; really loud and heavy vibrations. Seems to kick in harder when stopping from faster speeds (say 40 instead of 30). On "normal" intersection's where the snow pack was heaver and not as slick, the noise level was low and less vibration. I think Waldo hit it on the head with the system becoming more aggressive in low friction road surfaces. I also think speed is contributing to a more aggressive stopping effort as well. (I also found much longer stopping distances, but attributed that to the thin layer of black ice on the road). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.