The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into reports of brake failures with the Ford F-150.
The agency has received 33 reports alleging master-cylinder failures, resulting in complete loss of brake effectiveness. All submissions involve the 2013-2014 F-150 equipped with a 3.5-liter engine.
“Thirty-one (31) of the reports were received in the last 12 months, including 20 in the last 7 months,” the NHTSA notes. “Four complaints allege that the alleged defect resulted in collisions.”
One complainant claims the brake pedal went completely to the floor as the vehicle was backing out of a driveway.
“While attempting to pump the brake and use the parking brake, my vehicle crossed the street, went up the curb, and struck my neighbor’s landscape wall, damaging it severely,” the filing adds. “Upon inspection by myself and later my insurance investigator, the brake fluid reservoir was empty, but there were no obvious signs of leakage.”
After the master cylinder was replaced, the owner claims the problems returned and the vehicle was sent back to the dealer. The second issue is said to have been related to brake-booster failure due fluid ingestion from the leaking master cylinder.
“I am surprised that there [has] been no action on this issue yet – the complete failure of the most important safety system of a 2.5+ ton vehicle – as there are numerous nearly identical failure modes with this model and year,” the owner concluded.
If the investigation leads to a recall, the campaign could affect approximately 420,000 units sold in the US market.
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