I’m trying to estimate the probability that having a dealership replace the HCU on my 2008 Escape Hybrid (111K miles) with a used HCU will make it drivable again. Just trying to know my odds as best as possible before making an expensive gamble on an old car (at a time when buying a new or used car comes at a big premium.)

The first consideration is the likelihood that the HCU is the only relevant problem. In the weeks before it got this bad, there was a very occasional low, creaky, staccato noise from the brake pedal area when the brake pedal was depressed (while driving, but sometimes also when stopped, even when the ignition had been turned off). The ABS lights would come on, but regenerative braking still worked. After my (excellent) independent mechanic drove it around and checked things out, the car has gone off the rails and is left only with the manual brakes.

He cleared the slew of codes that it came in with and drove it to generate new ones. The new codes he pulled were:
C1480 (Front Right Wheel Brake Pressure Control Plausibility Failure)
C1481 (Rear Right Wheel Brake Pressure Control Plausibility Failure)
U2023 (Fault Received From External Node)
U0418 (Invalid Data Received From Brake System Control Module)

I'm pretty sure codes for the left side have also come up. The mechanic thinks the issue is with the ABS pump and that the HCU is bad.

I’ve read everything on the internet that can reasonably be read about FEH brake failures and efforts to fix them. Besides HCU’s, bad brake hoses are a common culprit, usually the front ones. (FWIW, my tone rings are fine (replaced several times in the past); the brake hoses have never been replaced; and the brake fluid has never been flushed, just topped off.) I feel like the noise I described above is probably an important clue as to the cause, but I’m not sure how to interpret it. Not many folks with this kind of FEH brake failure mention such a noise.

Bottom line question: What percentage likelihood would you assign to the proposition that the HCU is bad and that successfully replacing it with a functioning used HCU will, on its own, fix the brake issues?

Related questions:
1) What’s the percentage likelihood that a decent-looking used HCU from a reputable seller on Ebay would actually be good (and not fail too soon)?
2) What’s the percentage likelihood that a Ford hybrid-certified mechanic at a big dealership would competently do the whole job--replace the HCU, do the bleeding process, and reprogram it?
3) Is there anything else that you’d factor into the probability of success for this repair?

Any other thoughts, info, would be much appreciated. Thanks a ton for reading this!

 

A used one will work, it has to be programmed to the ECU.

Check there is no air in the pump, that shuts it down. Check the grounds.