Well, my '05 FEH is dead in the water this morning. Went out, started it up (temp is 22 degrees F, car not garaged), the ABS light came on and the message center was alternating between "Service Brake System" and "Service 4X4". Figured something was just stuck in the cold, so I started down the road to see if it would right itself. Then I noticed the BRAKES DON'T WORK (well, I have maybe 5-10% of normal braking). Eeeek! Turned around and limped home in L, managing not to crash into garage door. MAJOR BUMMER...

Called Ford 800 number and tow truck is on the way. Will keep you all posted.

Anyone else have this problem? Any idea what it is?

 

EEEK!

 

Dealer just called, they have it, but are "swamped" and *might* be able to look at it today. Or Friday. I gave them a mild "helpless woman" riff ("well, dear, I really do depend on it, and I *never* expected this to happen with a *brand new car*...") (the tougher ones, where I start mentioning my legal remedies and slide in that I'm an attorney, come later), but I don't know if it will have any impact. This does not look good...

On the bright(er) side, my trusty old '02 Escape is still going strong, and I am beginning to wonder which one I should sell to get the Prius... (just kidding! mostly!)

 

Didn't they at least offer you a replacement vehicle? I haven't read up on it lately but I thought a loaner vehicle was included in the warranty when the car was kept overnight.

Hopefully it is just something minor causing it to go into a limp mode. Did you have any brakes at all? I'd like to hear more about how it behaved in this case. I thought these had a fail-safe mode that took over when the computer controlled system failed.

Since I have two of these cars and put my pregnant wife and kid in whichever one I am not driving, brake failures really concern me.

Good to know we have a legal expert on the board, not just a bunch of tech geeks like myself. What is your specialty?

Hope you have good news soon. Happy Thanksgiving.

Ray

 

I pretty much summed it up in the first post: error messages on the "message center", ABS light on, drove fine when accelerating, but when I applied the brakes the first time, the pedal went very far down and felt a little "spongy", and it acted a bit like power brakes without the power - you have to push the pedal very hard and the car takes a LONG time to stop (but not as long as if there were NO brakes at all).

I can't remember if I heard the noise that is usually present when you first approach the car and unlock or open a door - that's the hydraulic (brake) system charging up, isn't it? - before I got in the car today. I wonder if it just never "charged"? or something?

I didn't ask for a loaner because we don't really need one this weekend, we'd probably be using just one vehicle (though it WOULD have been the FEH! maybe I should ask for the difference in cost of gas...) anyway. If they haven't dealt with it on Friday I intend to insist on getting a loaner then or on Sat., so I will have it Monday.

I'm was originally a patent attorney, but don't practice in that area any more (and my scientific field is bioscience, not mechanical, as is probably apparent from my posts, although my patent-drafting history showed itself in the title of a recent post - anyone familiar with patent claims will find the phrase "a video-game-like means of losing weight" eerily familiar). Now I work with a civil trial judge, doing research and drafting legal memos and decisions in most kinds of civil cases. So I know my way around the courtroom... I hope I don't have to use that knowledge to deal with this problem!

 

Sweetbeet, sounds like you had a hydralic failure do to the electic system. This is only a guess. Did you try the hand parking brake to stop? Bottom line is don't try to second guess the computer system.

If you are happy with the FEH AWD, why not go with the FWD FEH? That would be my pick for a FWD in exchange for the Explorer. I'm very happy with mine. I have the V8 '02 Explorer for pulling my boat. Like you, my FEH is now my primary vehicle do to gas prices and fun to drive.

Your smart to use the legal card as a last resort. People get a better reception only if they think you may use the legal card but prefer not to. Google my name, no one pushes me around without spending millions. Its nice to have knowledge and legal services in the family.

Gary

 

Being a lawyer, how would you think that would go in court? "I saw the warning lamps, I know in the manual it says NOT to drive the vehicle because it could be a hazard to safety and life, but I drove it anyways."

 

Don't forget... it IS right before the Thanksgiving holiday. They surely are busy from customers wanting their vehicles back right away. No need to add to the stress of the service department by demanding you get served before everyone else. Especially since, some of those customers probably have only that one vehicle. And here you have two! Be grateful you have a backup vehicle, no matter if the dealership provides a rental or not. Remember, there are others that aren't as fortunate as you.

The shop is doing you a favor by "trying" to look at it today. The priority is: there are other customers ahead of you. They got there before you. They should expect to get their vehicle worked on in order of arrival.

 

Unless the FEH has some new technology that pre-charges the pressure lines in the brake system BEFORE the vehicle starts... I'm sure it's safe to say all you're hearing is the power locks.

Of course, having never driven an FEH, I could be wrong. But everything I know about automobiles (albeit, not a lot) says brakes don't do that.

 

The FEH does in fact have lots of new technologies. The computer controlled brake system is one of them.

When the remote control button is pushed to unlock the doors (or if the doors are already unlocked and you step on the brake pedal) there is a series of sounds that you hear - I have been told that it is the brakes system charging up. The brake system in these cars is not a conventional brake system in that it also has the regen system integrated with it. Not going to pretend I know much about how it works - yet.

Edited to keep on topic.