Double check to see if your vehicle groans when you get out of it WITH and WITHOUT the parking brake engaged. I noticed that when I have the parking brake on and get out, there is a groan. I'm pretty sure that sound is normal. Also, any noise coming from the vehicle brakes is pretty normal too when you conside how little use the friction brakes actually get on these vehicles.

 

Here's a direct link that works fine --
TSB 06-20-12
TSB is entitled: "SQUEAK/CREAK NOISE FROM REAR -- VEHICLES BUILT BEFORE 9/5/2006 -- 2006/2007 Ford Escape Hybrid, Ford Escape"

 

has any '08 owner had the squeak? mine started about a month ag0--the mattress squeak, not brakes. the truck is 7 moths old with 6300 miles. it got cold this week, but others seemed to find heat made it worse.

 

I believe I'm experiencing this problem with an 08 FEH. It's a very annoying and constant squeak coming from the rear of the vehicle. It almost sounds like something is loose and squeaking against something else. Taking it in later this week to get it sorted.

 

While traveling slowly, stomp down hard on the parking brake.

Release the parking brake and see if the squeak goes away.

 

We started getting the loud brake squeal when traveling at low speeds and making left turns. VERY loud when driving next to a building. Took it to the dealer...and of course, they didn't hear it. I mentioned to them all the talk about the parking brake making it go away, and could they check that... Also mentioned about the brakes not getting used as much with the Hybrid and the Service Advisor acted like I was an idiot. Nice. Anyway, he said they checked it out and nothing was wrong. I asked again about why the parking brake makes the noise go away...and was there anything they could do to make the squeal go away? He said no, and didn't know why the parking brake made the squeak go away, but again, they didn't hear the squeak and said they couldn't find anything wrong.

Am I wrong to be frustrated with this dealer? Is there NOTHING we can do to fix this brake squeal? I mean, I tell my wife to just pull the parking brake and it goes away and she's like, "what kind of riggedy *** fix is that?"

 

Yes, you should be frustrated with your dealer/service advisor who probably feels insecure because the customer knows more about the vehicle that he does. [common occurance on the FEH ]

You have done 90% of the diagnosis for them. If they can't be bothered to pull the wheel and rotor to inspect the parking brake mechanism....then the heck with them.

Anyone not familiar with the hybrid design will not know that...because of the numerous components on the vehicle that can contribute to braking...it makes sense that noise problems may occur at certain speeds but not at others, etc.

From the earlier posts I have seen, when there is a noise due to a minor misalignment or similar with the parking brake parts, a series of quick pulls (keeping the button depressed) at low vehicle speed - has made the noise go away permanently. If the parking brake trick only affects the noise immediately and then the noise returns - it is probably a more than a minor misalignment... but again inspecting the parking brake hardware would go along way to solving the issue. Good luck.

 

I'd be frustrated too. Looks like you live in the KC area. We've been taking ours to a dealer in Liberty (Crossley) and have been pretty satisfied. When I took it in for the 30,000 a while back, the service adviser noticed it was a Hybrid and said something like: "I think there's less we have to do on these, do you have your service manual?". Anyway, they only did what was needed. At least that's all they charged me for, not what a full 30,000 service on a normal Escape would have been.

-- Rick

 

While the hybrid's rear brakes are different from other Escapes/Mariners, I don't think they are all that different from other Ford vehicles which have rear disk brakes. Because of that, a "good" service advisor should know how they work. Which means, how the rear parking brakes and the rear pads interact.

I mean, I don't think our rear brake "systems" are all that different from that of, say, a Mustang GT.

 

Thanks for the info. Yeah, we are in Blue Springs. This is the same place that recommended we come back in 3000 miles for an oil change, and when I told them it was a Hybrid and didn't need an oil change at 3K, they said..."oh sure it does, I certainly wouldn't go much longer than that." So yeah, I'm not convinced they know anything about the hybrids.