2009 Ford Edge

THE BRAKE PEDAL ON MY 2009 EDGE BEGAN MAKING A HORRIBLE NOISE AND GOING RIGHT TO THE FLOOR ON OCCASION WHEN PRESSED BOTH WHEN STATIONARY OR ON THE ROAD. WITHIN ONE WEEK IT CONTINUED TO GET WORSE WITH THE NOISE GETTING LOUDER AND THE PEDAL GOING TO THE FLOOR MORE FREQUENTLY. WHEN WE BROUGHT IT INTO FORD WE WERE TOLD THAT THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE BOOSTER ASSEMBLY FOR THE EDGE. ONCE THEY ENTERED THE VIN NUMBER WE WERE TOLD THAT OUR EDGE WAS BUILT MONTHS BEFORE THE RECALL DATE AND THAT IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED. WE WERE CHARGED $675.63 FOR THE PARTS AND LABOR AND WE WERE TOLD TO REPORT IT IN CASE THE DATES WERE EVER EXPANDED TO INCLUDE OUR VEHICLE. *TR

BRAKES ARE MAKING A SOUND LIKE ITS BLOWING AIR. THE BRAKE GETS REALLY HARD TO PRESS THE BRAKE PEDDLE WHILE STOPPING, THEN GETS REALLY SOFT AND I CAN PUSH IT ALL THE WAY DOWN. I HAVE ONLY OWNED MY CAR FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND I HAVE ALMOST BEEN IN 2 ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OF THE BRAKES. USUALLY THIS HAPPENS WHILE SLOWING DOWN AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS.

THE BRAKE PEDAL HAS A SPONGY FEEL AND YOU CAN HEAR AN AUDIBLE "HISSING" NOISE INSIDE THE CAR. THE NOISE WILL GO AWAY AS YOU APPLY DIFFERENT PRESSURES TO THE BRAKE PEDAL, BUT THEN WILL COME BACK AS SOON AS YOU MAINTAIN THE SAME LEVEL OF PRESSURE. THERE IS A KNOW CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM 13N02 (EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR BRAKE BOOSTER), AND AFTER READING THE DESCRIPTION AND DETAILS OF THE PROGRAM, THE SYMPTOMS ARE IDENTICAL. I CALLED THE DEALER AND AFTER RUNNING THE VIN NUMBER, I WAS TOLD THAT MY CAR DID NOT QUALIFY. I ALSO KNOW THAT IT IS NOT ANOTHER BRAKE COMPONENT AS THE VEHICLE HAS BRAND NEW FRONT AND REAR ROTORS, FRONT AND REAR PADS, AND BRAND NEW BRAKE FLUID IN THE SYSTEM. IT IS NOT VERY DIFFICULT TO DEDUCE THAT THERE'S SOME TYPE OF VACUUM LEAK (OR AIR LEAK) WHEN YOU HEAR HISSING NOISES COMING FROM THE CAR. VEHICLE IS STILL DRIVING, BUT PROBLEM CONTINUES TO GET WORSE AND FROM WHAT I'VE READ ON THE INTERNET, THE BRAKE BOOSTER WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL AND COULD CAUSE A DANGEROUS DRIVING SITUATION.

BRAKES SEEM TO FAIL TO ENGAGE, SOMETIMES THEY ARE HARD TO PRESS AND THEN WILL GO ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. SOMETIMES THE ENGAGE REALLY HARD AND CAUSE ME TO SNAP FORWARD HARD. I TALKED TO FORD AND THEY SAY THERE ARE NO CURRENT RECALLS OR ISSUES WITH THE BRAKING SYSTEM. VEHICLE MOVING AND ALSO WHEN IDLING AT STOP SIGN I HAVE TO PUT IN NEUTRAL TO PREVENT THE CAR FROM MOVING.

THE VEHICLE, SUDDENLY BECAME VERY HARD TO STOP. THE BRAKE PEDAL FELT AS THOUGH IT WAS STUCK AND REQUIRED A HUGE AMOUNT OF PRESSURE TO SLOW THE VEHICLE TO A COMPLETE STOP. FORTUNATELY, WE WERE GOING AT A RELATIVELY LOW SPEED WHEN THE PROBLEM FIRST OCCURRED. HOWEVER, WE HAD DRIVEN FROM SOUTH FLORIDA TO ATLANTA AT HIGHWAY SPEED WITHOUT INCIDENT AND SUDDENLY THE PROBLEM WAS THERE. JUST PRIOR TO THE HARD BRAKING, THERE WAS A LOUD WHISTLING SOUND INSIDE THE VEHICLE, COMING FROM UNDER OR BEHIND THE DASHBOARD. IT SOUND A THOUGH THERE WAS A VACUUM LEAK, BUT THE SOUND LASTED ONLY A SHORT TIME. LATER WHEN I STARTED THE VEHICLE I HEARD THE WHISTLING SOUND AGAIN. I CHECKED UNDER THE HOOD AND DASH BUT SAW NOTHING OBVIOUSLY WRONG. AS THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THIS VEHICLE, I WAS VERY SURPRISED WHEN THE FORD SERVICE REP IN ATLANTA TOLD WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. THIS VEHICLE, CURRENTLY HAS 40,650 MILES ON IT. AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT THE ODOMETER READ, 38, 648 MILES. IT COST ME $658 TO HAVE THE PROBLEM CORRECTED. NO WAY THIS TYPE PROBLEM SHOULD OCCUR AT THIS MILEAGE. UPON CHECKING FURTHER, I FOUND THAT FORD HAD ISSUED A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM (CSP) 13N02 TO ADDRESS THIS VERY PROBLEM IN MODEL YEARS 2010 THROUGH 2013. IN SPEAKING TO FORD THEY TOLD ME THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE, SINCE MY "VIN" WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE CSP. FORD FURTHER STATED, IF THE NHTSA DEMEANED MY PROBLEM TO THE SAME AS THE PROBLEM AS COVERED IN CSP 13N02, AND IF THERE ARE ENOUGH COMPLAINTS, THEN PERHAPS A NEW PROGRAM WOULD BE INITIATED. AND AT THAT TIME I COULD BE REIMBURSED FOR THE REPAIRS. IN AN ONLINE SEARCH I SEE THERE ARE OTHERS WITH THIS VACUUM BOOSTER ASSEMBLY FAILURE. ALSO IN THE NHTSA DATABASE THERE ARE FOUR OTHERS WITH NEWER VEHICLES EXPERIENCING THIS SAME PROBLEM. PERHAPS FORD SHOULD ASKED TO REVIEW THIS PROBLEM AGAIN. *TR