The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration opened a recall query Aug. 8 into model year 2013-2018 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ sedans, exploring whether the front brake flex hoses may rupture prematurely, causing the brake system to lose pressure.
The federal agency has now received 50 reports of similar failures in these vehicles, including one instance where the failure caused a non-injury collision. That’s enough to open an investigation to see if there’s a problem with all potentially affected vehicles that would require a recall to replace faulty brake hoses.
The potential problem is an extension of a prior acknowledged safety problem from 2020 where the same flex hoses ruptured on model year 2015-2018 Ford Edge and 2016-2018 Lincoln MKX SUVs. NHTSA found “consistent localized failures of the internal reinforcement braid due to cyclic fatigue during suspension and steering articulations.”
Ford recalled the affected SUVs and replaced both front brake hoses with new parts featuring a revised braid material and performed a brake system bleed.
The current investigation falls outside the scope of the prior recall. If proven, the recall could extend to even more Ford/Lincoln vehicles. Many of the complaints registered with NHTSA allege the brake hoses are rupturing, leaking brake fluid and occurring with little to no warning. Leaked brake fluid can cause a soft brake pedal, increased pedal travel and/or extended braking distances.
Reached for comment, a Ford spokesperson told TheDetroitBureau.com, “We are cooperating with NHTSA as we always do.”
Long-standing problem
The new problems with a minor, but critical part such as a flexible brake hose come as a blow to Ford’s efforts to improve customer perceptions of quality in the brand’s product line. While it’s an issue with a purchased part on older models, it nevertheless may affect consumer attitudes about all Ford products.
As TheDetroitBureau.com reported in late 2020, supplier parts quality has been an issue on CEO Jim Farley’s desk for some time. Farley had advanced a plan in which suppliers would be charged half the cost of a warranty problem related to the parts they provided to Ford. Coming at the end of 2020, that policy was created too late to address issues on cars produced years earlier.
During company’s annual meeting in May, Farley told Ford shareholders, “we have to get to a zero-defect destination. We’ve made more progress on our launch quality and initial quality … However, we are not satisfied at all with our quality performance, including our recalls and customer satisfaction efforts, which we need to quickly accelerate. This will require new talent, which we now have at the company.”
The new talent came in the form of J.D. Power executive Josh Halliburton, who moved over to Ford as Executive Director of Quality in January.
Farley also said, “In the case of recalls and customer satisfaction efforts, these vehicles that were engineered are in the field now so this will take some time for us to return to becoming benchmark in the company, which is certainly our objective.”
In general, Ford’s efforts to improve quality have borne fruit, with the Ford Ranger and Lincoln Nautilus both topping their respective segments in this year’s J.D. Power Initial Quality Study. Still, with archrival Chevrolet pulling top honors in six categories, plus three more for Cadillac and Buick, Ford still has some work to do.
The question is: 1) defective hose material/design, 2) hose too short for the wheel movement, or 3) improper routing resulting in a kink in the hose?
Whatever the cause, is my car safe? With 75k miles, should I proactively replace the brake lines? Are improved / safe brake lines available? Where’s the follow up article?
If you have a vehicle that falls into this recall you should contact your dealer with reasonable haste.
Paul E.
I have a 2016 ford fusion. My brake pedal completely hit the floor on two occasions. The first time was a few months ago and I had to have it towed to Ford dealer. They fixed the left front brake line for about $500. Now the same thing happened last night and I came very close to crashing into the car ahead of me. I had to have AAA tow me to Pep Boys and they replaced the right front brake line for $250. There has to be some faulty parts here as it’s just to close together here having to replace both. I’m afraid to drive after almost crashing twice.
My 2018 Ford Fusion had driver side brake hose failure around 70k miles.
Now it appears the passenger side also failed. Similar issue, loss of braking while exiting the highway! Waiting confirmation of issue but she’s definitely leaking fluid.
The right front flexible brake hose on my 2015 Lincoln MKZ blew out, suddenly and without warning on Easter Sunday April 17 2022. We had just made it out of the mountains. I still have the faulty hose in my possession. There was no visible wear and the defect was at the stationary end of the hose that is not exposed to debris or movement. It’s the same problem part as the ones in the 20S42 Safety Recall regarding different model vehicles. From April to September this year, Lincoln has denied my requests for help securing reliable replacement hoses. Oddly enough in September they issued Customer Satisfaction Program 22N02 in which my car is included. It mentions that “brake fluid may leak from one or both front brake flexible hoses”, and Lincoln is offering a one time replacement. The only problem is your hose has to have a leak first before they will replace it. As far as a commitment to safety goes, how does that sound to you?
I have a 2016 Ford Fusion. On 08/08/2022, I experience soft brakes. I had trouble stopping vehicle. I had it towed to Kennedy Ford in Jenkintown. Without any warning, I had a brake fluid leak. The left front brake hose failed. The dealership recommended replacing both front hoses. They did so and bled the system. The cost of the visit was over $500.00.
On 12/17/2022, I had to return to Kennedy Ford with soft brakes again. This time, again no warning light. They diagnosed this as rear brake hose leaking. Both rear brake hoses were replaced. This visit resulted in an expense of $693.00.
Is there any more investigation in progress regarding the recall?
I have a 2017 ford fusion SE. I have lost my brakes completely with no warning over the past 6 months. The front passenger brake line has been replaced twice and the front driver side brake line has been replaced once. This car is a death trap!
How many people need to die or nearly die till something is done about this?