2020 Explorer brake issue

[SeattleST]

Hello all,
Having the car towed to the dealer Monday for an issue that happened today and want to see if anyone else experienced it.. Was parked on a slight hill today, loaded up my kids, started up (foot on brake obviously) put into gear and the car started rolling,, pushed harder on the brake and nothing happened. It was almost like there was no pressure/boost in the brake pedal (like if you pushed the brake pedal with the car off).. After rolling about 3 or 4 feet the pedal was at the floor and I had as much force as I could on it and it locked up.. Waited 30 seconds and it built up some pressure.. I have no idea what could have caused this but it scared the crap out of me and my kids. Very frustrating as I really want to like this car and with only 1,350 miles, I'm also having them look at the whistling right mirror, suspension knock, the emergency brake engaging on startup sometimes when I never engaged it and almost daily the volume control for the radio gets stuck on "prompt volume".

 

[Rossi6998]

The electric parking brake engaging is most likely a safety feature to ensure it works when you want it to. It will probably activate on its own every so often as a self check. I used to own a Corvette and the electric parking brake would activate on its own every 30 days or so.

Also, the Explorer ST manual states the following;

The electric parking brake may apply when
you shift to park (P) without the brake
pedal fully pressed. The electric parking
brake applies when you shift to park (P)
on large slopes. The electric parking brake
releases with the drive away release
function or manually as described in the
Releasing the Electric Parking Brake
section. See Electric Parking Brake
(page 207).

 

[blwnsmoke]

The brake booster is purely electric. This was one of the "I cant believe Ford did this" features from a tech on one of the ford forums. It is not hydraulic or vacuum like most so I am not sure how the pressure is dealt with being electric.

Please update us on everything.

 

[SeattleST]

Please update us on everything.

will do. Anxious to find out myself what happened

 

[2020ST]

Do you have an update on this issue? I experienced the same thing yesterday. Was pulling out of a parking space and the car slowly started rolling back while the brake pedal was pressed when I put the car in reverse. The car did a hard stop from the cross traffic sensor when a car was passing by. Freaked me out a bit. Put it in park and back into reverse and did the same thing except I felt a hard thud from brakes when it finally stopped. Pulled over and restarted the car and things were fine again.

 

[peterk9]

^^ Welcome to the Forum.
Hopefully there will be an update posted.

Peter

 

[2020ST]

The brake booster is purely electric. This was one of the "I cant believe Ford did this" features from a tech on one of the ford forums. It is not hydraulic or vacuum like most so I am not sure how the pressure is dealt with being electric.

Please update us on everything.

Does anyone else get a hard brake pedal before starting the vehicle some times? I can replicate it if I unlock the car with the keyfob from afar instead of intelligent access. When I press the brake pedal it doesn't move until I hear a mechanical noise, then the brake pedal is normal. Wondering if it is because of the electric booster.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Does anyone else get a hard break pedal before starting the vehicle some times? I can replicate it if I unlock the car with the keyfob from afar instead of intelligent access. When I press the break pedal it doesn't move until I hear a mechanical noise, then the break pedal is normal. Wondering if it is because of the electric booster.

I have never noticed it but that makes sense to me.

 

[HtownST]

Bought an ST in October. I have an issue where the vehicle starts rolling when the brake is fully depressed as follows:

1) Depress brake peddle fully
2) Start engine with foot remaining on brake
3) Shift (rotate knob) from Park to Drive with foot remining on brake
4) Vehicle begins to roll forward despite brake peddle fully depressed
5) Pump brakes rapidly to stop vehicle (lift foot off, press back down 2-3x). In the meantime, vehicle has rolled forward 3-5ft.

Usually causes the tires to chirp and my heart to skip about 4 beats.

Frankly is has been scaring the sh-t out of me. It has happened to me about 4 times between October and January and my wife did not believe me - this month (February) it has happened to her twice. So averaging about once a month.

Any experience with this issue?

 

[2020ST]

Yes, this has happened to me. I believe it has to do with the electric brake booster not calibrating correctly during startup.

Never got an update from OP in this thread brake issue

 

[peterk9]

What did the dealers say/find?

Peter

 

[peterk9]

With no reply, I'm guessing neither of you have gone to your dealership with this 'safety' issue. I hope I'm wrong.
I'd hate to think what would have happened if there had been a person or vehicle in front or behind you when this happened. I would strongly suggest that you engage the 'Auto Hold' feature if not already done. I used it for about a week before disengaging it. I found it a bit of a nuisance since the vehicle wouldn't budge after putting it in gear unless you pressed the accelerator.
It would have been a good thing to have posted the issue in the thread of issues that a member was going to address today in a sit down meeting with Ford engineers about various problems with the 2020 Explorer.

Peter

 

[blwnsmoke]

If it is the electronic brake booster not functioning, I dont think the auto hold will do anything

 

[HtownST]

With no reply, I'm guessing neither of you have gone to your dealership with this 'safety' issue. I hope I'm wrong.
I'd hate to think what would have happened if there had been a person or vehicle in front or behind you when this happened. I would strongly suggest that you engage the 'Auto Hold' feature if not already done. I used it for about a week before disengaging it. I found it a bit of a nuisance since the vehicle wouldn't budge after putting it in gear unless you pressed the accelerator.
It would have been a good thing to have posted the issue in the thread of issues that a member was going to address today in a sit down meeting with Ford engineers about various problems with the 2020 Explorer.

Peter

I tried to get into the Ford event - I am in Houston - but was rejected. It has never happened in reverse - only after shifting to Drive and only after the vehicle ignition has been off for at least a couple hours.

I will take it to the dealer - but my historical experience with dealers is that if they cannot replicate the problem, they are highly dismissive.

My plan is to begin video recording every startup so I have some evidence to help diagnose the issue.

 

[HtownST]

will do. Anxious to find out myself what happened

Please update - I just started a new thread on this issue- I had not seen this one. It's happens to me about once a month.

 

[peterk9]

If it is the electronic brake booster not functioning, I dont think the auto hold will do anything

I guess it wouldn't hurt to try though. If indeed this is an issue with more than a few Explorers, I would consider it a 'Safety' issue subject to a recall.

Peter

 

[blwnsmoke]

I guess it wouldn't hurt to try though. If indeed this is an issue with more than a few Explorers, I would consider it a 'Safety' issue subject to a recall.

Peter

Without a doubt. Makes you wonder if it is faulty or being electronic, software update is needed. Pumping the brakes wont do anything IMO with an electronic brake booster.. if it isnt working, it isnt working. Not like hydraulic or vacuum where pumping manually helps.

 

[metroplex]

I will take it to the dealer - but my historical experience with dealers is that if they cannot replicate the problem, they are highly dismissive.

Best of luck sir. The Ford dealerships in NJ and MI that I've been to in over 30 years have been traditionally the same (large or small dealerships, 5-star customer ratings, etc). They will claim it is normal, it's supposed to do that, I'm operating it wrong, problem not replicated, etc...

 

[Lancematic]

My ST is currently in the shop for this exact issue now. They are replacing the entire brake booster unit since the entire system is now in one assembly. I will follow up when I get the truck back if it fixes the issue.

I had a laundry list of problems with it so most likely won’t be until April.

 

[Adam58]

I just found this thread - has anyone found the cause of this and had it corrected? This situation has happened to me three times in the nine months that I've owned my ST. I'm going to the dealer tomorrow and would like to pass along any information that could help get the issue fixed. My concern is that it happens so sporadically that they won't be able to replicate it.