Yes I did take a quick look and there is so much stuff in there it is lost in the clutter. A serious safety issue merits its own sticky or some other way to make it really stand out from mundane tips and tricks. Just my opinion.

 

To the OP I want to give a big thanks for highlighting this potential lethal problem. Also thanks for having a thick skin with dealing with some of the responders who have forgotten about proper internet decorum.


My short story I had my first brake failure on a 06 Mariner Hybrid I just bought that was one owner dealer maintained. Luckily it happened on my driveway and not the day earlier when I was driving it around the house testing systems. I did a search for brake issues and found threads on the master cylinder and HCU and was scared about the 4k HCU but towed it to dealership and found out driver's hose burst and passenger one looked bad so I replaced both. He said the rears looked good but interestingly said that this is common on the hybrid and non hybrid models that they stock the hoses. I searched Edmunds for consumers reviews which normally highlight problems but didn't read one. Now that I got this and AFTER I had a failure now I know. As one responder said earlier now I know that brake hose inspections are important but this one has a Ford oil change sticker and Ford battery so it was no stranger to trained eyes. On a side note I had vehicles with over 250K and never had a brake hose failure.


Thanks

 

I have 2002ford escape while driving I lost my brake to brake hose burts right front lucky I was flat ground when it happen my break peadle went all the way to floor. I could stop I had. To pump my breaks there was enough fluid to stop

 

My left front brake line burst today when I had to hit my brake behind another car. did stop but was close. I have about 90,000 on my escape. will replace all lines. they are dry rotted. march 16-2016

 

Had the same issue on ours. Dry rotted over time and cracked, one went out while my son was driving, and the other looked about ready to. Luckily no issue. I replaced both, easy fix. Definitely something to look at...the way the bracket holds it in place is what causes it over time.

 

My '02 suffered a catastrophic loss of the front brakes about a year ago while traveling down a hill... While the rear brakes didn't do much, I was able to stop in time for the T intersection at the bottom of the hill by e braking and downshifting the transmission.
-HINT- 1st gear cannot be engaged without stomping the accelerator to get the RPM's up.
The front drivers' side line blew and had cracking of the outer hose - replaced all four hoses. Mine was about due for inspection.

Michigan only requires the vehicle brakes to "stop and hold" the vehicle and there is no mention of an actual inspection of the components themselves from what I saw. Here in NY 2 wheels get pulled and the hoses and pads are inspected as well as a visual look for signs of leakage. The E brake must also operate.

Glad to hear there were no physical injuries, but I would look more towards the minimal requirements of the state for a vehicle to pass inspection and not towards the manufacturer of a 13 year old vehicle that appeantly needed more care than the state required.

Calling this to attention is certainly warranted and if only one person is prevented from the "HOLY $#!T I CAN'T STOP" experience, then a good thing has been done. Not a happy feeling for sure.

 

Checking the flexible brake lines regularly and replacing when cracks or stiffness is detected is common, ordinary maintenance. I heard one blow out one day years ago - sounded like a pistol shot. The other thing is, the vehicle did not have an emergency brake - it has a parking brake that is designed only to hold the vehicle after it is stopped. Emergency brakes disappeared after the dual-action master cylinders came in. But they did not figure on both sides on the same axle breaking at the same time, which negates the dual-action system. Pretty freaky incident, but think back and let us know how many times during the vehicle's life did you do a brake fluid exchange? Should be done every five years or when the brake fluid begins to darken. Rotten, water-logged brake fluid destroys calipers and hoses. So, this is a pretty good example of driving a car to death - and it was almost your death.

 

Moisture content in brake fluid lowers the boiling point of the fluid. Under a heavy panic braking which generates lots of heat quickly the moisture turns to steam which can't be compressed and braking efficiency suffers.

In some countries brake fluid moisture content is checked during safety checks along with the brake lines themselves for rust.

I had an old GM product blow it's OEM brake line right in my garage. Started to replace all lines with Cunifer(copper steel alloy) non-rusting lines last year and will be starting that project up again soon.

 

With 165,878 miles I would like to know how many times the front brake pads were changed, and when and the millage when they were changed. Seems the last time they were changed the bad lines should have been noticed!

 

My son has a 2005 Ford Escape and last year the driver's break hose blow, while braking hard. It was found to be rotten and brittle. We changed both the driver and the pas. hoses 6/15/2015.
Yesterday 8/15/2016 my Ford Expedition (with what looks like the same type hose) with 82,000 miles failed when I braked hard to avoid another car on the freeway. To me this looks like it is an issue that is caused by an engineering oversight (wrong material used in brake hoses) I foresee all or most Ford truck brake hoses failing in time.
I don't know who needs to gather all this information, but at least a Warning needs to be sent out to all Ford truck owners. My opinion.

 

Have an 08' Scape with 108K miles on it. Just put rear pads on it a few months ago and didn't notice anything out of the norm. Put front pads on it a year ago and the same thing, nothing caught my attention. But everyone's posting here warrants for a closer look soon.
Thanks for the head's up guys!

 

Found the problem with my loss of brake fluid. It was not the front hose it was a rusted through steel brake line. It was located behind the drives front tire. The bend that is not covered by the clear plastic covering. THese things must be thin to rust through in 10 yrs.

 

Someday they'll switch to the copper alloy line to avoid this which has been done in some foreign countries years ago.

 

FWIW:
Since my experience, I'm in the habit of occasionally hitting the brake HARD as if in an emergency stop situation while sitting in the driveway.
If my brakes are going to fail, my driveway is an OK place to have it happen. I also am doing a mid-year inspection for dry rotted rubber wherever I can access.

Wptski brings up a good point about moisture. I suppose flushing the brake fluid when the pads are changed would be cheap insurance against rust from the inside of the steel lines and boiling at the wheel cylinders.

 

I wonder what type of flares are used on Escapes? The hoses are listed as M10x1.0 female threads but the flares could be SAE(inverted) or bubble type. The prices on hoses seem a bit low for SAE which are more costly to make.

The master cylinder for my 2009 is listed on having M14x1.5 threads and I couldn't find any tube nuts that size.