I would be sure the service dept knows you want to ask the rep about the brakes. When my brother had an appointment for a rep to look at his truck, his dealer told him to drop it off in the morning and pick it up before they closed. They never called my brother to let him know the rep looked at it and never got into any detail about his concerns. Not a robust process.

 

It is definitely much worse with hot weather. It was 97 up here today and the brakes were bad. If i applied them slowly, with much more room to stop, it was okay. Any sudden braking, hard pressure on the pedal and it went towards the floor pretty quick. Still stopped, but nothing i'd trust for too much longer. Looked under the hood and drops (or spray) of brake fluid were all over the outside of the cylinder cap, coming from top down.

So, I'm bringing it in Friday, told the guy exactly what it's doing, where the fluid is coming from, and what i want checked/replaced. Let's see if they take me seriously. This thing only as 1014 miles on it as we speak!!

 

I looked under the hood of mine today, and it also has brake fluid splattered all over the master cylinder/reservoir!! I was like WTF this thing only has 450miles on it lol. Not to mention the AC cycles seriously every 10seconds. Im sure thats not normal. I wonder if I can take it to a closer dealer rather than the one I bought it at? The thought of driving an hour in traffic when I really cant get off work anyway just pisses me off.

 

Wow, no one on here has leaking brake fluid at all?? I called the dealer today, he said that it was indeed not normal for the master cylinder to splash fluid and told me to bring it in and drop it off for a day. He said they would supply a rental car. Its nice to buy a brand new vehicle and have it leaking fluids and low charge on the AC right off the bat. Oh well, as long as they fix it. There are a couple things on a vehicle one MUST have, and brakes are one of them!

 

I had the same thing happen last week when driving home from work. When I hit the brake pedal it started to move towards the floor. The pedal would travel further/faster if I applied the brakes harder at higher speeds. I immediately took the truck to the dealer. I was told that the master cylinder failed a "bench test" and it was replaced. The brakes are working properly again. 2004 XLT Scab 4x4

 

My new cap is in, but i have to let them put it on. Absurd if you think about it. I'll let you guys know if this solved the problem or if the cylinder itself is going phooey (proper mechanical terms)

Tony

 

I've got a 2005 F-150 XL. It's got 1100 miles on it. I noticed this break thing about 400 miles ago when I was leaving my local Ford Dealer. LOL. I didn't think much of it at the time, but after reading this I am going to take her in. The truck does stop fine. But the feeling off the pedal going to the floor at red lights and whatnot is very disturbing. I checked all the lines and fluids also and found no leaks.

 

I have a 2005 F150 STX w/ the 4.6L V8 (11,246 miles)

Since around 250 miles, I've had the same intermittent problems that you all have described. The brake fade, and the fluid spraying out of the cap. I've been to four different dealerships to fix this problem, and none of them have been able to re-create it. It feels like the brake bias completely dissapears. The front and the back brakes get the same PSI to the rotors, so the truck stops on an even plane. I know that the truck is supposed to take a decent nose dive if you smash on the brakes at a high speed, this truck won't even bow when the brakes are applied full at 45mph. This condition is also very unpredictable. I can start the truck, and the brakes are nice and firm. Sometimes they'll stay firm all day long for hundreds of miles, and sometimes when I go to depress the pedal at a stop light, they're not there and I have to scramble to not rear-end the guy in front of me.
I thought i was going insane until I read this forum and found out that I'm not the only one. Has anyone's dealer been able to permanently fix this problem? If so, what is the fix, and can you give me the phone number of the service department of the dealer you had your rig serviced at?
Also, it seems that when the brakes act up, so does the engine's power. It becomes a sluggish 4-banger. Seems like a catastrophic vacuum failure to me.
Also, when the brakes are acting up, and the engine loses power due to whatever is going on, the truck will burn 1-2 gallons per minute idling. There has been a few times when I've parked my truck at a convenience store, left it running, come out 5 minutes later, and lost 1/4 tank. Could this possibly be because the engine is burning rich to keep from stalling due to a massive vacuum failure?
Any help at all would be GREATLY appreciated! It makes me very uneasy to drive hundreds of miles a week and not know where my brakes are.

 

Not to sound like a broken record, but be sure to file a complaint with the nhtsa.

 

Already have :-) You wouldn't have any ideas towards the resolution of this problem would you?

 

Not a clue...wish I did.

 

I contacted ford and they said that the only thing they could do is replace the whole brake and vacuum system from the ground up, or start a manufacturer buy-back on the vehicle. What do you think I should do, because if they give me a new one, it could have the same problems down the road.

 

The buy back process is called DSB. You might want to do a search for DSB on this site to see what others have done to prepare themselves for the lengthy process. There is also information in your owner's manual on DSB. Seems to me like they should replace the system first then, if it fails again, buy it back.

 

Phaze,

that sucks dude! I haven't experienced the vacuum type failure that you describe. As a matter of fact, the truck stops fine now since the cap was replaced. It even nose dives now. But I was experiencing the level stopping sensation and it is very disconcerting, to say the least. And no, the dealer was unable to reproduce it. Although mine only did it when it was brutally hot outside.

You may be experiencing the same cap leak that we talked about, but it's likely compounded by the vacuum problem. That fuel burn thing is bizarre, sure no one siphoned your tank when you weren't looking? you know the price of gas now :P

 

Glad to hear the new cap fixed your problem. I havent decided if mine is fixed yet, the brake pedal seems very finicky. Sometimes the pedal is way up, other times its level with the gas pedal. So who knows, either way the brakes always stop fine. Maybe its in my head?