Matthew Reimer Posted February 15, 2017 Report Share Posted February 15, 2017 Good afternoon everyone. About 3 months ago I was driving my wife's edge and hit the brakes to make a left hand turn. When I did the the brake pedal went straight to the floor! It showed some stopping power but not enough to actually stop the car without having a good amount of distance. I slowly coasted it into the parking lot (brake pedal still going to the floor as I push it constantly). I shut off the car, turned it back on and the brakes were fine. It happened again to me on the way home that day. I looked up the service bulletin about the booster needing to be replaced and contacted my dealer. They said if it's that we will replace it. So I took it in. 3 days later they call to tell me it's ready and the booster is what they replaced. Seems to be okay from that point forward.....Until Tuesday. (three months later) My wife was cut off by a guy who cut her off and slammed their brakes on on the highway around 70 miles an hour. This caused her to slam her brakes on to avoid him. However, they were spongy and ALMOST went to the floor, she didn't have any braking power. As she swerved around him she was able to make the exit ramp and use the parking brake to slow to a stop. After restarting the car the brakes were back to normal. I took the car into the dealership this morning and they're saying they can't replicate the problem at all. They advised me to allow one of the mechanics to take it home for the night to see if they can make the same issue happen. ANYONE HAVE THIS ISSUES? Please help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 (edited) This discussed here before (booster changed, problem came back). Seems they found the master cylinder was leaking into the booster, causing it to go bad (again). Pedal going to floor typically sounds like a master cylinder problem. You can pump up the pedal and get a hard pedal. One test (that used to work in older cars) is the put hard, continuous, pressure on the break (heh, heh, heh) pedal and hold it there. If the pedal slowly, but continously goes down, it usually indicates the fluid is leaking past the brake piston. http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/4507-breake-pedal-problem/ Edited February 16, 2017 by enigma-2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Reimer Posted February 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Thank you, but would that indicate any issues if it hasn't had an issue for 3 months? And that the dealer just put 60 miles on the car testing all kinds of braking cases? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWRBB Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 The booster just provides assist to the pedal. If the booster goes out, you should still be able to stand on the breaks and get decent stopping power. If it goes to the floor and provides little breaking power, I would also think it's the master cylinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 The booster just provides assist to the pedal. If the booster goes out, you should still be able to stand on the breaks and get decent stopping power. If it goes to the floor and provides little breaking power, I would also think it's the master cylinder. Brakes! Braking power! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Reimer Posted February 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Well picked it up from the dealer. Going to probably end up selling the car simply because I don't feel my wife is safe in a car that the issue can't be found. Unless you all think I would be better off trying another dealer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 It is possible the check valve on the booster is starting to go. You can verify from the invoice or directly with the dealer whether that was replaced as well. Other causes of "sponginess" are dirty brake fluid (hence compressible), and improperly bled brakes (which can take time to cure). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbwt Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just curious. You are going to sell it or trade it in. Are you going to disclose it has brake failure or just let it be and let another family figure it out at the rear of a semi? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Reimer Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 I believe the brake fluid was changed when the booster was replaced but can't confirm that. It's possible that the valve could be getting stuck. The brakes don't seem spongy during hard braking . As far as selling the car, I will let them know that we had issues, had them checked out and all is okay. I am going to take it to Everest Auto in Newark DE which has been amazing. So I'll see if they find anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWRBB Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Brakes! Braking power! Yea I know- was talking to someone while I typed that up. Didn't notice.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan1942 Posted March 4, 2017 Report Share Posted March 4, 2017 I think if it were mine, I would have the master cylinder changed. Like someone else said with a bad booster you still have brakes, just hard to push. When I changed my booster the master cylinder was very easy to get at. There should not be much more than an hour labor at the dealer to change it. My master cylinder was a little over 100.00 at Ford. Napa wanted 180.00 Probably from China also. At least from Ford you can be certain it is of better quality. I don't know why Napa was so much higher. Stan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberdave Posted August 31, 2019 Report Share Posted August 31, 2019 Hey folks, I just had this problem and detailed it under the post for service bulletin for extended warranty coverage for brake booster: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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