2020 Ford Explorer Brakes Problems

The Abs failed and my car break system went out while on the highway with two small kids. Very dangerous

Electronic brake booster has failed. Ford has issued a customer service bulletin to address however ended the program in 2022. This needs to be turned into a recall as it could easily lead to a fatality if not addressed and replaced. Speaking with ford they have done numerous replacements of these.

We had an issue where the abs light came on going down the road. If you applied the brakes the dash would say release parking brakes and then the vehicle did not want to stop when I actually needed too.

The contact owned a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the advanced traction control, 4-wheel drive pre-collision assist, and drive mode assist warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred while it was raining. The contact lost control of the rear of the vehicle and the rear of the vehicle and crashed into a rail. The vehicle then crashed into a guard rail, crossed a two-lane highway, and bounced off of a concrete slab before the vehicle stopped. The contact's two children were in the vehicle. The contact and the contact's children received medical attention on the scene and were taken to the medical center. The contact and the contact's children were all treated for whiplash and concussion. The contact was also treated for nerve damage. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The contact stated that the failure had occurred previously, and the vehicle was taken to the dealer. The dealer had informed the contact that there was an unknown recall with a similar failure description, however, the VIN was not associated. The vehicle had an upcoming service appointment with an independent mechanic. The contact stated that the independent mechanic was very trustworthy and served the contact's vehicle regularly. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to report the failure to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000. The VIN was not available.

On [XXX] I was driving my 2020 explorer east bound on [XXX] just past the [XXX] intersection in Aurora, CO when all kind of warning lights lit up on the dashboard. (Parking brake engaged, pre collision prevention system failure, ABS light, check break system and other warning lights as well) the vehicle had a hard time stopping when I applied brakes almost caused a collision. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

We turned the vehicle on and a parking brake error came up on the dashboard followed by the dashboard lighting up with a lot of warnings. The vehicle was turned off and back on but continued with the error. Because we were out at a store and not home, we tried to drive it. We placed it in reverse and when put in drive, the brakes did not work with engaged. There was a small bumped that was able to stop the vehicle. I called Ford and they offered to run diagnostics on the vehicle for next week but could not guarantee a paid rental for the length of time needed for the repair. After exiting the vehicle, letting it rest for 5 minutes and restarting again, we were able to drive home with the brakes working again.

2020 Ford Explorer purchased in January 2021. Since owning this vehicle, we have experienced numerous (10+) situations where at a light or entering traffic with our foot on the brake pedal and waiting to proceed the car starts to acerate on its own and jump forward 4'-6' before it stops. I have visited my dealer Jones Ford in Charleston, SC and reported this issue a couple of times over the past few years. As usual they were unable to replicate the issue in shop or find a service code that relates to this problem. On Thursday, [XXX], 2023, while horizontally parking my vehicle in Georgetown, SC in front of an electrical pole (with support wires holding it in place), with my foot on the brake pedal coming to a stop, the engine accelerated and jumped the curb hitting the steel wires causing damage to my front and right side. The following Monday, [XXX] I brought the Explorer into the dealer to investigate the problem since it was still under an extended warranty. After spending a week at the dealer, they return the vehicle unable to find anything wrong and charged me over $200 for a service inspection (Invoice Included). At that point I contacted Ford Customer Service directly and after numerous calls and emails they denied that anything was wrong with my Explorer and closed the case (email included). Since January 2024, I have incurred 5 additional occurrences, and the last one was last week while I was parking the car in reverse...it jumped and struck the parked vehicle behind me. Thank goodness there was no damage to either vehicle. Over the past weekend in continuing to research this problem I came across an AP Article from June 2023 discussing this problem with 2020-22 Ford Explorers (article included). This is why I am lodging this complaint; Ford was well a where of this dangerous situation that my wife and I faced over the years. When the vehicle would accelerate it was very scary, and you honestly were not positive the car would stop. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Was at a complete stop heading Westbound on State Road 200 at Amelia Island Parkway (rd name?) at approximately 9:35 AM. I was behind a semi truck in the right hand lane. No one was ahead of him. There were two cars in the left hand lane, no one in the turning lane onto Amelia Island Parkway. I decided to get into the left lane behind those two cars so I wasn’t stuck behind the semi. I very slowly moved to the left lane, pushed on the brake the first time and kept moving, second time pushed as hard as I could and kept rolling, now close to hitting the car ahead of me. I immediately put the vehicle in park and which also activated the parking brake. The light turned green and I put the car back into drive and drove no faster than probably 45 mph. Stopped into the ulta parking lot parked and called Paul Clark Ford who insisted I bring the car in right away. Drove approx 2-5 min to Paul Clark Ford slowly. Ford was not able to reproduce the issue. No warning lamps came on.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the brake warning light was illuminated. The brake pedal was engaged and continued to depress independently. After turning off the vehicle, an abnormal sound was detected. The contact stated that while driving, there was a line on the screen. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was referred to the local dealer. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed down a steep driveway, upon depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to come to a complete stop. The driver was able to bring the vehicle to a complete stop by shifting into park. The hill stop control and ABS warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 45,200.

After starting vehicle it rolled when placed out of park while foot was on break and the emergency break was still engaged. There was no pressure and all warning lights associated with pre-collision, hill start, and antilock break fault were flashing across screen only while trying to stop and break from rolling. My safety and others was at risk by rolling into the street i could have been hit by oncoming cars or unable to stop from hitting anyone. My vehicle is maintained at dealer and is kept up on all service and recalls requirements. After vehicle was towed to dealer they were able to find the following TSB: https:// [XXX] Lives are not a technical service bulletin they are a RECALL. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

For months our backup camera would turn blue and not show the rear cameras. Also during this time, on occasion the emergency braking would stop us from backing up and then the brakes would not work. We had a recall on the blue screen software but the breaking has started again.

I started my car via remote start and after entering the vehicle, I hit the start button, depressed the brake and turned the transmission to reverse. Upon rolling back, I noticed the brakes felt funny, not completely stopping me as they should with the amount of pressure I was applying. I proceeded start driving thinking the brakes my fix themselves after letting off and driving forward. I then began to hear dinging, prompting me to look at the dash. It was flashing a bunch of errors: “hill start assist not available”, “Pre-collision assist not available”, “service advance trac”, “check brake system”, “hill descent Control fault”, 4WD fault service required”, “Park Break limited function service required”. As I was driving down the road with all of this flashing/ dinging and brakes not completely working, I noticed my emergency brake was on as well. I never use the emergency brake and am unsure how it was switched on. I was able to pull over about a minute down the road and turned the car off and then back on. I tried again to start driving, but had to pull over again 100-200 feet down the road because the dinging, notifications, and brake issues continued. At this point I again, turned the car off and back on. This time it cleared the issue and no more dinging, notifications, or brake issues. This has happened about 3 times. After the first time, i mentioned it to the dealer when servicing my car, but they were unable to find any problems. Each time this happens, i am able to clear it with a restart. I seem to notice it happens with colder temps (under 40 degrees).

When shifting from park to reverse, with foot completely on brake, the car will roll backwards several feet before stopping. Happens multiple times a month. Very dangerous as it rolls back into oncoming vehicles in parking lots. It is difficult to replicate as it is an intermittent problem. There is no prompting by the vehicle that there is an issue before hand. The only notable difference is the brakes are very firm while the vehicle is rolling and cannot be pressed in further.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that on various occasions after starting the vehicle, the brake system warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the warning light disappeared after driving; however, the failure persisted whenever starting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000.

I hit my brakes at a traffic light and the dash board lite up. With the following messages. Service Advance trac, 4WD Fault service required, see manual, hill start asst not available, auto hold fault, tooknto dealer tried to charge $600 for a diagnostic, codes were ran all codes are communication codes. Have no abs brakes. Took to another shop they couldn't figure it out. Called Ford. They refer back to dealer who what's to charge more money for diagnostics and the 33 codes they say are in the computer. Big safety issues. Happened just after 60,000 miles before looking at it dealer stated it wouldn't be covered under powertrain warranty anyway. Can't upload photos from phone for some reason.

When I release the parking brake and put the car in reverse, the car starts to roll while my foot is still actively pressing the brake. Brake pedal feels locked. It’s happened a handful of times but is not consistent and hard to replicate. This, of course, puts anyone in my car in danger and anyone around my car. I’ve taken it to the dealership and elevated it to corporate, but they say they can’t do anything since they can’t replicate it on site. Based on website forums, this is a common issue. When it happens, there are no warning lights or anything indicators. Again, to summarize, car rolls when brake is pressed intermittently.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while having a routine oil change completed at the local dealer, she was informed about a recall update. The contact stated that while driving, the electronic parking brake engaged. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while the vehicle was in park(P) and also while driving. While shifting into drive or reverse, the vehicle was jerking. The Auto START/STOP was disengaged. Additionally, the brakes were continuously grabbing while attempting to stop the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA. The approximate failure mileage was 19,624.

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, unattended on an incline, the vehicle rolled backward without warning. The contact was able to place her hand on the brake and stop the vehicle. There were no warning indicator lights illuminated. The contact scraped her knee but no medical attention was provided. The contact stated while sitting in the driver's seat, the vehicle rolled backward. The driver was able to depress the brake pedal. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where they could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 22,000.

This has happened multiple times. Start the vehicle and put into drive while the brake pedal is fully depressed and the car will move forward. While it is in motion you can hear what sounds like the anti-lock system activating. You have to pump the brakes as I assume the master cylinder has lost pressure. It does this randomly and is not repeatable. If this ever happens and someone or another car is around it could be a very bad day.