Class Action Says Defect Can Cause Sudden Brake Loss for Ford F-150, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator Trucks

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A proposed class action claims certain model year Ford F-150, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator trucks are equipped with a defective master cylinder that can cause the vehicles to suddenly and unexpectedly lose the ability to brake. 

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The 77-page complaint more specifically says 2019 Ford F-150s and 2015-2019 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators with a 2.7-, 3.5-, 5.0- or 6.2-liter engine are equipped with a Hitachi-brand step-bore front brake master cylinder, which controls the amount of brake fluid pushed to the brake calipers on each wheel. 

The brake system of the Ford and Lincoln trucks is defective in that the master cylinder has faulty seals that fail to maintain pressure “in at least two ways,” the suit explains. For one, the rearmost seal, as a result of its failure to seal, causes pressurized brake fluid to leak from the master cylinder reservoir into the brake booster, the case relays. Two, the middlemost seal similarly loses its ability to seal, allowing pressurized brake fluid to bypass, or recirculate, internally, the lawsuit claims. 

Both instances of brake fluid leaks can cause a vehicle to lose hydraulic brake pressure, extending both the amount of time it takes for a driver to depress the brake pedal and the distance needed to stop during normal and expected driving conditions, the suit contends. 

According to the lawsuit, Ford and Lincoln drivers have reported losing braking power while driving on the highway or in traffic, and some have suffered collisions, rolled through stop signs and red lights and experienced vehicle “runaway” on inclines and open roads due to the master cylinder defect. 

The suit charges that Ford knew of the brake system problem “as early as 2013” yet failed to disclose and in fact “actively concealed” the defect from the public. Per the case, the 2013 model year F-150 saw a “dramatic spike” in online complaints and warranty claims for loss of braking power, yet Ford continued to install the same or a substantially similar master cylinder in its F-150s, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators.

“The rash of complaints concerning the loss of braking power, including in potentially deadly circumstances, has continued unabated in the Class Vehicles,” the filing says, claiming buyers and lessees who complain to Ford about the problem are told that brake failure events are “commonplace” among affected trucks.

According to the complaint, Ford issued a “grossly inadequate” recall in May 2016 to address the loss of front brake circuit function in certain 2013 and 2014 Ford F-150s with 3.5L EcoBoost engines built between August 2013 and August 2014. By way of that recall, the suit contends, Ford admitted the existence of the brake system defect by citing a risk of a “compromised” primary cup seal and a corresponding loss of brake fluid “into the brake booster.” 

Per the suit, the recall failed to address all the affected F-150s, including some 2013-2014 models and all 2015-2019 models, and left out Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles equipped with “identical” master cylinders. 

“Further, the 2016 Recall fails to address or acknowledge bypass. And even though Ford acknowledges [fluid leaking into the booster] in this small subset of Class Vehicles, the recall provides an ineffective remedy even for the vehicles that it does address. It merely calls for the replacement of the Master Cylinder with a new Master Cylinder of the same design.”

The case further contends that although Ford informed dealers in September 2016 that the brake system problem affected only a vehicle’s front brakes and that the rear brakes were “undisturbed,” these statements are false given that “complaints of total brake loss far exceed complaints of partial brake loss.” 

The filing states that Ford issued a second brake system recall in 2020 that covered only 2014-2017 F-150 trucks equipped with a 3.5L GTDI engine and left out other F-150s, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators equipped with the same faulty master cylinder. A third recall for the brake system issue followed in 2022, covering the rest of the 2017 F-150s and certain, but not all, Expedition and Navigator models plagued by the master cylinder defect, the lawsuit says. 

Overall, the brake system defect inhibits consumers’ ability to use their vehicles and exposes them to serious risk of injury, not to mention out-of-pocket costs to pay for “equally defective” replacement parts. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons who bought or leased in the United States a 2019 Ford F-150 or 2015-2019 Ford Expedition or Lincoln Navigator with a 2.7-, 3.5-, 5.0- or 6.2-liter engine equipped with a Hitachi step-bore master cylinder. 

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