Just wanted to give a heads up to anyone with the new V8 Godzilla chassis. We were on our 8 week trip out west and had pulled into the parking lot at Dixie Antelope Canyon tours when our brakes failed. Thankfully we weren't on the steep descent we were on yesterday or days previous or this text wouldn't be happening. Brake fluid was leaked all over parking lot and sprayed under the hood. A compression fitting had failed suddenly and there was no fluid left . So we have been sitting here in 100 degrees waiting for our tow to the nearest Ford dealership. Canceled our reservations in Watchman Campground for Sunday and Monday. Hoping they can repair on Monday so we can still go to Bryce. It's been a learning experience and we're thankful to be alive!
Mottleycru-stranded in Page,AZ
2021 27 MB
:o
Yikes! So glad it turned out the way it did!
Total failure of crimped hose fittings is a rare occurrence.
Ford's tubing and hose suppliers (in-house or vendor) sure have had their issues when it comes to crimping the hose and line fittings correctly.
First the power steering hoses and now then the brake lines.
IMO, If I owned one of the 2021 LDs, I would want a very experienced eye to inspect and physically grab onto every hose and brake fitting and check it for the soundness of the crimp or for leaks
The power steering pump also powers the brake booster, a failure of a power steering hose can cause the steering and brakes to become unusable. A fail brake line has the same effect. Failure of these parts can be fatal.
Larry
Agree absolutely with Larry’s advice of a *thorough* hose and connection soundness check, and not only with the model year(s) in question! I don’t know if the issue is due to poorly designed or manufactured connectors and/or hoses, sloppy installation or other, but brake failure for any reason is SCARY and dangerous.
My husband is saying it should be a nationwide recall. So thankful it happened in a parking lot! We have been up and down the Rockies over the last few days :o
Total failure of crimped hose fittings is a rare occurrence.
Ford's tubing and hose suppliers (in-house or vendor) sure have had their issues when it comes to crimping the hose and line fittings correctly. .
I'm really puzzled by this report. My understanding is the braking systems used over the last 50 years are dual circuit braking systems, so a single point failure still provides at least half the normal braking ability. Was there a complete loss of braking?
My husband says he pushed the peddle all the way to the floor and it continued to roll for a bit. He was backing up at about 2 mph. All of the brake fluid had sprayed to the inside hood or drained out onto the ground. He said he heard an audible pop when the compression fitting failed. I was behind the vehicle guiding him into the parking spot.
Can you identify exactly what hose failed and where it is located? Is there more than one?
Thank you.
Mike C
We can send a picture. We are in a Holiday Inn 2 doors down from the Ford dealership and he's walking back over there to check on it. Now he is wondering if it was the power steering too. We took it to a Ford dealership in Feb for a recall to"check" power steering hoses. They told us it was fine to go. We are now thinking how different the outcome would have been if we had been on Monarch Pass at over 11,000 feet when this had happened. We were there 3 days ago. I'll put pictures up when he returns.
Hoping you can see these Mike...
Looks to me that there is a collar missing inside of that fitting. A ferrule around the tube that compresses into the fitting. Picture #4 has the best shot. RonB
Please report it to nhtsa.gov in case it's a widespread issue that needs a recall
Randy, what color was the fluid sprayed inside the engine bay? Mine was pink hydraulic fluid. Brake fluid is a different color. The three hoses I lost was under the location shown in your photos.
The replacement hydraulic hoses had different part numbers than the original defective hoses. I don’t know these numbers. Ford should have them. I have checked the fittings you showed in your photos and mine are secure. Thanks for bringing the issue to this group.
Mike C
Now he is wondering if it was the power steering too. res up when he returns.
Sure looks like the brake booster's hydraulic supply hard-line, difficult to tell with photos zoomed in so far.
Hard lines with a spinning threaded fitting on the end(s) are Factory assembled and should never come apart. .It should be replaced with a new assembly and not the old one "repaired".
I wouldn't be too happy with an iffy brake system in the Rockies.
Larry
Mike, We went back to the rig on the Ford lot an hour ago and one of the service employees was outside working on a car. He researched our VIN and we showed him the damage under hood. He said it was power steering fluid-and it was pink. He said had never seen or heard of this failure before. He said it looked like a fail of the hydroboost connection and loss of brakes and steering would be the result. He was able to see the part is not on backorder so one should be within the state and get it in a short time. When the full investigation happens tomorrow we will let you know.
Larry, We plan to push Ford to do a thorough check. This is by far the worst thing that has happened to our LD. We still marvel at the little extra things LD factory put into our rig. This is all on Ford. I'll try to update as we find out more.
"My husband is saying it should be a nationwide recall."
Randy,
Since the fluid released was hydraulic oil pink and coming from the location of those power steering hoses that there was a recent Ford recall notice, your dealer needs to be aware of this. There should be NO charge by the dealer for the replacement work. This would be a warranty issue at the least. When my hoses came apart Ford replaced all three with the new part # hoses and paid the entire repair bill.
Mike C
How long did your repair take? Have any others in our group had this issue with the Ford 2021 or 2022?
You might want to do some research on that fluid as some brake fluids can really damage the paint and quickly! What a mess to clean up. Glad you guys are safe and that your LD was so well trained that it broke in the best possible place.
Randy,
We had the repairs done at a Ford dealership in North Charleston, SC as we were on the road at the time. Once the problem was identified it took a couple of days (plus a weekend) to get the new hoses into the repair shop and replaced. Those hoses are located in a tight spot. You should insist they be replaced under the Ford recall regardless of any other fluid plumbing issues.
Mike C
We took it to a Ford dealership in Feb for a recall to"check" power steering hoses. They told us it was fine to go.
Shawn and Randy,
My LD is the same year and model as yours and I too got the safety recall notice from Ford. From what is described in the recall, it appears that the problem is a potential faulty connection of the power steering pressure line to the brake Hydroboost unit. If the connection fails, the results would be loss of power steering assist and loss of power brake assist. I took a picture of the recall notice and the Ford mechanic notes when I had my recall serviced. They are posted below. You may want to look at the receipt when you had your recall serviced to see if the Ford mechanic did what they were supposed to. If not, then the Ford dealer who did the recall is liable for any cost of repairs.
- John
Thanks John. We never received the formal recall paper but I discovered the recall on a Ford forum and when we entered our VIN we saw it was recalled. The dealership said it looked fine. But now we know it wasn't!
How long did your repair take? Have any others in our group had this issue with the Ford 2021 or 2022?
We have 2021 and it took few days for dealer to get the parts and they one day to fix ….
Muhammad,
Did your brakes or steering fail or did the shop just automatically replace the parts when they did the recall inspection?
Muhammad,
Did your brakes or steering fail or did the shop just automatically replace the parts when they did the recall inspection?
I read about recall on this forum while on the road and of course there was a letter when I came home. I had to go for oil change anyway and initially dealer did not take the recall seriously and told me that he will simply inspect and most probably thats it ..... after inspection dealer end up ordering the parts ... unfortunately he has only one long bay for RV and I know he did go out of his way to put my RV back to fix it before my next trip. I also talked to Ford and they asked me not to take any long trip before fixed is done and I was surprised that they got me an appointment to another dealer when dealer close to me had difficulty fitting me on his schedule. All the signs suggest a serious flaw .....
Very serious indeed! I think Ford should recall for a second time and this time replace parts in every truck. I wonder how many have failed on the road but passed that initial recall inspection like ours.
We purchased our LD in Jan. 2022. We brought it to a Ford dealer in March 2022 for the safety recall. The response from the dealer was "HYDROBOOST OR HYDROMAX POWER STEERING PRESSURE LINE INSPECTION. CHECKED FOR NEW OR OLD HYDROMAX LINE STYLE. CHECKED CONNECTION FOR SEPERATION AND GAP IN LINE. EVERYTHING PASSED." We were wary of a safety recall that counted on a visual inspection, but had to accept it. Last week we were on our 3rd trip of the season, heading to Michigan from Arizona. About 6 hours into our trip, on I-40 eastbound, just past Albuquerque, we lost our power steering and power brakes. We managed to safely get to the shoulder (still had steering and brakes, but not power). We have 3600 miles on the vehicle. We were "camped" on the side of the road for 24 hours as Coach-Net tried to get us a tow. They stuck with us until they were successful. No Ford dealer wanted to work on our RV. We were towed to an RV service shop. They told us to cancel our trip. They had taken in an RV 8 days ago with the same problem and still didn't have the parts from Ford. We rented a car and went home. Today, we spoke to the repair place and they said that the parts were on order with no delivery date from Ford. The other RV was repaired after a 14 day wait.
We can verify that Ford's safety recall visual inspection didn't work. To those with the new chassis, BEWARE.
Dave,
You may recall that I posted that back last December we lost power steering on our 2021 RB after hitting a pot hole going into a rest area in SC. The Ford dealer in North Charleston found all three hydraulic power steering hoses came disconnected from their crimped-on ends. We had to wait 4 days for the new hoses to come from Ford. We double checked the part numbers on the hoses and found these new hoses were the new correct replacements. I don't recall those #'s now but Ford will have them.
Those three hoses are buried deep among a lot of other hardware about the drivers side of the engine and very difficult to remove them of check for the proper part #'s. Apparently your dealer didn't do that but probably charged Ford for doing so. They should be held accountable to you and Ford for their misrepresentation and dishonesty.
When the hoses do come from Ford and the bad ones are replaced, have the shop give (maybe a photo of) you the part #'s of the new hoses and save you the old hoses. This will be needed in any future issues.
Mike C
So that is exactly what happened with our 2021 27MB! We were on a mostly flat parking lot in Page, AZ and were towed to Lake Powell Ford where we waited several days for parts from California. Lake Powell Ford was phenomenal in dealing with our rig. I'm so thankful you were able to get off the road safely! All new 2021 and 2022 owners must insist these parts are replaced, not just inspected!
Mike Coachman,
Thank you for your heads up on saving info on parts - old and new. We might need this in our future dealings with Ford
Dave & Kate
I would like to finish our story. Our LD sat in the repair service center for 7 weeks while they waited for hoses from Ford. We paid the repair bill and submitted it to Ford for compensation under warranty. That was paid quickly. We then asked Ford to compensate us for our hotel room and the auto rental to get home, because they had mishandled the recall . It took a couple of months, but they came through with the money. We haven't had a chance to camp since the repair, but we hope that the new hoses will have a long life.
Thanks for finishing your saga, it's always interesting and informative to see how things work out.
Larry