Brakes failure

[Kygolfer]

My son’s 2021 Big Bend 2.3 liter failed to have brakes yesterday. He said he hit the brakes a they went to the floor and a brake light came on the dash. He said he pumped them once and then he had brakes again. He is 17 years old and this is very scary. Seen some other issues with this on here. Something about a vacuum hose. Failing brakes seems like it should be a recall because automakers get sued over failing brakes. It is out of warranty of course so I’m sure Ford will not do anything about it. Just be aware of this and be careful. I am becoming not a ford guy.

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[CitrusBronco]

Take it in and see whats wrong or look it over yourself. Mechanical things fail, it’s not a Ford thing.
If he pumped the breaks and they worked the breaks did not fail. It’s time for service.

Or sell it & curse Ford forever. I have heard Toyota does not even make spare parts or offer service because they never have any issues and everything lasts forever.

 

[B22-2023]

Just be aware of this and be careful.

Brake loss events like this don’t anecdotally seem to be a raging epidemic across Broncos lIke all the other things people point out here; and we know nothing about your Bronco except year and trim. What would be helpful to everyone is when you do find out what went wrong, share the findings here so we can learn what to be careful of, exactly.

Correction - OK there is a brake thing as @Ducati1098 points out below. And is see someone else just went through an ordeal to get a master cylinder replaced.

 

[Bigshep]

Update for sure when you find out what is going on.

 

[Sitruc_btb]

The vacuum hose causes a hard pedal, not loss of pressure. Before we condemn Ford, get it checked out first, because yes, brakes are the most important part of the vehicle, then update us on the results.
It's a 21. Brake fluid ever been serviced? Possible there's some air in the lines. Always possible the booster is going out. Regardless, keep us updated!

Hey, at least your son doesn't drive an accord 1.5L with a leaking head gasket.

 

[Blackcat]

2021 vehicle with brake failure thread in 2025.. Lots of variables involved before outcome can be determined. My brother in laws brakes ‘failed’ when he had a steep driveway. Turned out his brakes didn’t fail, but the Miller Lite certainly succeeded….

 

[Ducati1098]

Pretty well known and documented issue. Lots of threads with the same failure.

 

[Brian_B]

I'm familiar with the "I stopped then it lurched forward a bit more" thing that I think is on the EBB on the v6. Also seems to be more prevalent with the EBB - "My e-brake suddenly engaged out of nowhere while I was driving". This doesn't really sound like either of these two issues though.

I've heard of the "I killed the engine in my manual and lost my brakes" because you lost engine vacuum assist.

But haven't heard of just soft pedal to the floor on a 2.3 then it coming back. Normally I'd think bad master cylinder, or air in the line/cut line/blown caliper.. but none of those just fix themselves.

Maybe this is the manual transmission thing and we just don't have all the data. I don't think a i4 Auto would do that though - ASS you are already stopped, and if you kill the engine somehow you are really having a bad day other than just brakes.

Also, admittedly, I have not read every post in these forums, nor do I work in a shop to see a lot of various Broncos.

 

[Dark Horse Allegiance]

Take it in and see whats wrong or look it over yourself. Mechanical things fail, it’s not a Ford thing.
If he pumped the breaks and they worked the breaks did not fail. It’s time for service.

Or sell it & curse Ford forever. I have heard Toyota does not even make spare parts or offer service because they never have any issues and everything lasts forever.

So…being a dick to someone who had a pretty critical failure common on this forum? Cause damn dude, chill out.

As a long time lurker, and first time poster, thanks for being such a jerk to make me chime in.

 

[BobbySaggz]

Take it in and see whats wrong or look it over yourself. Mechanical things fail, it’s not a Ford thing.
If he pumped the breaks and they worked the breaks did not fail. It’s time for service.

Or sell it & curse Ford forever. I have heard Toyota does not even make spare parts or offer service because they never have any issues and everything lasts forever.

So…being a dick to someone who had a pretty critical failure common on this forum? Cause damn dude, chill out.

As a long time lurker, and first time poster, thanks for being such a jerk to make me chime in.

I'm also primarily a lurker, but I don't consider anything CitrusBronco said offensive in the slightest. The Toyota part was definitely sarcastic, but served to make a point.

He's suggesting OP use a little critical thinking here. This is a four year old vehicle with unknown mileage and an unknown service history. Things wear and they break (but still hopefully brake). What happened is questionable and we need more information. As Brian_B said, this being an intermittent issue is strange - failures don't typically fix themselves.

But haven't heard of just soft pedal to the floor on a 2.3 then it coming back. Normally I'd think bad master cylinder, or air in the line/cut line/blown caliper.. but none of those just fix themselves.

Hopefully OP can have a mechanic diagnose the problem and then we can go from there.

 

[dpAtlanta]

So…being a dick to someone who had a pretty critical failure common on this forum? Cause damn dude, chill out.

As a long time lurker, and first time poster, thanks for being such a jerk to make me chime in.

Such abrasive 1st posts is not a good idea.

 

[B22-2023]

I’m glad I found the ignore function recently, works wonders to clean up these threads when someone takes it south.

 

[Oldhippie]

I would trust Ducati on this…I know 2.3 vacuum systems have had brake issues but have little real knowledge on them…take it in to get looked at!…good luck!

 

[indio22]

Pretty well known and documented issue. Lots of threads with the same failure.

Do you mean the vacuum brake boost on 2.3L versions years 2024 and earlier? Or is it some other flaw you are mentioning?

I've owned several vehicles over the years having vacuum brake boost and they worked fine, although on rare occasions you might get less boost.

 

[Ducati1098]

Do you mean the vacuum brake boost on 2.3L versions years 2024 and earlier? Or is it some other flaw you are mentioning?

The common SSM for the vacuum hose that fails on 21-22 2.3’s

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