2006 Ford Taurus Brakes Problems

“Ford motor company sold my vehicle with a life-threatening design defect in the braking system. This design defect comprises a plastic cover over the stainless steel hydraulic brake lines where those lines pass from the front of the car to its rear beneath the driver side door. The ostensible purpose of the plastic cover is unknown to me, but its actual function is twofold. …”

“I was driving eastbound, on a city street, approaching the intersection with a stop sign. When I pressed on the brakes, it didn't slow down. In fact, the car was going faster. So I put the car in park, hoping to slow it down, but it didn't work. Then I jumped the curb, hoping that would slow the car down, but it didn't work. I tried to avoid hitting a truck that was going northbound on the cross road, but I couldn't avoid is so I hit the truck.”

“I heard sounds like my brakes were scraping, so I thought maybe I needed new brake pads. Upon taking the wheel off, I discovered the brake housing was broken. A part of the casting was missing, apparently broken off. The lower pin that allows the pads to slide was stuck. The housing is slightly bent not allowing the pin to slide freely.”

“I was heading home in a 35 miles an hr zone, when suddenly, my gas pedal flattened from under my feet and my car started going faster. I tried breaking, but the car kept lunging forward even though I was on the breaks, the RPM also revved up to about 3000 even though I was still breaking. I pulled off the road and put it in park and it still sounded as if I was gassing it, so I shut it off and waited, then started it again, it revved, then the RPM dropped suddenly and was back to normal.”

“Without warning, there was extremely difficulty in stopping the vehicle. Fortunately, we were able to limp home where, suspecting a caliper or wheel cylinder leak, none was found. On closer inspection, an extreme leak of brake fluid was observed coming from the metal brake lines leading to the rear brakes. These lines were found to be extremely corroded. It should be noted that in my 50 plus years of working on cars I have never, ever seen such damage to such a key component for a vehicle.”