Photo: Ford
Mercury may have bitten the dust at the end of 2010 due to lousy sales in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, but the defunct brand lives on. Not in a good way, that is. The Milan, as well as its Ford-branded sibling, are presently probed by the U.S. Office of Defects Investigation for a problem affecting the brakes.
According to the ODI resume for investigation number PE 16-017, the brake pedal in the said cars “may suddenly lose pressure and the vehicle stopping distance may unexpectedly increase.” Up to this point in time, the Office of Defects Investigation received 141 reports of “sudden, unexpected increases in stopping distance” in the 2007 - 2009 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.
The estimated population of vehicles potentially affected is not a trifling matter either. Based on the Ford Motor Company’s build numbers for the three model years, as many as 474,862 units could suffer from the described condition. Worse still, ODI has associated three crashes with this problem.
Even though the investigation has yet to pinpoint the core of this defect, safety experts believe that the cause lies with the antilock braking system’s hydraulic control unit. A malfunction of the HCU could cause the brake pedal to go soft, requiring significantly more force from the driver’s part to stop the car safe and sound. Replacement of the HCU could correct the problem.
Happily, however, no injury incidents or fatalities were identified from the 141 complaints the Office of Defects Investigation has received up to this point in time. If demanded, a recall would see FoMoCo fix up the braking system.
Potentially affected owners of older Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan vehicles are recommended to regularly check the NHTSA and Ford websites in the coming weeks to find out if their cars have become the subject of a recall.
More information on this subject is available in the following PDF.
The estimated population of vehicles potentially affected is not a trifling matter either. Based on the Ford Motor Company’s build numbers for the three model years, as many as 474,862 units could suffer from the described condition. Worse still, ODI has associated three crashes with this problem.
Even though the investigation has yet to pinpoint the core of this defect, safety experts believe that the cause lies with the antilock braking system’s hydraulic control unit. A malfunction of the HCU could cause the brake pedal to go soft, requiring significantly more force from the driver’s part to stop the car safe and sound. Replacement of the HCU could correct the problem.
Happily, however, no injury incidents or fatalities were identified from the 141 complaints the Office of Defects Investigation has received up to this point in time. If demanded, a recall would see FoMoCo fix up the braking system.
Potentially affected owners of older Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan vehicles are recommended to regularly check the NHTSA and Ford websites in the coming weeks to find out if their cars have become the subject of a recall.
More information on this subject is available in the following PDF.
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