So interesting that it is not on the same side. I was told today Ford is still investigating it. My dealer, since I have had to take it in so many times, has encouraged me to try to Lemon it....and they are supporting me. A Rep said that she thinks Ford may have rushed out the early line of the 08s too fast (given the model redesign)...but they've been researching the problem with my car since September and still have nothing outside of temporary fixes.

 

mine is a 2008.5 too. The sticker printed June 6th and it rolled off the line on the 11th of June.

 

I have heard it on sharp right turns too. I even heard it once driving straight slowly in EV in a parking lot.

I just notice it most often on sharp left turns.

 

It could be they rushed out the new 08 design and just had some big flaws in it (hence the version 2 08s that started in December). It boggles my mind they dont know how to fix it. Oh well, they have had they reasonable number of fixes for my car according to state law.

 

Wow I had this small squeak too and just applied the parking brake in a parking lot while driving about 5-10 MPH. then a quick release. it went away and has not returned.

I may be wrong but this seems IMO a very minor thing to put up with when you look at the overall awesomeness of the FEH. To each his own but a intermittent squeak is something I am willing to put up with as the FEH is an very nice SUV overall. If it is as you all here are saying that this is a common issue then lemon lawing for this and buying again will get you right back where you are.

Try the parking brake application and see how it works. It may just do the trick.

One last thing. Often the dealer you go to may not have the best mechanic. If one dealer is not up to snuff by all means take your FEH to another and another until you find a good one. If all you have is one then this is not an option but I have seen where the mechanics can be all over the map when it comes to their skill level.

 

Can anyone say if this is a FEH issue or do all Escapes have this problem? Does it seem to be worse with FWD over 4WD? I test drove mine and I am quite sure that it made that noise. I purchased the car anyhow because as Allen F said it is a small price to pay IMO. If it gets bad enough I will figure it out myself as I am mechanically inclined. I will of course respond back if I find out more.

 

My '06 had a noise in the back.... I'm not sure the "matress spring" noise sounds like its the brake. The matress spring noise on my '06 was an issue with the rear struts rubbing on the body. There was a TSB on it an everything. They even produced new bushings to eliminate it. Is it possible with the redesign the issue came back.

Incidentally according to my dealer on the '06 it didn't matter if it was a hybrid... hybrids seemed to do it more (perhaps due to the extra weight of the battery) but the standard models did too.

 

Allen you make good points. It is a minor problem, but it is something Ford should correct. Ideally, when you pay $32K for a car, there aren't any problems (that cannot be fixed) for a while, at least. I am just following the judgement of my dealer. We shall see. You are also right about the mechanics--it's all a toss-up.

Oh, the parking brake "fix" was tried on my car, but it did not permanently fix it. I tried that one back in August when it all started. Oh well It does suck, because outside of that, I absolutely love the car.

 

While I have not had this issue with my car yet I did have a lot of squeeking the day I picked it up in the parking lot. All I could think was oh great hear we go. I did two things. 1) A hard break from speed. 2) Hit the breaks while backing up a few times. This cleared it up so far for me.

I am wonding if the way that these cars are driven do not allow for the pads to wear properly. The fact is that breaks are not used as much as a "normal" car.

 

I doubt that the parking brake fix is going to be permanent. But if you have to do it 2-3 times a year and it does the trick IMO it is all you need to do.

IMO the brakes are not used at a level that other cars are and this light use is the reason for the noise.

I remember a mechanic friend had a newer Corvette come in with the owner complaining about squeaking brakes. He took it out and did several high speed stops from 70MPH to 5 MPH one after the other to seat the pads and burn off the glazing that the woman driver was allowing to build up. Corvettes are designed for spirited driving and not a lot of grocery getting. It did the trick but I bet over time it would come back. I think the same thing is going on here too.