Just wanted to share my experience with this piece of crap car. Bought it in 2010 with only 20 thousand miles. Since then I have taken it with me to the island of Guam for four years and to Spain for two years as I am active duty military. I just paid it off last year after completing the six year loan when I started having the weird grinding noise (the brakes "trying" to build pressure) right before you start the car. Then came the ABS light soon after and my brakes would lock my wheels up if I pressed on them while driving. Sometimes I could turn the car on and off and the light would go away and the brakes would work fine. Then as time went along that no longer worked so I had to buy a special On Board Diagnostics reader for brake systems made by Autel. That allowed me to enter into the car's computer and activate the brakes on and off to build up accumulater pressure and use the car as normal. I recently then shipped it off back the US from Spain and picked it up the other day at the vehicle processing center and found that now the one of the brakes will build pressure but stay stuck on the rotors. So I took it to an American Ford Dealership to run the $95 diagnostic test today and sure enough they confirmed that it was the HCU and the part alone would cost $3800. Maintenance would be close to 2K. The car doesn't even have 100K miles yet and it already has an issue that cost more than it's worth (Kelly blue book quoting around 4K). To make things worst I just got a letter in the mail for a recall for the engine electronics coolant pump ... too bad that issue happened a year and a half ago and I had to buy and install it myself. The dealership said I could be refunded if I had the receipts (yea that's not happening). A few months ago I filled a report about this brake problem on the NTSB website and said I was in an accident because of the brakes while I was in Guam. Maybe that will eventually get someone to take notice and issue a recall. I don't have time to wait though and I am going to have the car auctioned off. If anybody has any questions about my experience feel free to ask. Wish everyone luck with this horribly designed brake system.

 

Try fixing the grounds, that is the number one problem with the brake system. The way they ground it is kitty waumpus. Find the ground and clean it and its mounting point up. Disconnect the 12 v battery for a half hour and see what it does, might surprise you.

 

As a side note, the hcu is not an expensive part from a junk yard and the unit itself has a pretty low failure rate, hence the low price.

http://www.lowmileageparts.com/2008-...B#.WXpTBIjyv-g

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/05-07-FORD-E...VZdsLq&vxp=mtr

That's the right year. You just have to find a shop that is capable of replacing it that will use a used part. It requires programming to mate it to the vehicle if I remember correctly.

 

You could also have a tone ring issue if your brakes did the herky jerky before they reverted to non abs mode. A tone ring is a simple cv shaft replacement.

 

I’m dealing with this exact issue today with my 2007 FEH. ABS light was intermittent then steady. Front calipers and discs were rusty, worn, and out of round causing shutter when breaking. Just replaced all for ~$200 with kit from RockAuto and waiting for the HCU from eBay wrecked vehicle, $350. 08escapehybrybrid, can you provide more detail on your post about the grounding? Also, does anyone know if I can perform a standard brake line bleed after HCU replace or will I need to have it programmed by the dealer? THANKS! Edward