But you can purchase an ESP from any dealer anywhere, and it will be honored at any Ford dealer. Call this guy up, he is very nice and open about costs.

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...arranty-28995/

 

When I purchased my ESP online, I purchased it from an out of state dealer. The charge for the warranty (at least at that time) was based on where you lived, not where you purchased the warranty. By using an available (to me) address in another state I saved around 25-30%, if I recall correctly. I will try calling the person you suggested...certainly can't hurt.

 

That is my understanding also, that it's where you live. I priced the ESP here and my dealer wanted about $2700 for my '11 Explorer with just under 36,000 miles. I went with a Costco plan that covers more with less exclusions for 4 years or just less than 96,000 miles. The cost was $2400 with a $100 deductible for as many repairs as you need at one visit. My dealer said it was a plan my SA would call and get a credit card number to charge too and the work is paid for just like the ESP plan. The plan required a down payment on my AMEX and monthly deductions with no interest.

I have a list of small repairs that will wait till a big dollar repair like the A/C or something that cannot wait to be repaired, to use that $100 deductible. You can also transfer the plan to a new buyer for $40, if I sell the Explorer before the 96,000 miles and 4 years. This will increase the value of the sell if the Explorer is still under warranty.

I need to replace my Hankook front tires now at 51,000 miles, but my rear tires should make it to 90,000 miles with no problem. This is because I never rotated my tires and keep them at 55psi. I plan to sell the Explorer at 85,000 miles with the original rear tires and the newer hankook front tires. If all goes well, I'll have one $100 deductible to pay for repairs and replace 2 tires and normal maintenance cost when I sell the Explorer. I'll know at that point what the Costco warranty cost or saved me.

Gary

 

Gary,
Part of your cost problem is the wait time. The cost is much less if you get it before 12K. I had not realized that the cost varied by the state in which one lived. But I do know that the cost is variable by the dealer who sells it, hence the good deals on line. However Ford does not let them advertise on line - referrals are fine, which is why I posted the information on the other thread with the contact information.

 

I had the problem of no brakes. Cleaned all the ground connections from battery to the frame. I have had no problems in the last 2 years. 1 under the battery 1 behind the front wheel and 1 on passenger side firewall.

Has anyone else tried my solution? I had the car for three years after the fix and had no issues. I think when a new hcu is installed, a secure ground connection is reestablished, that is why the replacement seems to work

 

I have same problem with 06 model. Can someone suggest a trustworthy capable mech. to look at feh? Anywhere, Im down for a road trip. Anyone that supports Ford in this matter is either totally ignorant to the problem or just a complete moron

 

Hi, Did anyone reply to you maybe off this forum about a Mech specialized in this work? I have the same issue and need someone that isint just looking online for a step by step!

 

All,

First a disclaimer, you accept all liability for any damage you cause directly or indirectly from following these instructions and they are provided for education purposes only. You will be working with your brake system and can cause it to fail and cause an accident. If you don't understand any part of this or do not feel qualified please do not contemplate doing this procedure.

Now that the legal disclosures are out of the way... I wanted to give some insight in to what I did to fix my brakes on my FEH that kept having the issue listed above and throwing error codes about control plausibility failure.

Essentially what is happening is the ABS module is detecting that it cannot properly apply the brakes to one or more wheels and then disabling that wheels brake and the one diagonal to it. Also, it may go into safe mode where it is not controlling the brakes using the brake by wire system at all and instead you have to manually brake at the bottom of the brake peddle.

Here is what I did to fix it:

1. First, I got a CANBUS bluetooth interface. It is like the ODB error readers you can borrow from AutoZone etc, but it interfaces with your computer. You can get one here for about 11 bucks: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is the hardware that will plug into your car and allow you to interface with all the different computer modules that control your car. However, you will also need software on your computer to interface with that hardware. There is a free program called FORSCAN that will interface with that bluetooth module and allow you to read DTC (Digital Trouble Codes), reset them, and also reset the ABS module.

You can get FORSCAN here and its FREE: http://www.forscan.org/

As a temporary fix, you can reset the ABS module in FORSCAN and it will start working as normal again until it decides to mess up. I typically had to reset the module then when it says to turn the key off make sure you also remove the key and open the drive door. This tends to ensure that it fully resets. Then follow the rest of the on-screen prompts.

This however, is not permanent and as soon as it got hot in the engine compartment (usually from sitting still and running the AC) it would trigger the same error.

2. I did the solution posted above of cleaning the ground connections. I actually, couldn't locate the one in the driver wheel area so I just did the other two. I used some sandpaper when I cleaned them so I removed all the dirt and gunk and also scrapped up the paint to ensure good contact. Then put the ground connectors back on. I don't know if that in itself was enough to fix my problem, but it could have been.

3. I think this was ultimately the solution for my particular case. My brake fluid had never been flushed/changed and I had 140000 miles. I flushed the brake fluid until I got perfectly clear fluid coming out. I didn't have anything to remove the fluid from the reservoir so I just got three large containers of DOT3 brake fluid and kept flushing until it came out clear.

Here is the process for that and unfortunately since this is a hybrid with a brake by wire system, and an all electric system, it is a little different and there are some important things to consider.

The way the brake by wire system works there is an electric pump that builds brake pressure into an accumulator (a place where a small amount of high pressure brake fluid is stored to be used via the electronically controlled valves in the ABS module).

If you completely empty this accumulator there is a chance you will be unable to get it to fill it back up without special tools. Therefore, ensure you understand this process before you begin.

There is also an intermediate problem before you completely empty the accumulator where you can trip a pump failure detection on the ABS module, if that occurs you can clear it by an ABS module reset and resume bleeding the brakes.

I did this as a 2 person job. One person attached some 1/4 tubing to the brake bleed valve nipple then ran it to a funnel and held it. The other person with the key on inside the vehicle would depress the brake peddle about halfway.

IMPORTANT: As soon as you hear the brake pump kick on you need to IMMEDIATELY stop and let off the brake. Again, if you keep going once that pump kicks on you will either trigger the pump failure or worst case empty the accumulator.

Wait until the pump kicks off then repeat the process. You should be pushing substantial amounts of fluid out each press. After 5 or so cycles of this you will need to stop and refill the reservoir.

IMPORTANT: Again, if it goes completely empty, you will likely both get air in the system and possibly empty the accumulator. Both of which are very bad things so its worth it to refill the reservoir more often than needed.

Continue repeating this cycle until the fluid you get out of the bleed valve is completely clear and not urine colored (or brown if this hasn't been done in a very long time). You will want to start with the driver rear wheel then the passenger rear wheel then the driver front wheel then the passenger front wheel. Whenever you finish with a wheel you will want to close the bleed valve in the middle of ejecting fluid from it so that the system is completely air free.

I used about two bottles of fluid before I finished with the first wheel. Then since I had flushed the reservoir and most of the lines doing that wheel, the other wheels took maybe 2 5 pump cycles and they were done. It took maybe an hour to do the first wheel and 30 minutes to do the other three.

You will likely have to jack up the vehicle and remove the wheel to get to the bleed valve. It can be done without doing so, but it makes it a lot easier.

Once you have bled the valves on all the tires then you just need to do an ABS module reset with step 1 and then road test it to ensure you didn't get any air in the brakes.

I hope this helps someone who gets this problem in the future. If you have any questions please let me know. Thanks!

 

Thank you for the detailed info! I did end up finding a replacement HCU for $700 and used Magic Mechanic in north Orlando to perform the surgery for another $600. Car has driven great for 6 months. Will reply again for the place here in Orlando that got the HCU. They were great!

 

I know this thread is old, but this is evidently an ongoing problem with the Ford Escape Hybrid. I noticed a couple of people said that the OP has no grounds for complaint. Even if we take him out of the equation, there are a dozen others who commented that they've had the same problem.
I've also read other sites that talk about this problem. I don't have a Ford EH, but was looking at a used one to buy. The dealer told me that there is a problem with the brakes going out. The Ford dealership charged a few hundred to bleed and flush the system. Then the dealer, thinking the problem was fixed, sold the car, only to have the brakes go out within the next 20 miles of driving.
Reading about the cost of fixing this, I'm going to pass on this car.
It's too bad because I liked it otherwise and the car has less than 35k miles on it.
But, that's CRAZY expensive.