[dwightbresemann]

Tip: Anytime I have a brake problem and I believe the ABS is causing it, I remove the ABS fuse to take it offline and continue my testing.

 

[dwightbresemann]

2010 Escape limited 4WD 3.0l automatic

OK so I've done extensive searching on this forum, Google, YouTube, reddit, and wow this forum by far has the greatest concentration of knowledge I've ever seen! I also frequent some mustang forums which I thought had some great info but this place is great! OK enough sucking up. Yes I know another brake thread and I'm sorry I know it's been asked on here hundreds of times but I'm having more than the one issue I believe.

History
Got the vehicle last November from carmart when our Buick enclave ate its timing chain two weeks after the extended warranty. At first it was great but by January issues started to pop up but all related to the brake system. First the ABS and traction control light came on would stay on for 5 or 6 drive cycles and then turn off. Also after the abs light had been on for a day or so the passenger rotor was very hot. Going to sound gross but I did the spit test on it. Spit a bit onto driver side rotor and it just rolled down, spit on the passenger and it evaporated instantly. However the next day the driver side rotor was literally smoking hot after just a drive through town. Also around this time is when the first sounds started coming through. If I am at a stop and I let go off the brakes I can hear the caliper release and it groans. It sounds like passenger side but also at times driver side. If I bounce on the brake it groans loudly and is a metallic groan. I went to pull my wheels to get a closer look at the calipers and whoever owned the vehicle previously must have used an impact on them because I had to use a 3 foot breaker bar to loosen them. I'm 6'2 and 200 lbs and a 4 way was just laughing at me. Then I tried to get the slide caliper pin bolts loose and they were also super tight! Had to use the breaker bar again and the pins were rusted with no lubricant. This was true for both driver and passenger front calipers. I replaced the driver brake line because after the literal smoke coming out I thought maybe it was a collapsed brake line causing caliper hanging and put new slide pins in with lubricant.

This seemed to work for awhile but the weird groaning was still there. Money got tight so just let a sleeping dog lie for a bit. Abs traction came back on a month later. Finally learned about forscan and got the code C1095 which basically said I need to replace my HCU due to faulty circuit. Searched all over and tone rings seemed to be the winner. Checked all of them and they are all good, plus I figure it would have tossed a sensor error as well if it actually was the tone ring.

Questions
1. Can the HCU cause brakes to stick so that when you let off the brake it doesn't let the caliper disengage fully if it is faulty?

2. Can a bad wheel bearing(s) cause all these problems? Because I'm pretty sure that at least my passenger one is on the way out and probably due to the brakes dragging on that side more than the driver.

3. Can a bad HCU cause the vehicle to feel like the brakes are applied when letting off the accelerator? When I'm rolling at say 45 mph if I let off the accelerator I can feel the car slowing down like I'm driving into a strong wind.

4. Could this just be two gremlins that are not correlated? As in could my calipers be dragging because of a seperate issue and the HCU just happened to go out at the same time?

Plans
1. Going to go ahead and replace both wheel bearings with a hub assembly from rockauto, I'm confident the passenger is bad I can hear the classic whomwhomwhom sound coming from it and figured I'm replacing one side might as well do both.

2. Going to replace passenger brake line

3. Going to replace entire brake assembly both sides caliper/rotor/pads for ceramic

4. Regarding the HCU, I've found a refurbished one for 240 and will replace that but I'm going to have to figure out how to Vin match it with the forscan software.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! If any of this sounds like a bad idea please speak up! I hate being the throw parts at the problem guy but I honestly don't know what else to do at this point.

Thanks
Thank you!

Vin mismatch, Forscan won't fix a mismatch. You have to find someone with Ford's IDS. This will fix the mismatch.

 

[dwightbresemann]

A VIN mismatch would not prevent the vehicle from starting and driving normally. But, the ABS light will be on, not the check engine light. ABS would be disabled.

 

[dwightbresemann]

Yes, if you see all four wheels spinning equally, the wheel speed sensors are working correctly. But, you still may have an ABS pump motor failure.

The grinding noise you hear, any rust on the rotors from the recent rains? New brake pads are tapered to reduce brake squeal. As pads wear, the taper disappears and the surface area of the pads becomes larger. This larger pad area now has contact with rotor areas it did not have before. This new area has to be cleaned by the pads, sometimes causing noise.

I recommend leaving the ABS alone and focus on the calipers, rotors and pads...all four wheels. When removing rotors, mark the wheel stud to the rotor hole and return to the same position. All slide points of the calipers must be wire brush clean and lubed. Caliper pins must be wire bushed clean with no pitting and lubed. All slide points must be clean and lubed, but not too much.

 

[dwightbresemann]

Over tighten lug nuts would not affect the wheel bearing or caliper. The matting surfaces are wheel flange to hub flange, two flat areas.

Now to the rear brakes. Is the rear disc brake caliper also the parking brake, or does the rotor have a built-in drum for the parking brake shoes?

 

[dwightbresemann]

2010 still has drums on the rear? Are you sure? A disc braking with hydraulics, and simple drum parking brake with cable is more likely. Or, is the parking brake built into the caliper?

 

[dwightbresemann]

So I took a look at my service information, and you may be correct. Almost half the vehicles built had drums in the rear. There is an adjustment or service which needs to carried out from time to time. As the brake shoes wear, the built-in self-adjuster need to take up the slack. This adjuster only works in reverse while tapping the brakes, or sometimes they don't work at all.

Get a couple or cans of brake clean and some cardboard. While at the store, buy some brake shoes, just in case you need them. You can always return them if not needed. Some stores well lend/rent the brake spring tools also. Watch some YouTube videos on how to properly set the shoes to the drums using the self-adjusters.

Item #5 is the self-adjuster. You don't have many springs to deal with.

 

[dwightbresemann]

Vin mismatch, Forscan won't fix a mismatch. You have to find someone with Ford's IDS. This will fix the mismatch.

View attachment 2482

I wanted to update my post about a VIN mismatch (B2900). I was browsing Forscan this morning and I found this post where the poster fixed his VIN mismatch. Ford ABS Controller Diagnostic Help - DTC B1342-EO - FORScan forum

On Forscan, my profile name is "hueypilot".

 

[dwightbresemann]

Do you fly hueys, Dwight? Thats cool

I flew the UH-1H for 20yrs in the US Army. Start out as fixed wing crew chief, OV-1 Mohawk, and two years later I was flying Hueys. Flying was fun, the Army sucked

 

[dwightbresemann]

So, do you think the noise was a bad bearing?

 

[dwightbresemann]

Bummer, still having problems.

Some more information concerning hex code and as-built within the ABS module. The member asking the question on forscan forums is also a member here.

.ABT file and the VIN - FORScan forum

 

[dwightbresemann]

You'll figure it out. Once in ABS module, at the bottom of the screen is a save button. You can also write the as-built numbers on paper.