Ford trucks have dominated the industry for so long, many current buyers weren’t born when the F-150, its siblings and distant automotive relatives didn’t reign.
But even the country’s perennially best-selling vehicle sometimes has problems. In this instance, it’s used Ford F-150 pickup trucks.
About 350,000 trucks in North America, including 292,3111 vehicles from the United States and model years 2014-2017 are being recalled for a faulty brake master cylinder, Ford announced.
Ford F-150 has braking issues
The brake master cylinder can leak brake fluid into the brake booster, and ultimately reduce braking power to the front wheels. Drivers may feel more pedal travel that requires more force to press the brake. The loss of power could also trigger an audible chime, a message alert, or a red brake warning light in the instrument cluster.
The trucks affected include 2015 through 2017 F-150 pickups built in Dearborn, Michigan, between October 1, 2014, and August 1, 2016; and 2014 through 2017 models built in Kansas City from September 1, 2014, to August 1, 2016.
The recall also includes about 50,000 additional F-150 pickups in Canada and Mexico.
All of the problematic trucks are equipped with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine.
Ford reported seven low-speed crashes and two injuries have occurred because of the braking issue.
Dealers will replace the master cylinder and the leaking brake booster free of charge. The recall code is 20S31. Owners can visit Ford’s recall site or contact Ford customer service at 866-436-7332. Ford wners can also check the NHTSA recalls website for further details.
In 2019, Ford sold 896,526 of its F-Series trucks, about 250,000 more than that second-best seller, the Dodge Ram.
Article Last Updated: June 13, 2020.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
