1997 FORD ESCORT — Complaint #667890
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS filed April 30, 2008
NHTSA complaint #667890 (ODI reference 10226312) concerns a 1997 FORD ESCORT and was filed on April 30, 2008. The owner reports the failure occurred on April 30, 2008. The vehicle had 115,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Wisconsin based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as service brakes, hydraulic:foundation components, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD ESCORT cohort independently describe similar service brakes, hydraulic:foundation components failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1997 FORD ESCORT shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1997 FORD ESCORT. WHEN MAKING A RIGHT TURN AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE CONTACT HEARD A CLUNKING SOUND COMING FROM THE FRONT END BALL JOINTS. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE BRAKE PADS, ROTORS, DRUMS, AND FRONT WHEEL BEARING ON THE PASSENGER SIDE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ODOMETER AND SPEEDOMETER HAVE BOTH BEEN REPLACED THREE TIMES, BUT SHE DOES NOT TRUST THAT THE SPEEDOMETER IS CURRENTLY WORKING PROPERLY. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 115,000. UPDATED 06-03/08. *LJ THE TIE ROD END, REAR SPRING, WINDSHIELD, UPPER BALL JOINT, ODOMETER KNOB, REAL PASSENGER SEAL WERE ALL REPLACED. UPDATED 05/30/08
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 667890 |
| ODI Number | 10226312 |
| Date Filed | April 30, 2008 |
| Failure Date | April 30, 2008 |
| VIN | 1FALP13PXVW |
Similar SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS Complaints for 1997 FORD ESCORT
WHILE APPYING BRAKES VEHICLE WILL NOT STOP. A BRAKING LIGHT APPEARED ON PANEL. DEALERSHIP IS AWARE OF PROBLEM.*AK
WHILE DRIVING 20MPH THERE WAS A POPPING SOUND. DRIVER APPLIED BRAKES AND PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP. VEHICLE HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE. BRAKE SYSTEM HAS BEEN REPAIRED. *AK
BRAKE SYSTEM EXPERIENCES CONTINUED EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCES. MJS
INTERMITTENTLY WHEN THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED VEHICLE MAKES A POPPING NOISE. THE DEALER HAS REPLACED VARIOUS PARTS OF THE BRAKE SYSTEM. THE MANUFACTURER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. *AK
WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES A POPPING/GRINDING SOUND OCCURS, AN VEHICLE TAKES A LONGER TIME TO STOP. OWNER'S DAUGHTER WAS IN VEHICLE CRASH DUE TO LOSS OF BRAKING ABILITY. *AK`
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.