Problems · by component

2013 Ford F-150 service brakes, hydraulic problems

42 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2013 Ford F-150 cite service brakes, hydraulic, 2% of all 2,796 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 1 recall on this component.

Complaints
42
2% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
1
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the service brakes, hydraulic

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while hauling a trailer, the brake pedal independently went to the floorboard. The ABS and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. In addition, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating with the accelerator pedal depressed. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with a master cylinder leak into the brake booster. The local dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V345000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 16, 2025Service brakes, hydraulicODI 11673904
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated while in reverse, the brake pedal was depressed, and the brake pedal went to the floorboard. The brake and parking brake warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and inspected. The contact stated that there was no brake fluid in the brake fluid reservoir. The contact stated that brake fluid was added to the reservoir; however, two hours later the brake reservoir was empty again. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 117,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 24, 2025Service brakes, hydraulicODI 11668893
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle failed to stop as intended while the brake pedal was depressed. The brake fluid warning light illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed on scene by an independent mechanic, and it was determined that the brake master cylinder and brake booster needed to be replaced due to a brake fluid leak. The vehicle was taken and to the local dealer for the repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 28, 2025Service brakes, hydraulicODI 11663351
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while reversing out of a driveway, the brake pedal was depressed and went down to the floorboard. The contact used the parking brake to stop the vehicle. The brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed that the brake master cylinder had leaked brake fluid into the brake booster pump. The contact was informed that the brake master cylinder and booster pump needed to be replaced. The dealer confirmed that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V345000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer opened a case. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 19, 2025Service brakes, hydraulicODI 11661809
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was connected to a trailer and while the brake pedal was depressed, the brake pedal went to the floorboard and the brakes responded intermittently. The contact attempted to disconnect the vehicle from the trailer and the brakes failed to respond. The contact stated that the vehicle hit a curve and came to a stop. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the vehicle was diagnosed with vacuum pump failure. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 166,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 12, 2025Service brakes, hydraulicODI 11647990
“The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at approximately 45 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the front brakes. The contact stated that the braking system independently engaged and stopped the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle had not stalled. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a parts store and upon parking he observed that smoke was being emitted from the passenger side front wheel well. The contact stated that he observed that a flame was visible from the passenger wheel well and that store employees had extinguished the flames with hand-held fire extinguishers. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the front brake line on the passenger side, both brake drums, calipers, pads, and rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that later the failure recurred and he needed to replace pads, and calipers on the front passenger side. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V345000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and confirmed that the VIN…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 5, 2025Service brakes, hydraulicFire reportedODI 11646543

Showing 6 of 42 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
02 —Related recalls

1 recall on this component

Service brakes

Free remedy

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 F-150 vehicles manufactured August 1, 2013, to August 31, 2014 equipped with 3.5L engines. The master cylinder rear cup seal may roll, resulting in brake fluid leakage from the primary reservoir into the brake booster.

Service brakes, hydraulicReported May 24, 2016NHTSA 16V345000
Data from NHTSA Recalls API · synced Nov 3, 2026

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.