Ford bulletin SSM 53988
What it saysSome 2025 Bronco vehicles equipped with a 2.3/2.7L EcoBoost engine built on or before 12-June-2025 and 2025 Bronco Raptor vehicles equipped with a 3.0L EcoBoost engine built on or before 18-June-2025 may exhibit various… NHTSA’s full summary ↓
Ford filed this with NHTSA as a service bulletin dated Jun 26, 2025, received Jul 2, 2025, about the service brakes. It names 1 model year (2025). A service bulletin is not a safety recall: it is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a condition, and whether the work is paid for depends on the warranty in force. Quoting the number at a service desk can save a diagnosis.
Get the next Ford Bronco bulletin by email Weekly, only when something new is filed. Nothing else; one-click unsubscribe.
What the bulletin says
Source: NHTSA's summary of the manufacturer's communicationWhat it applies to, as the document itself states it — the build window in the manufacturer’s own words, read by machine from the PDF NHTSA serves. The build date is on the certification label in the driver’s door jamb; the dealer settles a borderline vehicle by its VIN.
Some 2025 Bronco vehicles equipped with a 2.3/2.7L EcoBoost engine built on or before 12-June-2025 and 2025 Bronco Raptor vehicles equipped with a 3.0L EcoBoost engine built on or before 18-June-2025 may exhibit various illuminated brake system warning lamps/fault messages at start up with diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) C003A:4A, C003A:64, C0037:4A, C0037:64, C2005:1D, C2005:78, C2006:1D, and/or C2006:78 stored in the anti-lock brake system (ABS) module. To correct this condition, reprogram the ABS module using the latest software level of the Ford Diagnosis and Repair System (FDRS). For claiming, use causal part 2005 and labor operations 2219D and 2219D44 in Section 02 of the Service Labor Time Standards (SLTS) Manual.
Trouble codes it names: C0037 C003A C2005 C2006
Document filed under this number
| Document | Kind | Dated | NHTSA id | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSM 53988 | Service bulletin | Jun 26, 2025 | 11020058 | PDF, 71 KB |
The summary is NHTSA’s abstract of the document, as filed under 49 CFR 579.5. One communication is usually filed as several documents — the bulletin, a dealer notice, an owner letter — and the number on any of them finds this page. A PDF link is shown only once NHTSA’s own server has been seen to serve that document; the rest are checked over the following nights. Quote the number at a service desk; it is what the dealer’s system is keyed on.
Model years it names
Source: as the manufacturer filed themA vehicle page’s bulletin list shows the newest few communications filed against that model year; the count there is every one.
Email me new Ford bulletins for the Bronco
A weekly email, sent only in a week when Ford files something new with NHTSA for the model you pick — service bulletins, campaigns, warranty extensions, over-the-air notices, every model year. Nothing else is sent; one-click unsubscribe in every message. Separate from recall alerts.
What owners reported
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseOwners of the 1 model year this bulletin names have filed 52 complaints with NHTSA since 2015. 7 of them name Service Brakes — the same broad component group this bulletin is filed under. NHTSA groups complaints coarsely, so that means the same area of the vehicle, not necessarily the same fault.
Sunday April 19 2026, in a drive thru while stopped, the following alerts popped up with their corresponding dash lights: Check Brake System Park Brake limited service function Pre-collision assist not available Service Advance Track Brake pedal lost vacuum / pressure and became hard.
2025 Ford Bronco · Service Brakes · filed with NHTSA Apr 21, 2026
A complaint is one owner’s account, not a defect finding, and a bulletin is not a recall. Nothing here says this bulletin was issued because of these complaints, or that the repair it describes fixed them. Complaint files on this site begin in 2015.
More bulletins about the service brakes
Source: same model, same component group9 other manufacturer communications filed against the Ford Bronco under the same component group (service brakes), newest first. The eight newest are listed; the rest are on the Ford list.
| Number | Kind | Dated | NHTSA’s summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSM 54848 | Service bulletin | May 20, 2026 | Some 2025 Bronco Raptor vehicles may exhibit a concern where certain selectable drive modes (G.O.A.T. modes) are unavailable after the ABS m… |
| SSM 54847 | Service bulletin | May 20, 2026 | Some 2025 Bronco non-Raptor vehicles may exhibit a concern where certain selectable drive modes (G.O.A.T. modes) are unavailable after the A… |
| SSM 54733 | Service bulletin | Apr 9, 2026 | Some 2025-2026 Bronco/Expedition/Navigator/F-150/Ranger vehicles may exhibit a "Check Brake System" message in the instrument panel cluster… |
| SSM 54431 | Service bulletin | Dec 6, 2025 | Some 2021-2024 Bronco vehicles may exhibit an illuminated red brake warning indicator with diagnostic trouble code (DTC) C0049:01 stored in… |
| ABS-25.9.3B | Over-the-air update | Oct 1, 2025 | 25S77 Recall remedy: -Addresses a potential loss of brake boost while driving. Hydraulic braking assist will still be available |
| SSM 53986 | Service bulletin | Jun 26, 2025 | Some 2025 Bronco vehicles equipped with a 2.3/2.7L EcoBoost engine built on or before 12-June-2025 and 2025 Bronco Raptor vehicles equipped… |
| SSM 53875 | Service bulletin | Jun 4, 2025 | Some 2025 Bronco and Ranger vehicles may exhibit various illuminated brake system warning lamps/fault messages at start up with diagnostic t… |
| SSM 51261 | Service bulletin | Dec 16, 2022 | Some Ford and Lincoln vehicles may exhibit noise when the brakes are applied. When diagnosing and repairing brake noise conditions, use the… |
Quote the number at the service desk. It is what the dealer’s system is keyed on.
Every manufacturer communication NHTSA holds for Ford, by the number printed on the letter.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA, 49 CFR 579.5Is Ford SSM 53988 a recall?
No. A service bulletin is a manufacturer communication filed with NHTSA under 49 CFR 579.5; a safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number (two digits, a letter, six digits) and a federal duty to repair for free. Check the vehicle’s recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls, or on its page here.
Is the SSM 53988 repair free?
Not automatically. A service bulletin describes how to diagnose or repair a condition; who pays depends on the warranty in force, any extension, and the dealer. Quoting the number can save a diagnosis either way.
Which vehicles does SSM 53988 cover?
The manufacturer filed it against 1 model year: 2025 Ford Bronco. Whether one particular vehicle is affected is a matter of its VIN and its build, not its model year alone. The document itself sets the build window: 2025 Bronco Raptor: built on or before 18 Jun 2025; 2025 Bronco: built on or before 12 Jun 2025 — the build date is on the certification label in the driver’s door jamb.