Ford preliminary evaluation PE15017
Front brake hose failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the hoses, lines/piping, and fittings on 1 model year (2015). Opened Apr 29, 2015, closed Sep 28, 2015 after 5 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn April 29, 2015, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE15-017 to investigate reports of low-mileage failures of front brake jounce hoses in model year (MY) 2015 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor vehicles operated as training vehicles by the City of Sacramento, California (ODI VOQ No. 10705832). To date, the Sacramento police fleet has reported a total of 7 front hose failures in 5 different Explorer Police Interceptor vehicles used for its Emergency Vehicle Operation Course (EVOC) training. Most of the failures occurred within the first few miles of service on a closed course used for the EVOC program, which includes evasive accident avoidance and pursuit maneuver training. The hose assemblies either leaked at, or pulled completely free from, the caliper-end attachment where the hose is crimped to the steel end fitting. Most of the failures resulted in a sudden loss of braking performance that caused the vehicle to run off the intended course. None of the failures resulted in any crashes, injuries or property damage. The subject MY 2015 hose assemblies are similar in design to hoses used on MY 2013 through 2014 Explorer Police Interceptor and civilian vehicles. The 5 vehicles used by Sacramento EVOC have all been repaired using MY 2016 front hose assemblies that have been changed to incorporate a short steel tube attached to the caliper end banjo block. No failures have been experienced by the Sacramento fleet to date in the other 37 MY 2014-2015 Explorer Police Interceptor vehicles (2 MY 2014 and 35 MY 2015) used by the fleet in regular law enforcement duty cycles unrelated to the EVOC training. In its response to ODI's information request letter for PE15-017, Ford provided information about 2 additional failures reported by other fleets, including 1 involving a Sacramento Regional Transit vehicle that occurred while being driven on the street. Based on its analysis of failed parts returned from the Sacramento fleet and the fleet's EVOC training duty cycle, Ford attributes the Sacramento fleet hose failures to excessive temperatures produced during hot-soak portions of the EVOC training duty cycle (when the vehicles are stationary after hard braking exercises, with no cooling air flow through the brake rotor vents and across the other brake components). During testing conducted to replicate the EVOC duty cycle, Ford measured temperatures at the subject crimp fittings that exceeded the design limits of the brake hose material after several successive training intervals and hot soaks. Ford has provided the Sacramento fleet with modified replacement hose assemblies for all of its MY 2014-15 Explorer Police Interceptor vehicles. The replacement hose assemblies were developed for use in MY 2016 Explorer vehicles and were modified slightly to accommodate the addition of a ride height sensor in those vehicles. The revised assemblies have an additional length of brake pipe between the caliper end connection and the subject crimp ferrule that results in additional heat dissipation and makes the assemblies more robust to the severe thermal effects experienced during the EVOC testing (the hose material is the same in both assemblies). Ford believes that the excessive temperatures experienced at the crimp fitting in the subject vehicles are unique to the EVOC duty cycle, have not been observed in the standard on-road severe duty cycle testing performed by Ford and police fleets who routinely conduct such testing and are not likely to occur in service usage for on-road Explorer Police Interceptor vehicles. This preliminary evaluation is closed, an Engineering Analysis (EA15-005) has been opened to conduct testing and further
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2015 Ford Explorer.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE15017 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE15017 still open?
No. It closed on Sep 28, 2015 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE15017 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2015 Ford Explorer. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.