NHTSA Complaint #11636388 — 2014 FORD TAURUS

Driving down CR 230 in Wyoming, the situation started if I have to estimate, 7 miles west of Woods Landing, I heard a metal on metal grinding noise from the engine bay, and a loss of power on the throttle. I look at my RPM gauge and notice it is a zero. No check engine light, all electronics working as normal along with the brakes, and I slow the vehicle down to 30 MPH. Shortly after noticing, I get a "Check Brake System" flash on my instrument panel cluster, also the light which illuminates for my parking brake turns on, and I lose power brakes, the brake pedal turned extremely stiff. I immediately look for a pull off zone, but because I had lost brakes I did not want to risk keeping the vehicle moving. I get the vehicle stopped on the side of the road, and instantly put it in park along with the parking brake and shut the vehicle off. The vehicle would not start or crank, just a flash across all of the electronics, the lights go dark, then illuminate again as if normal. This is an extremely dangerous situation, the vehicle had not notified me that the motor had stopped turning; not a check engine light or ring at all, and shortly after that the power brakes stop working. This is very dangerous for motorists because of the lack of notification from the vehicle, and the incredibly weak breaking ability. If the vehicle had been moving at highway speeds, any sort of traffic, I could've ended up injured or dead, and even worse, killed another driver. The vehicle was towed to the nearest town where it would be inspected by a dealership; they reported to have found coolant in the oil and that the vehicle needed a new motor. No other details have been confirmed, and the problem has not been reproduced by the dealership. It is unknown if the dealership inspected the braking system.