Problems with 2001 Ford Escape ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Tl* the contact owned a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that the vehicle was included in nhtsa campaign numbers: 12v005000 (service brakes, hydraulic), 12v353000 (engine and engine cooling), and 14v165000 (structure, vehicle speed control). the contact did not receive any recall notifications. the contact stated that the brake lights remained illuminated for an extended period of time. the vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic. while the vehicle was parked in a residental parking space, a security guard noticed smoke coming from the vehicle. after making a second round, the guard informed the vehicle owner that the vehicle was consumed by flames. the fire department extinguished the flames. a fire report was filed and the contact took pictures. the vehicle was parked and had not been inspected by a dealer or manufacturer. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that they would follow-up in writing, but did not provide a time frame for the recall repair. the vehicle was destroyed. the failure mileage was not available. parts distribution disconnect.

In 2001 ford escapes a misfire occurs and cause the fuel mileage to decrease. it also causes the car to shutter at idle when it is cold. after checking message boards it appears that more than a handful are having the same exact issue and despite changing any parts accept the connectors and pcm the issue still occurs. the number of cars effected by this is more than just a coincidence and should be listed as a factory defect. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving up an incline at approximately 20 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed with force, however, there was a significant reduction in the engine power. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was towed on one occasion to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the catalytic converter would need to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

while driving the vehicle, the left side of the vehicle collapsed after experiencing a loss of steering control. i jacked up the vehicle to inspect the cause and discovered the left side of the engine/suspension cradle was suffered from abnormal corrosion that allowed the lower control arm to become detached from the vehicle. this condition is not present on the right side of the vehicle, therefore it is obvious that this is a quality issue with the component that caused a premature failure and a safety issue. this is a ford quality issue that is not being addressed that could cause severe injury and death. *tr

After driving for appx 19 miles, stopped at my destination and put car in park. engine started racing to appx 3000-4000 rpm. tapped gas pedal to see if i could make it stop, which i couldn't (it continued to race for a few moments). at this point i just turned ignition off. started car back up and everything was normal again. *tr

Submission from re ford escape 2001 safety recall notice 11s24 *tgw the consumer received a recall notice in jan 2012. the notice indicated she would be informed when the parts required to complete the safety recall would become available, which wouldn't be until the second quarter. the vehicle caught on fire while parked, which was prior to the recall, but was quickly extinguished. shortly after the fire, the vehicle was repaired. several months later, the consumer was partly compensated by ford in the form of a check for $1900 accompanied by a document which stated by accepting the compensation, she would also be signing off on any other claims. the consumer also stated the catalytic converter, exhaust manifold, master cylinder, wiring harness, abs, brake line booster, power steering rack and pinion, tie rods, intake manifold as well as the air bag were all replaced. the steering column would freeze, the rear passenger door handle fell off, rendering the door unstable, the coolant light illuminated, the oil pan needed to be replaced, the air condition stopped working and the rear shock were leaking. *jb

After stopping to possibly take a left turn, i realized i needed to go one more block so i pressed the gas to continue forward. however right as i did that the light turned yellow so i took my foot off the accelerator and pressed on the brake instead. the car shot forward at full throttle and the car went through the intersection and the red light. the street was clear in front of us and i had a full long block to try to regain control of the vehicle's acceleration. i calmly shifted the car into neutral and was very surprised that the car continued to accelerate. i started worrying as the car continued to speed up. i was able to shift the car in reverse and park (which normally isn't possible). all the while the vehicle sped up. my foot was on the brake for almost the whole block and wasn't slowing the vehicle at all. i decided that since the transmission and brakes were not responding, that i might be able to use my foot to get under the gas pedal and lift it up (because it felt from the full acceleration like it was stuck on the floor). however, the pedal easily came off the floor but would flop back down as soon as i moved my foot out from under it. it was definitely not stuck by a foreign object or floor mat though. had to avoid a pedestrian that was crossing the street and the road ahead was obscured because it went down a steep hill so i chose to turn right. the car ended up hitting the curb, hitting 2 small trees. and flipping upside down before also hitting a parked car. the engine continued to "rev" at high speeds, even upside down, for a few seconds before it finally cut off. my wife and i were very lucky to survive this incident and to not have injured any others in the area. possibly part of : nhtsa campaign id number: 00v210001 for stuck throttle problems. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, the engine stalled and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic, who stated the engine would need to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer had not been notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was unavailable. updated 02/15/12*lj

About four months my 2001 ford escape has been putting off this strong odor, so bad i am afraid to drive it. my safety brake light will not turn off, even when it is not in use. over the last 3 months, i have paid to have my car engine looked at -spark plugs, brakes and rotors replaced, hoping for positive results. smell still remains. i have put money into getting this car fixed, i do realize its an older car, butt it's all i have and need it for transportation to work, due to the abs recall i just received, i am afraid it's going to just burst into flames at any time. *kb

2001 ford escape. consumer states vehicle caught fire for no apparent reason *tgw the consumer stated her daughter owned the vehicle and was driving it the night, it caught on fire. her daughter burned her hand, as she was exiting the vehicle. the vehicle was destroyed by the fire. *jb

Ignition coils defect- causing engine to stall and gas pedal sometimes gets hard to accelerate causing the vehicle not to move. while driving vehicle accelerates. *tr

Door locks are not unlocking properly. contacted ford about problem and they informed moe to put grease on it this did not work. ford escape tries to quite while running. replaced hoses and plugs and problems still going on. ford escape does not want to stop properly with new brakes or brakes that are only 10 to 20 percent worn. also leaks brake fluid have been unable to locate leak on escape. *tr

My 2001 ford escape 3.0l v6, has an engine stalling problem, and an really bad emisions system failure. the exhaust fumes have been backing up into the vehicle for a long time now. my hair fell out, and no one seems to care. i contacted a ford dealership, because i received a letter stating that under the state and federal emissions warranty, some components needed to be changed. however the dealer won't honor it, because the vehicle has over 80,000 miles. i bought the car used at 60,000 miles. i am not sure if the engine stalling has caused the emissions system to fail or the emissions system failure has caused the engine stalling.this has happened to my vehicle 3 times. *tr

While traveling uphill going approx 45 mph the engine on my 2001 ford escape shut down. complete power to my car was lost. the odometer even lost the miles driven and was replaced by dashes momentarily. when the engine shut down i steered the car to the side of the road, i lost power steering and brakes. the check engine light also came on when this happened. there was no previous indication that there was an issue with the engine. after i pulled to the side of the road. i put car in park and turned key off. i waited approx 5 minutes and restarted the car with no problems. the check engine light was off and car started smoothly as usual. after researching this online, i don't seem to be the only person having this issue. *tr

Have at different times the motor reeves. sometimes when the cruise is set, and sometimes when it's in park. never know what makes it happen or when it's going to happen. do have witnesses at the last time this happened. happened to be at the scene of an accident, pulled up and stopped, only to have this happen. which the paramedics happened to hear it and got very concerned. although it's happened before several times, the emt's strongly urged us to report this. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape which was purchased in 2001. while the vehicle was parked in his driveway he was notified that it was on fire. upon further investigation, he saw black smoke under the dashboard. the fire department was able to extinguish the fire; however, they were unable to determine the cause of the fire. the vehicle was destroyed. the failure and current mileages were 120,000. updated 06/02/10. *lj according to the police report, the fire originated in the engine compartment. updated 09/28/10

2001 ford escape - spark plag ejection blowout. *tr

My 2001 ford escape spontaneously caught fire in my driveway this evening. it had been driven approximately 1.5 miles, parked and then caught fire. a passerby saw flames coming out from underneath the car and called dispatch. the vehicle is beyond repair. i am aware of some recalls on this vehicle and have taken the car in for repairs/replacements when a recall was issued. i am unsure, at this time, as to the cause of the fire but felt i would be remiss if i did not report the incident. has there been a recall concerning this vehicle and engine fire? *tr

Mar 27 had 2001 ford escape in dealership for oil leak and engine hesitation. leak not fixed on 1st time taken to dealer. #3 coil, intake gaskets replaced & tuneup done for hesitation. mar 31 vehicle taken back for same problems, #4 coil was replaced and was told no oil leak, also told engine not supposed to be washed and water blew out #4 coil. on the way home, still smelled burning oil & engine hesitation still felt. called dealership, was told to let the car sit for a day. car sat for 2 days. car still drove the same, oil leak & hesitation still there. took vehicle straight back to the dealership, on the way there vehicle had no power and would not go faster than 15mph. then the egr valve blew. and i live 2 miles from the dealership. dealership had the vehicle from apr 1 to apr 15. now i was told the catalytic converters on the manifolds are plugged up and this is causing the hesitation and the oil leak was from the timing chain cover. dealership had to remove the engine to replace the gasket. was told they don't know how they missed this leak the other 2 times i took the vehicle in for this leak. only thing the warranty covered is the oil leak. federal mandated emission law is 8yrs or 80,000 miles. vehicle is in the 8 years and @ 75,500 miles. ford refuses to do anything about the converters. took escape to local mechanic apr 17. exhaust inspection showed only the rear catalytic converter plugged (replaced now). #4 & #6 coils not firing. coils work connected in other sparkplug locations. wiring for coils not working. these coil locations worked prior to going back to dealership. mechanic said i should sue the dealership for misdiagnosis and breaking additional items when engine was removed. mechanic also ran diagnostic, no codes coming up, dealership reset pcm to old programming, so vehicle now hesitates & dies. wife still wants to keep vehicle. told her no. already shopping for anything other than ford. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving at a speed of 5mph , the contact was coming to a stop when the vehicle stalled. the contact turned the vehicle off and then back on and it operated normally. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, who repaired the air throttle and the pcm. the failure mileage was 105000 and current mileage was 135000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving approximately 40 mph on normal road conditions, the vehicle drastically accelerated when the accelerator pedal was depressed. the brake pedal required greater force to stop the vehicle and the stopping distance increased. there were no warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing and they stated that the throttle was the cause of the failure. the vehicle was unable to be repaired according to nhtsa campaign id number 00v210001 (vehicle speed control) due to modifications. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 100,000 and current mileage was 114,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that the rotors were defective and caused the brake line to become faulty. he noticed that there were new brake lines on the defective rotors and would not allow his child to drive the vehicle. he also stated that there was a defective ball joint on the front passenger side of the vehicle. in addition, the engine malfunctioned after three hundred miles. the used car dealer, from where the vehicle was purchased, stated that they would purchase a new motor under the warranty to replace the non-working engine. the dealer and manufacturer have not been notified. the current and failure mileages were approximately 123,800.

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving between 30 -35 mph, the check engine light illuminated. the vehicle was diagnosed by the dealer due to failure of the catalytic converter. the contact believes that the repair should be free, but the manufacturer disagreed. the failure mileage was 7,700.

While parked in our driveway after sitting for about 3 hours a passerby started banging on our front door and said we had a fire in our driveway. sure enough our 2001 ford escape was shooting flames from the engine. we had no idea something like this could happen. after going to this site and reading similar accounts of the car just going on fire while parked we can only assume something was defective in the vehicle. the abs light had been going off and on recently. *tr

Vehicle's # - 2001 ford escape .every morning i start the car it hesitates to stay started,(idealing) sometimes the car does shut off and i have to restart the car. i start out and when i go to brake the car hesitates and want to shut off at the same time i lose my brakes (they lock up and will not stop...) the car also sometimes smell hot after driving. once the car has been driven for a while the brakes seem to work fine but there is still a hot smell when we shut the car off. i have had this in for service more then once and they had me do certain services on the car and this still has not fixed the problem, i took back in after spending enough money and doing the service they suggested the mechanics kept it for a few days and thought they fixed the problem,but here we are again(1 yr later) and i'm back to where we started. i have all the paperwork to what was done with the car for this problem.. service was performed as follows a. replace intake gaskets,spark plugs,dpfe sensor. b. fuel filter. c. perform bg professional fuel injection cleaning service. the second time in for service- a. 100 diag mass air flow meter=rec. tune up = filters advise on pendg. codes 0171-0174=poss. intake leek =replace maf sensor=clear codes. this was everything they suggested we do and now as its cold i'm having the same problem as i did last february. ($2000.00 later) i would really like to have the situation fixed before i can't stop the next time. thank you for your time... mrs. leslie a. weary *tr

Catalytic converters (all3) have gone bad, vehicle has only 90,000 miles on it, vehicle began miss firing shortly after purchase a year ago. however, dealership mechanics could not find anything wrong. at times exhaust is circulated back into vehicle. *tr

Oil cooler failed, oil was burnt off with no check oil light or engine notice and engine failure occurred. engine threw a rod and the engine needed replacement. *jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact attempted to start the vehicle, but it failed to start. she made one more attempt and the vehicle shut off completely. the contact placed the vehicle in neutral and the vehicle started. when she approached a stop sign at 5 mph, the vehicle began to stall. the current and failure mileages were 48,250.

2001 ford escape getting an knocking noise in front of the car. sounds like a propeller noise that increase the faster i travel. *tr

(2007) while driving my vehicle, the engine-cooling system-low coolant warning indicator lamp illuminates and after checking the coolant resevoir which was at proper levels. delaer notified me that the coolant sensor as bad and needed to be replaced costing $300. (2007) while driving or parked, after turning the steering wheel left or right, there would be a loud squeak or screehing sound coming from the tire area. dealer notified me that the axle rod needed to be replaced costing over $300. (2006) last year there was a check engine light on which was caused by a malfunctioning engine coil #5 which burned out my spark plug. that cost was over $700. there were several other problems with theis vehicle but too many to name. *nm

2001 escape has had three repairs in a 6 month time frame do to problems with the ignition coil assemblies. *ts the sparks plug shot out of the cylinder head suddenly three times. *nm

I received a warning light on the control panel of the car. subsequently found that the differential pressure feedback egr (dpfe) sensor had failed. i see that many of the 2001 & 2002 ford escapes have this failure. something was changed to resolve this as 2003 model does not appear to have problem (source autos.msn.com). why should i pay $450 to correct a manufacturer fault. *nm

The first incident happened on 05/01/06 after driving at least 30 min to 45 min. at a speed of around 50 mph, the check engine light came on. i took it to the dealer where they diagnosed a loose gas cap. on 5/22/06 after driving again at least 30 min to 45 min. after returning home and backing out of the driveway my escape stalled and would not start, after about an hour it started again did not take it to the dealer. the third incident happened may 30 after driving 30 min to 45 min the check engine light came on again. i took it to the dealer where they replaced the vapor management valve which is still not correcting the problem, so they are talking about replacing the fuel tank. the dealer has been very helpful, but after five years i would think i would not have this problem. *jb

I see more and more people are having problems of replacing the egr valve on their 2001 ford escape. i replaced mine twice and the dpfe sensor twice and just had the computer replaced at just under 42000 miles. there is too many problems with this model year and the warranty is up.. they (ford) make so these cheap parts last until warranty expires, so the consumer has to pay i bought fords all my life but i'm having second thought after this buy. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle was parked for 9 hours and it caught on fire. the fire department responded and extinguished the fire. the fire marshal stated the damage was too extensive to determine where the fire started. most of the fire damage was under the hood on the driver side. the insurance company deemed the vehicle totaled. *nm

Dt: 2001 ford escape. the consumer found a recall on line, this recall did not pertain to this vehicle due to vin. when driving, the vehicle died, power steering malfunctioned, and the vehicle was hard to control. the vehicle will not keep a idling. . the vehicle is currently at the dealership, and they have not yet contacted the consumer. the problem started two weeks ago, on august 30, 2005. the consumer stated it happened approximately ten times. *ak

2001 escape stalls repeatedly when starting and when idling at stop lights. this problem has been intermittent so ford dealer has been unable to fix. usually only happens when the engine is hot. has not caused an accident yet. this is a 4 cylinder manual transmission so it does not fall under the previous recall.*ak

Vehicle stales during decelartion

The vehicle started to vibrate while the consumer was driving. the consumer took the vehicle in to the dealer, and the engine coil needed to be replaced.*ak

Ford escape 2001, egr sensor failure. *bf the consumer wanted to know if the service bulletin applied to him, because he purchased the vehicle in mexico, but t was manufactured in kansas city mo. *jb

I was driving home and the car started to shake. i pulled over at a gas station and my husband checked to see what was wrong. we could not find what was wrong and drove home. again the car was shaking then it started to shake violently and then we heard something snap and the car just shut off in the middle of the highway. after having it towed it turned out that we needed to replace the engine. the valve sheered from the valve stem and the valve shattered the piston and ended denting the oil pan and was found in the oil pan. this ended up costing us $5000. we called the dealer where we purchased the car in april of 2004 and he said that he was willing to help us, but decided not to stating it would be "bad business" to replace to car even though we had purchased it 8 months previous to the incident. we then had it towed to a ford dealership where a new engine was placed in the 2001 ford escape. while speaking to a ford mechanic he stated that he has seen this happen before to the escape. the dealer that finally ended up working on the escape called ford and told them the problem but ford stated that they had heard about this but there wasn't enough complaints to warrant a recall because of the defect. the car was out of commission for 10 days due to the dealer making promises and then taking them back. *jb

ford failure to perform recall #04v-165 ford #04s13 on my 01 escape. contacted ford, provided vin, ford claimed no recall on my vehicle. however mt 01 escape was produced in 10/2000 which was during the recall period. has never been done. vehicle now stalls and hard starts (long cranks) sometimes takes 2 or 3 tries. *ak

While driving approximately 40-50 mph, the vehicle started to idle. the brakes and accelerator pedal felt sluggish. the consumer pulled over, and turned off the vehicle, waited a few minutes and restarted the vehicle and took the vehicle to the dealership to have the mechanic check out the problem. recall campaign 04v165000 repairs were performed in may for the engine stalling while driving. *ak *sc

While driving vehicle stalled. check engine light illuminated. consumer stated that vehicle experienced the same problem that was mentioned in recall 04v165000. contacted the dealer. however, the problem recurred. *ak

The transmission on my 2001 ford escape, went out i had 58,000 miles on the truck. had to put in a new transmission. now 4 months later, the engine light comes on. the engine coolant warning light keeps coming on even though it is full. all of the lighters/sun roof have no power to them they all quit. i have replaced all fuses, with no luck. now the all lights on the radio are gone, but the radio still works. *ak

I have a 2001 ford escape. i was informed about the stalling recall; so i had it serviced (reprogrammed computer). after it was worked on, about one week later it began to stall when starting. it wouldn't idle. now it just dies while driving. it happened to us about 30 times today. i replaced the fuel filter hoping that was it; it didn't help. it only has 39,000 miles on it. the thing is, i didn't have a problem with it until we took it in for the recall. *jb

While driving. the vehicle stalled. the consumer was able to restart the vehicle after pumping the accelerator pedal. please provide more information. *jb the consumer could not control the vehicle due to loss of power in the steering wheel and no brakes. *tc

While driving vehicle stalled. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak vehicle accelerating by itself. *tc

While driving, the vehicle stalled. the consumer restarted the vehicle and pulled over. the consumer drove the vehicle to the auto service for inspection and the mechanic informed the consumer that the problem could not be duplicated. *ak there was grinding and a round metal object snapped and broke off of the ac compressor. there were also problem with the air bag and the steering. *sc *jb

With the air conditioner on vehicle stalled intermittently. consumer had vehicle towed to dealership, but dealership did not resolve the problem. *ak