Problems with 2002 Ford Escape ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

My vehicle idles to 4000rpm and control the speed by itself, there is a leak in the back break area the steering wheel locks where i can't put it in any gear sometimes and getting worse. had to get it towed home last night because while driving it idled high and as i brake it barely stopped and when releasing break it speeds up to 50 or more mph and i had to keep my feet on the break..i pulled over and turned the switch off and waited a while and turned back on and it idled to 4000 rpm again. could not shift the gear from park and break pedal was hard. when arriving home to back car in driveway towe guy had no problem with idle. the following morning cranked and was at 1000rpm at first start. also ac pressure. car runs hot but no smoke water bubbles in coolant reservoir. my check engine light never gave warning of any of the problems listed.

Tl* the contact owned a 2002 ford escape. after the vehicle was parked, the driver smelled a burning odor. the contact noticed black smoke coming from the engine compartment and the vehicle exploded. the fire department extinguished the flames. the fire department assessed that the wiring harness was defective and caused the fire. the contact stated that the fire damaged the garage and the sidewalk concrete. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the contact referenced nhtsa campaign number: 07v156000 (service brakes, hydraulic) as a possible reason for the failure; however, the vin was not provided there were no injuries and a police report was not filed. the failure mileage was approximately 150,000. the vin was not provided. updated 04/12/17lj *cn

Tl* the contact owned a 2002 ford escape. the contact walked outside and discovered that the vehicle caught fire. the engine was not turned on and the key was not in the ignition switch at the time of the incident. the fire department was called to the scene to extinguish the flames. the vehicle was destroyed. the cause of the incident could not be determined. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 163,000.

Neighbor woke me saying my car was on fire. car wasn't on, the key was not in, and it had sat overnight. called fire department and fire put out. car is totaled because the firemen had to break into the engine compartment. engine area burned with nothing but metal visible and a melted battery. i have pictures. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford escape. the contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, smoke started to emit into the vehicle near the console. the contact merged to the side of the road and quickly exited the vehicle. the fire department was able to extinguish the fire. the vehicle was destroyed. the contact was later notified of recall nhtsa campaign id number: 12v005000 (electrical). the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford escape. the contact stated that all four brake lines hose had to be replaced due to rust. the contact also stated that the alternator failed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 106,037.

For the past year and a half the abs warning light has been illuminated. i took it to the ford dealership to have the latest recall fixed regarding the reservoir cap. ford couldn't get the abs warning light to turn off...so, hence the light still intermidantly comes on and off. also, the oil pressure light keeps coming on when i start my car and when i am slowing down. i just had my mechanic change the oil a week ago and and still having the problem. one last thing, the air bag illumination light has been on for the past two years. i took it to my dealer and they couldn't get it to turn off. am i safe in thinking that my air bag won't deploy just for the heck of it? not sure what to do? but it scares me.

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford escape. while driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the contact was able to restart the vehicle, but the failure recurred fifteen times. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the failure mileage was 128,000.

I put the vehicle in reverse to back up and when i put vehicle back in drive it died/stalled. this has repeatedly happened along with dying at stop signs, red lights and multiple times at slow speeds. also the vehicle has repeatedly "stumbled" at various speeds up to 65 mph. *tr

Arrived home, parked vehicle in driveway and shortly after my wife took our puppy outside and saw my car was on fire under the hood, i was able to open the hood and saw flames and sparks coming from the drivers side firewall area, called fire dept after my fire extinguisher failed to fully put out the fire fearing it would catch the house on fire as i was parked less than 10 ft from it. *tr

My escape was parked in driveway when we went to go to town and it was smoking then on fire this was in the evening about 8 if we hadn't gone out we would have had a huge fire witch could have involved 3 other cars not to mention our house we live in ramona ca 92065 and its fire season we are in a rural area..

While driving at around 65 mph on a freeway, the car turned on abs light all of sudden and in a less than a minute the car's electricity all shut off, engines shut off, steering shut off, brakes shut off, radio shut off. i've had the same problem previously more than 6 times, but before, it was when i was driving less than 30 mph, but this time, it happened on the freeway. it happened while putting on my breaks, and i believe it was one of the recall problem that the car stops while decelerating. however, the dealer told me that recall works have been already done on the car before it happened. so i suspect that the dealer did not figure out the main reason why the car is stopping while decelerating or just didn't work on the recall and lied. *tr

The vehicle, after being turned off, would not turn back on, and the gear indicator square that surrounds the engaged gear was multiplying, flashing and "dancing" from gear to gear. this happened a second time exactly one week later, and this time the interior lights were flashing and could not be stopped. after quite some time once the key was removed and the door was closed, the flashing interior lights ceased and would only continue again once the key was in the ignition. though removing the key caused the lights to stop flashing, even once the key was removed, the indicator square continued the behavior. periodically during operation the lights strengthen in and out when idling. *tr

Received a recall notice in feb from ford (recall id 12v00500 - issued jan 2012). indicated potential problems with brake fluids leaks that could cause shorts in the abs electronics. we contacted dealer. no parts available yet. our abs and brake indicators came on in march as described in the recall notice. ford still said that recall shows safe to drive, just don't park in the garage due to potential fires. last night, drove home and parked (in the driveway). unloaded some stuff from car... no problems noticed. came out of house about 15 minutes later to unload stuff from car and found it smelling of hot electrical system, and smoke coming from hood. used hose to cool down under hood, while i found wrench and unhooked the battery. smoke was coming from all sides under and behind engine block. once battery disconnected the smoking stopped. calling ford corporate, local dealer, and insurance this morning to see what to do next. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford escape. the vehicle was repaired according to nhtsa campaign number: 12v005000 (service brakes, hydraulic); however, the repair did not remedy the condition. the contact had not experienced any failures prior to the recall repair. the contact noticed excessive smoke under the hood and the cap leaked brake fluid, which impacted the power steering pump and caused a short within the wires and the abs. the manufacturer was notified of the failures and stated that the vehicle would need to be towed to the dealer for diagnostic testing and repair. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 169,000.