Problems with 2002 Ford Escape ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

2002 ford escape has stalled in traffic 4 times since i purchased the car new 13 months ago. all 4 times the car was gliding down a hill. i lost all steering and brakes. i have almost hit other cars while trying to stop the car.*ak this is a extremely dangerous vehicle and should be removed from the road. i am extremely disgusted with ford for not telling me of this prior to purchase or my driving the car. i checked with ford and they did have a notice out on the problem prior to purchase but did not tell me of this potentially lethal problem.

Ford escape 2002 suddenly stalled on major road while going 40 mph, was able to veer off into a side street but was scared to death. *ak

2002 ford escape engine stalled while travelling about 30mph down road. oil, engine, and battery lights came on and both power steering and power brakes failed. had to leave roadway to avoid collision. put vehicle in park and it restarted without problem. currently at dealership.*ak

Engine stalls without warning. loses all power. after three complaints, dealer still cannot diagnose.*ak

The vehicle stalled. once while the vehicle was in the drive, the horn began to blow, and the lights started to blink. no one was in the vehicle or had touched the vehicle. the consumer took the vehicle to the dealership to be repaired, however they were unable to repair it because they could not duplicate the problems. *ak the vehicle also rolled away with the ignition locked, keys removed and vehicle in park. also the accelerator became stuck on four occasions. a representative from told the consumer the reason why the vehicle rolled away, was because the emergency brake had not been applied. *ph *jb

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning vehicle stalled due to a blown head gasket; 2 barrier inside of the engine. *ak

Engine quit running while driving. *jb

Consumer states that while driving at 35mph and with no warning vehicle will stall ,and it will be hard for the consumer to control the vehicle. dealer notified. *ak

Engine stalls intermittently on my ford escape v6 when decelerating.*ak

2002 escape xlt stalled at 40 mph. loss of brakes and steering. very scary - fortunately i was not in major traffic. took to ford dealership -bulletin found on it and "repair" made. *ak

My 2002 ford escape stalled while slowing down and going down a hill. i pulled to the side of the road and was able to restart the vehicle. of course there was limited breaking and the steering got very stiff. luckily no other cars were around or there could have been an accident.

Complete engine seizure at 17,000 miles. number 2 and 5 cylinders are destroyed. we changed the oil every 5,000 miles and ford is fighting us on replacing the engine. after searching nhtsa, i come to realize we are not along. burt ford arapahoe had been helpful, providing a rental car for free; however, they have not been forth coming on how many escapes have had similar problems. *ak

My 2002 ford escape xlt stalled while i was driving it at 35 miles an hour. all power stopped. the engine light, oil light, and battery light all came on. i had my escape towed to the local ford dealer and they examined it today. they said that they did not find anything wrong with it and that they would not be able to fix it unless it stalled while they were driving it. *nlm

Engine started making a ticking sound - dealer said it has to be replaced. they also said they have replaced several others as the engine "blew" at high altitude - i bought this 2002 ford escape in colorado. the won't tell me exactly what's wrong and whether the new engine from the factory may also blow inthe future.*ak

The engine will stall while driving at speed. no warning occurs prior to the stall. the vehicle will restart immediately after it is placed in park. *nlm

Problems with 2002 ford escape xls would not start. *mr the consumer stated it would take three tries before the vehicle would start. the consumer was told by the dealer they could not find any technical signals. *jb

Ford escape 2002 stalled coming down a hill with foot off gas pedal. *jb

While driving on i294 northbound between 127th street and approximately 103rd street, the engine on our 2002 ford escape blew up. there was no warning in terms of warning lights or other indicators that there was any problem. shortly after entering the interstate, the car began to make a motor boating type of sound. it sounded as if the sun roof was not completely closed. thereafter the engine blew and pieces began to fly out. a huge fireball, hot enough to melt the license plat holder in the middle of the tailgate was discharged from the tailpipe. the car began smoking and smoke was discharged into the cab of the vehicle. we were able to make an emergency stop on the shoulder of the road. the car continue to smoke and there was oil leaking from the engine. a piece of the crankshaft was found on the shoulder of the road 100-150 feet behind the vehicle. the fireball had been of sufficient size to cause multiple calls to local fire department as well as the state police. *nlm

While driving down a slight hill at approximately 30 mph, the steering suddenly became sluggish, then the engine quit. the dash instrument lights (check engine, airbag, and battery) came on and the brakes did not work at all. fortunately i was near the bottom of the hill and could roll over to the side and stop up against a tree stump. the car would not restart immediately, but did after a few minutes. *jb

While driving at 40 mph and going around a curve, my 2002 ford escape stalled on me for the 3rd time. i have no warning and i lose my steering and brakes. my first stall happened during the first month that i owned it. i was 4 months pregnant. the 2nd stall happened while my husband was driving it. i now feel like my car that only has 8,000 miles on it is not safe to drive. when i took my car to the dealership for the first stall, they told me that it had the wrong sensor on it and replaced it. the second stall the dealership could not find anything wrong with it and acted like they had never heard of this. what is ford going to do to fix the problem? *jb

Engine stalled on my 2002 ford escape while driving on the interstate at 55 mph. was able to coast to the shoulder in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic. re-started right away. dealer (two rivers ford in nashville) advises they've never heard of this problem, despite many complaints to nhtsa and technical bulletins #15434, 15589, 0286. *jb

2002 ford escape stalled while in motion for the second time. it stalled in feb. 2002 and a ford tsb to update the pcm was performed to fix the problem in june of the same year. everything was fine until the other day when it stalled while coasting after a brief period of acceleration to enter a highway on-ramp. i could control the vehicle with a little extra effort and it did re-start right away. *jb

While driving about 35 - 40 mph the vehicle would simply stall or shut down for no reason. this caused the brake pedal and accelerator pedal to become very difficult to press. there was a lot of resistance to the brake pedal. all warning lights on the dashboard came on. the steering wheel also became very difficult to turn when the stall occurred. *nlm

On march 25, 2003, at 5:15 pm my 2002 ford escape with 13800 miles stalled going down a steady grade. i lost all power to the steering and brakes. in rush hour traffic, with several other motorists in front of and behind me, i had to fight the steering wheel and brakes to regain control of the vehicle, all while attempting to restart the car--an absolutely frightening situation. this is the second time in 7 months this has happened. the first time this happened, i was going down a sharp grade around a tight bend to the right. i lost all power to the brakes and steering, causing me to nearly fall over a steep cliff onto traffic below. had this happened, i'm sure i would have been killed along with several other motorists as well. each time i took the car directly to the dealership where i was told the problem was "fixed." this car is extremely unsafe to drive as it shuts down without warning! i have informed the dealer of my concerns about this vehicle's extremely unsafe condition, and their response is that i should trade it in and buy yet another new car from them. i have also heard of several other people in my area who are experiencing the same problem with the same type of vehicle. ford needs to correct this very serious issue immediately before there are deaths associated with this apparently common factory defect! *nlm

Our 2002 ford escape has stalled twice while driving at about 40 mph. the incidents were about 3 weeks apart. we had to put our hazards on to put the car in park to be able to restart the vehicle. the service department at our dealership said they had never heard of this problem. *jb

I have a 2002 ford escape with 20000 miles on it. on sunday march 23, 2003 my wife was driving down the highway around 45 miles an hour. she came up to a slower car sow she released the gas. the engine completely shut off. she had to forcefully get off the road trying to avoid an accident. she pulled over and it restarted. she continued cautiously to her mothers house. it didn't happen on the way home. i drove it when she got home and found the idle to be low. it would seem to be running around 4-500 rpms and seemed to be affected while tapping brakes or slowing down some. i have not yet taken it to the dealer.

While driving my 2002 ford escape over the mathews bridge in rush hour traffic, the engine cut off with no warning. i was able to coast off the bridge and coast to a stop. it restarted right away. this was the second time it happened. the first time was approx 1 month ago. engine cut off without warning. *nlm

Consumer states that while driving at any speed and with no warning the vehicle will shut off, causing consumer to pull over, and it will be hard to get the vehicle back started.dealer notified.*ak

2002 ford escape - engine stalls while driving. *jb

I have a 2002 ford escape. at 15,000 miles my engine blew. two weeks earlier my sister who also has a 2002 ford escape lost her engine at 35,000 miles. since then the car has been back for three rounds of repairs to the engine, the ball bearings, the power steering, and the coolant. this car is dangerous!*ak

My 2002 ford escape stalled while driving on the highway at approximately 15 mph. i managed to pull off onto the side of the highway. i had to have the car towed to the dealership. they said the problem was a bad sensor. *nlm

The vehicle intermittently stalled without warning. *jb

The engine stopped while car was under way on a busy road (oil light came on, power just died to everything). car had under 1200 miles. dealer fixed per a technical bulletin. 3/8/03 it happened again on a very busy highway, accident narrowly avoided. car has about 4600 miles. car is back at dealer. why has this recurred?. *jb

Vehicle stalled while coasting down a gentle hill at 40mph- difficult to steer and had to use emergency brake to avoid crashing myself and my infant into car infront of me.*ak

Engine block cracked while i was driving causing the oil pan to explode and the oil caught on fire.

Engine cut out twice today while driving. loss of power steering and brakes. this is the 5th failure since purchase.

Vehicle quit running while entering a freeway bridge, resulting in a partial loss of vehicle control. vehicle stopped in the middle of the freeway, resulting in a very unsafe and potentially life threatening situation. vehicle restarted after placing it in park and cycling the key. i contacted ford (800-392-3673), inquired if this is known problem and what should be done. ford indicated there was not a known problem, (in other words they lied), but i should take it to the dealer to have it checked out. i took vehicle to the dealer the following morning, so they could check for trouble codes. they claimed to have found no codes, and that no technical service bulletins exist for this issue, and that everything else checked out okay. i believe a safety defect exists, as ford has issued at least three tsb''s (#15434 '' 11/1/2001; #15589 '' 1/1/2002; #0286 - 4/1/2002), on this issue and many consumers have registered complaints with nhtsa.

While i was driving on the ortega hwy (very curvy road), i started decelerating for an upcoming curve, and without warning, the power steering and brakes stopped working, the car died and slowly rolled to a stop. indicator lights came on. i was able to restart the car. i was extremely fortunate that this did not cause a serious accident. since then i feel very unsafe whenever driving the car, wondering if it will happen again. a car stalling without any indication and for no reason is extremely dangerous and can potentially cause fatal accidents. i believe this car needs to be recalled for the safety all drivers and passengers on the road, since it can happen at anytime, without warning. i recently found out that the manufacturer is aware of this defect, and i am absolutely appalled and outraged that they are continuing to sell vehicles that compromise the safety their consumers. *ak

On two separate occassions vehicle stalled while driving on a clear road, at a minimal speed. difficult to pull off road, steering and driving were difficult, all warning light on dashboard illuminated.

Ford escape xlt 2002 stalled while driving downhill, i was going 35 mph on a clear day. this was a frightening experience, my brakes and steering was difficult.

On numerous occasions, our 2002 ford escape 4x4 has stalled while the car is in motion. this has happened while decreasing speed to stop, while accelarating from a stopped position and while driving on the highway. each time, the vehicle had to be removed from traffic and placed in park or nuetral to restart. on one occasion the oil light came on and the others had no instrumentation lights go on.

Ford escape '02 stalled when going 40 mph up the hill. ts

This is the third time i have experienced engine stalling while driving. all vital functions froze so i lost steering capability, brakes, acceleration, etc. i could not restart the car until the car came to a complete stop (in the middle of an intersection) and i could put the car into 'park'. i have been fortunate to have only been going at lower speeds and side roads during all three instances so far. but driving in the d.c metropolitan area also requires a out of high-speed highway driving as well and i am extremely worried that i may not be so fortunate the next time! dt

Consumer states that while driving at any speed and without warning the vehicle will shut off causing consumer to pull over. dealer notified. ts

For no apparent reason engine stalled while driving in traffic. i was able to pull over and restart, but this could have been serious in heavier traffic or on freeway. dt

Started the vehicle, the radiator light turned on. immediately turned the vehicle off and refilled the resevoir. not low, but added a little fluid.

Consumer states that while driving at highway speed vehicle stalled out without any warning. dealer contacted. mr

I have owned the 2002 ford escape aprx. 6 months. and have had a problem with it stalling while driving it. once while driving aprx. 35 mph on a corner going to the left. i didn't relized it had stalled untill i lost my steering, i was able to pull it off the road and that was when i relized it had stalled all that was on was the engine light. i went straight to the delership and they told me to make an appointment. so i did for the following week. at that appointment. they were unable to match the problem, so they sent me on my way. the next week my mom was driving it going aprx. 35 mph. with several cars behind her when it stalled so she put it into neurtol restarted it than put it back into drive ( this is what the delership service dept. told us to do so we wouldn't loose the steering or the brakes), and she continued home, and told me what had happened. i called the delership and they told me to bring it in. 3 days later they called and said they called the manufacture to see if they might know what the problem was, and they said this has happened befor and to replace the chip, it was a defect, so they did. i haven't had any problems with it till now 10-09-2002 aprx. 3000 miles later, when it stalled again while driving on a corner to the left aprx. 35 mph. i called the delership again and they scheduled an appt. for the following monday 10-14-2002 on week later. the delership also offered me the forms to fill out for the lemon law to send in. i don't feel safe driving this suv, it is a danger to my family, myself, and anyone i share the road with. this is a brand new suv and should not have problems like this. ford should do something about this. it is not safe!!! mr

While traveling on the highway the vehicle will stall without prior warning. the dealership is aware of the problem, the dealer replaced a component in july but the problem reoccured in october. *mr *nlm *dt

Consumer states that while driving at any speed the vehicle will shut off without any warnings. everything else will also shut off like the power steering and braking. contacted dealer