Problems with 2003 Ford Escape VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Had previously asked home dealership to check cruise control for failure to turn on. after traveling for approx. 1 hour on interstate, attempted to turn on cruise control. on third try, cruise control engaged and set at 70 mph. after a few miles i tried to turn it off with no results. engine continued to accelerate when brake applied. i contacted someone who advised me to pull over and turn the car off if possible. i pulled in to a rest area with both feet on brake and was able to stop the car and immediately put it in park and turn it off. (very difficult with engine revving continuously) i tried to turn the car back on to see if the cruise turned off with the car, it did not, the engine immediately accelerated and the engine sounded as if it was going to explode. i turned the car off. the car was towed to a dealership and the cruise control throttle cable was found to be stuck. the cable was disconnected as they said they had no parts to replace the cruise control. i was sent on with a request to have it replaced at my home dealership. i was charged for the service. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford escape. the contact stated that the vehicle improperly accelerated while driving 20 mph. a crash occurred. the vehicle also failed to accelerate when driving uphill. the contact had this failure repaired last year, but it has since recurred. a police report was filed. the current and failure mileages were 40,000. the consumer stated the recall was performed and 18 months later the accident occured. the vehicle accelerated and hit the vehicle just in front at a stop light. the consumer stated ford will not perform recall work a 2nd time. officer field report provided. updated 09/05/07 *tr

Several times in the past while turning the corner the car killed. hit brakes hard to avoid rear-end collision. the car accelerated, causing me to once again hit the brakes.*ak

Intermittent problem: when brakes are applied the engine speeds up requiring excess pressure to engage brakes. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 40mph, the engine revved at an elevated rate and the vehicle lurched forward without warning. the vehicle was inspected by the dealer. a nhtsa recall, #04v574000 was performed on the vehicle concerning, the vehicle speed control however, the recall did not remedy the problem. the dealership performed a second repair with charge under the recall, additionally the throttle and throttle body assembly was replaced. afterwards, the engine revving and lurching persisted.

The cruise control cable became disconnected from the throttle linkage and jammed in the throttle. this caused the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollable. was luckily able to get out of traffic and into a parking lot without causing any damage. *nm

The cruise control switch stopped working. *nm

Dt: the contact stated at 55 mph vehicle stalled. the vehicle would turn on immediately after at first. then, the accelerator would have to be pressed for the vehicle to start. the vehicle was taken to a mechanic and multiple components were replaced, but the problem was not fixed until the throttle was replaced. there have been no more problems since then. *ak

Apparently brake fluid leaked from the master cylinder onto the electronics causing an increase in internal voltage causing the electronics to short out causing a fire that destroyed the wiring harness. my concern is ford currently has a recall on going for this issue in it's suv's but the escape is not mentioned. why? *jb

In january 2005 i received a recall notice for the accelerator cable on my 2003 ford escape so i promptly had the cable replaced at the dealership. as i was driving home from work on june 2, 2005 the accelerator pedal stuck down to the floor of my vehicle and the brakes wouldn't engage. as the vehicle was accelerating on its own, now at about 50mph, i jerked the wheel to the right to avoid the fast approaching intersection and drove up on someone's lawn. my vehicle finally stopped when i hit a tree. i had emergency surgery to repair and close an open compound fracture and dislocation of my elbow, had additional surgery 6 weeks later to repair a torn ligament in my wrist, and have a chip fracture in my hip socket. i have been out of work on disability for 2 months already (hoping to be able to go back in september) and have to go to physical therapy 3 times a week for my elbow, wrist, and hip.

1.) car was revving up during idling and shifting of the manual transmission. 2.) per dealership, the accelerator cable had to be replaced due to a malfunction. see nhtsa # 04v574000 and ford recall #04s25 3.) dealership has to replace the accelerator cable but refuses to acknowledge mechanical malfunction and recall. recall was only for v6 suvs while we have a v4 manual transmission even though the part is the same one that is malfunctioning in the v6 models. *nm

Dt: the consumer received a recall notice and he brought it into the dealer to have the repair work done around january 27, 2005. the accelerator cable was replaced. on january 30, 2005, he stopped at a restaurant with his foot on the brake and the car just took off going 20-25 mph. he aimed for a snow bank and the car finally stopped. the next morning he was going to take it to the dealer. as he was slowing down for the red light the car took off through the red light. he had two people look at it, and they couldn't find anything wrong with vehicle. the head of the service department drove the car, and said he fixed it. on february 26th, 2005, the consumer was driving from georgia to virginia going 55-60 mph. while merging the consumer took his foot off of the gas pedal and the car lunged, hit some gravel and spun into the ravine. *ak recall campaign # 04v574000. *sc *jb

Consumer wants to be sure that he receiving the recall notice for 2003 ford escape. *bf the recall is in reference to the accelerator cable which may prevent the throttle from returning to the idle position. *nm

While driving the vehicle inadvertently accelerated. this resulted in a head on collision with a tree. the cause of this is undetermined. *nm

Nhtsa recall campaign 04v165000, vehicle would not stop when the brakes were applied. consumer's vehicle swerved to miss another vehicle and struck a tree. consumer mentioned the engine stalling. *ak

While driving from i66 to va28 n after regaining 60 mph the car kept speeding up, applied brakes but brakes overheated and car kept gaining speed. then realized gas pedal was stuck open and would not release. shut engine down, restarted and quickly moved to right side of road (had to, cross 2 lanes of traffic) rather dangerous situation. had car towed to ford dealer who said they would replace throttle cable. they said cable became jammed. i can find no recall for this problem in the online database. i think this could be a very dangerous situation to a less experienced driver and perhaps need to be investigated.*ak

I was driving to work on a 4 lane urban street (on a rainy day) and approached as "s" curve. i lifted my foot from the gas pedal to slow down and the car just kept going forward and slid into the next lane to the left. not realizing what was going on, i gently applied the brakes and the car continued to move forward and slid two lanes to the right. the car wouldn't slow down, made a 90 degree turn and crossed all 4 lanes and hit a concrete abutment, going up the abutment until i thought the car would go over it. the airbags deployed and then the car came down from the abutment, slid backwards so the rear end then hit the abutment and then the car flew all the way across the four lanes where it stopped, facing traffic. only because of good luck and it being early in the morning did the car hit no other vehicles. the damage exceeded ten thousand dollars. just last week i received the recall about the accelerator cable. the car is still in the shop (over 7 weeks later) and will then go to a dealer to have the cable replaced. however, my car's value has significantly plummeted. i will pursue this with ford.*ak

On 10/15/04 i had just entered a 6 lane interstate (high speed urban traffic) and had to quickly move over 3 lanes as the right 2 lanes were exit only about one half mile from my entrance point. after accelerating to merge into a gap to the left i found that the car was continuing to accelerate even though i was not depressing the accelerator, and was about to rear end a flatbed truck. the brakes had little effect on slowing the car. after some violent maneuvering and several near collisions i was able to get to the shoulder and switch the ignition off. the car was towed to a local ford dealership, where they found the problem was a defective accelerator cable. the plastic covering had frayed/disintegrated, jamming the cable such that the throttle return spring(s) were unable to close the throttle. the service writer said he had not seen this problem before. however, i did a cursory search on the nhtsa website and found a significant number of similar and identical incidents (only searched 2003 model year and only "vehicle speed control: accelerator pedal" component). there were 8 incidents that were clearly the result of defective accelerator cables (10068000, 10015965, 10047388, 10023519, 10051175, 10024424, 10026817 and 10082787) and 6 that were probably/possibly the result of defective accelerator cables (10018602, 10043060, 10062971, 10015506, 10092028 and 10040552). the seriousness and number of incidents would seem to warrant investigation/recall. i requested the defective cable from the service writer, but he indicated that as it was a warranty item it had to be returned to ford. however, i did take 2 pictures if they would be of any help.*ak

Accelerator pedal sticks, from a stopped position. very hard to push then the truck jerks forward. *jb

When stopping at a stop sign, the vehicle raced and surged into the intersection. dealer stated they could not duplicate the problem. *ak *jb

The accelarator cable on my 2003 ford escape stuck at 65 mph. the engine continued to rev until i was able to stop. i was only able to stop by very hard braking and then turned the engine off. the vehicle was towed to mike castrucci ford in milford, ohio. it was like trying to brak while i have to gas floored. very dangerous.*ak

On my way to work yesterday, i was exiting the highway onto an off-ramp. i did not have the gas pedal pressed, yet the truck was accelerating to speeds over 70 mph. i tried pressing on the brakes, but that did not stop the truck. i finally put the truck in neutral in order to avoid an accident. while sitting at the intersection waiting for the light to change, still in neutral, the truck's engine was revving higher & higher. the truck was literally rocking back & forth. when the light turned green, i put the truck in drive & it raced on. i was very careful to allow ample space in-between my truck & other drivers. i had 2 other intersections to go through before arriving at my work location. i would continue to put the truck in neutral while sitting at an intersection. this was a very scary experience. if i hadn't of reacted so quickly, i would have crashed into other vehicles and would have caused an accident. i was lucky that this did not occur while i was in the stop & go traffic closer to my home. this experience shook me up for quite some time. i contacted the nearest ford dealer & was told to contact ford's roadside assistance to have the truck towed to the dearlership. within minutes the tow truck arrived & took my truck to the dealership. the dealership replaced the throttle cable under warranty & within a few hours, i was driving my truck again. after the replacement, there seemed to be no resistance while pushing the gas pedal. therefore, i did not notice this problem that was about to explode. after my experience, i now see there have been other cases such as mine. i was lucky. how many others won't be?

accelerator pedal sticks. when placing vehicle into gear consumer must apply pressure to accelerator to release it. subsequently, it releases suddenly in a way which causes sudden acceleration. when conditions are icy this common problem will eventually get someone killed. *ak

To start, my vehicle is a 2003 ford escape with 36,000 miles. it is a company vehicle that i'm able to use professionally and personally. i was driving home from a quick trip to town and the accelerator began to have a mind of its own. i was traveling on the interstate and the vehicle continued to accelerate without pushing on the gas. luckily i acted quickly and was able to put the truck in neutral and pull over to the side safely. i turned the vehicle off and looked to see if there was anything on the floorboard that was causing constant acceleration, there wasn't. i turned the vehicle back on to see what would happen and the rpm's sored to 4 with being in park. this is the first time this vehicle had performed in this manner. i must say that this was very frightning. i wasn't sure i was going to be able to stop.*ak

When driving our 2003 ford escape, the car's engine speed would suddenly jump from 1,500 rpms to as high as 4,000+ rpms while braking. same deal while trying to coast to a stop - the pedal seemed to be stuck in position and engine rpms would not decrease. the car was nursed to the closest town and taken to a ford dealership first thing in the morning. the shop foreman did an on-the-spot diagnosis without taking a real look under the hood stating that the problem was most likely due to the accelerator cable binding. there was additional damage to the car's brakes. we asked for an appraisal of the brakes, and four individual ford personnel (one shop foreman, one dealer service department manager, and two separate ford customer service personnel) stated the damage sustained was unnecessary wear directly caused by a defective accelerator cable. however, none of the people associated with ford were willing to replace the damaged brakes under warranty. the final person we spoke with went so far as to put the responsibility on the shoulders of the dealership that sold us the car. the analogy given was that all ford dealerships are completely independent, and that any problems with a ford vehicle is the direct responsibility of the selling dealership. unfortunately this incident happened when we were relocating from the east coast to alaska. it has been our experience that ford cares not at all about the people who spend tens of thousands of dollars on their products - people who rightly expect a safe and dependable vehicle. ford's chief concern is lining their pockets with money, and not with the safety of the customer, their family, and the other people on the road. *la

Gas pedal sticks at idle when in gear. must press with increased pressure then suddenly releases, lunging forward. this is a company vehicle and everyone else in this company has the same complaint with this vehicle. *jb

About 70% of the time, when i try to start up from a stop the accelerator will not go down under gradual pressure. i have to push harder and harder until the accelerator suddenly jerks down and the car surges ahead at a fast speed. sometimes when the car is moving and i try to speed up, the same thing happens. this is very annoying on good roads, difficult to control in stop and go traffic and extremely dangerous on slippery or snow covered roads. i took the car in to the dealership (germain ford of columbus) and the service manager said that they had received many complaints but had no idea of what the problem was. i have just put a random date down because it happens every day that i drive the car. *la

I have complained twice before about my 2003 ford escape stalling without warning. it has now done it a total of 6 times. the vehicle stalls without warning in various situations. the most unnerving was when i was traveling at about 15 mph. it has also hesitated and bucked into an intersection on 2 different occasions. i contacted the executive offices at ford motor company and expressed my safety concerns, and i was informed that because the problem is not reproducable they do not feel that they are in a position to repurchase the vehicle at this time. my dealership has attempted to reproduce the stall and are unable, as am i. they have performed a tsb, installed a new throttle body and a new crankshaft sensor. the problem continues to persist. i now have a vdr in the vehicle for the third time. this vehicle is a major danger to myself, my passengers and anyone who is around the vehicle when it may stall due to the fact that when it does happen i lose all power steering and brakes. i do not trust the vehicle and i no longer feel safe in it.*ak

While driving at 35 mph, vehicle accelerated to 70 mph and the throttle stuck. driver had to coast to a complete stop because depressing the brake pedal wasn't slowing the vehicle down.*ak

I own a 2003 ford escape, recently purchased pre-owned. after having the vehicle approximately 3 weeks, while putting it into reverse to back up, suddenly it was as if the accelerator got stuck, the motor was revving up to 4 grand....i put the vehicle drive thinking maybe my floor mat was stuck under it, as i pulled to a redlight, i almost ran through the redlight with oncoming traffic because acceleration increased and it took all i had to stop the car by pushing the brakes with both feet as hard as i could. the floormats were not the problem.... i pulled off the side of the road, with my one year old baby in the back seat. i then turned the escape off, and restarted it, the engine sounded as if it were going to blow, it was revving up to 4 and 5 grand. i then called a mechanic i knew, he came to get my vehicle to drive it back to his shop. during his very very short drive, he never had to put his foot on the gas at all, and the vehicle drove 40 miles per hour by itself... so far, all we know is that the iac valve had went bad...(idle air control)....i have had it back a few days and not had any more problems at this time, although i am very careful and scared this will happen again.... during research, i found their were almost 500,000 2003 model ford escapes recalled for similar problems with the acceleration. i contacted 2 different people with ford motor company, on 2 separate occasions, explaining what had happened. they both assured me that "my vehicle" was not one of the half million involved in the recall. i find something very wrong with this because this was not just a freak thing that happened. this is dangerous and could have cost me and my baby our lives. there are to many other complaints by people with the same exact thin that has happened to them, and they are being told the same stories. something isn't right, and ford motor company needs to investigate further into this potentially deadly problem. *tr

Gas pedal stuck and there wa ssudden acceleration. this problem similar to odi 10018602, but this vehicle was not included. *ak

Binding of accelerator pedal from idle; pedal difficult at times [intermittent problem] to push smoothly, causing uneven and sudden acceleration. *nlm

When the consumer applied the brakes, the vehicle accelerated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for this problem in march 2003. the throttle sensor was replaced. *jb

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford escape. the contact stated when the vehicle is put into drive it would abnormally accelerate without depressing the accelerator pedal. the contact was able to stop the unintended acceleration by applying the brakes. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 145,000 and the current mileage was 150,000.

In march 2003 vehicle began to hesitate and accelerate, maintain speeds while foot off the gas (once at 65 mph), & shake like it wanted to stall. a couple times it even sped up while i was braking at red lights. on 4-10-03 service department could not duplicate symptoms since they are particularly exaggerated after parked for an hour or so. stated that i could leave it overnight (no alternative transportation offered) or wait until engine light came on. since the car did not feel safe, i brought it to another dealership which offered alternative transportation. the problems seemed to improve for a week or 2 before returning, following each of the following repairs: 5/16/03 replaced throttle body/idle air control/pcm reprograming; 6/6/03 repair vacuum tube/hose; 6/25/03 replace pcm with new updated pcm. two weeks later 7/12/03 operation of power locks/windows, and rear wipers/defrost were going in and out with dash abs, brake, and battery lights coming on concurrently. service department could not duplicate concern until 9 days later when they asked me to come get the vehicle. the symptoms returned immediately after i started the car up to leave. 7/21/03 alternator was replaced. hesitation, acceleration, shaking, and maintaining speeds, although not as frequent, continue and could not be reproduced by ford representative on 8/4/03. i am now continuing to pursue lemon law procedures. *ak

I have a 2003 ford escape, the gas pedal sticks. i have taken numerous times to have it fixed at the ford dealership. they say i need to use different gas which i did. they told me to change my fuel filter, which i have done numerous times. and it still sticks. my wife will not drive the vehicle, she is afraid to drive it. when i say it sticks, when you put your foot on the gas pedal you have to push it down hard then let up or you go to fast. i am getting no where. i will never buy another ford product ever. i really need help in this matter. i see all this on toyota, and i can't get any were with ford. help! *tr