Problems with 2001 Ford Escape POWER TRAIN

I've recently got a new battery, o2 sensor and alternator and my car keeps shutting off in drive.

Vehicle steers to right and vibrates. dealer diagnosed as failure of sub frame and right axle. vehicle was repaired under recall 14s02 at 89372 mi on 9/23/2014 and had crossbrace installed per recall. vehicle stored in heated garage, on 7/20/2017 with 105199 mi backing out of parking spot wheel off center and vehicle shaking badly, grinding noise. flat bed to dealer who diagnosed failed sub frame and broken right axle. requested ford repair under original recall which allowed for replacing sub frame and was denied for elapsed time. safety issue, could have been catastrophic at speed.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that the transmission failed. while driving 70 mph, a grinding noise emitted from the front end of the vehicle and the gear independently shifted into reverse. the contact was able to engage the brakes and exit the highway. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified. the failure mileage was 100,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while accelerating from a stop light, the vehicle shook, stalled, and all the lights on the instrument panel illuminated. the vehicle was restarted, but the failure recurred twice. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 04v175000 (power train). the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 115,000. updated 09/08/16*lj *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving approximately 70 mph, the transmission suddenly switched to reverse and drove backwards. after the incident, the vehicle would not operate in reverse. the cause of the failure was not diagnosed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 100,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving different speeds, the accelerator pedal became stuck. the contact placed the vehicle in neutral and depressed the brake pedal, which caused the vehicle to jerk and continue normal driving. the contact also stated that the passenger side air bag had bubbles and appeared as though it would explode. the failures were not diagnosed. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. the failure mileage was 163,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while parked, the vehicle failed to move when the gear stick was shifted from park to drive. the failure occurred constantly. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. in addition, the contact mentioned that the check engine light illuminated. it was detected that oil was leaking onto the exhaust manifold. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 267,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving at an unknown speed, the transmission seized into second gear. the contact was unable to shift the vehicle into park or any other gear. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 150,000. the vin was not available.

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to reduce speed, the vehicle stalled. in addition, the contact stated that on several occasions while at a stop light, the engine stalled. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not included in the nhtsa campaign number 04v165000 (power train). the failure mileage was 170,000.

While accelerating on the interstate, vehicle approached 50 miles an hour when it felt like the transmission was about to fall out of the vehicle. after talking with a lot of people and doing research, they call this shudder. it fills like when you drive off the edge of the interstate white line and hit the rough pavement. it would stop if i let up off the gas. i have no check engine light or transmission light showing on the dashboard. no error codes when the code reader was hooked up on the vehicle. this vehicle has already been to the dealership twice for this issue. the first time we had all of the gaskets and vacuum hoses replaced cost was over 1400 dollars. the second time we had the whole transmission serviced by the dealership over 700 dollars along with other items. the dealership has still not been able to identify the cause for the problem. there was a tech bulletin that came out a while back on the cd4e shudder problem and appears that nhtsa should force ford to do a recall on ford escapes for the shudder problem they have since the tech bulletin has come out and no solution has been done. all the research i have done seems to point to the torque converter which is not an easy fix and is costly. there needs to be a recall on this. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that the gear shifter failed while reversing from a residential drive way. the gear failed to shift out of reverse and caused the contact to lose control of the vehicle, crashing into a parked vehicle. the front air bags failed to deploy. the contact suffered injuries to the right side lower back. a police report was not filed. the vehicle was towed to a salvage yard and was not diagnosed for the cause of the failure. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure and current mileage was 109,050.

When vehicle is at a stop with the brakes applied at either a red light, stop sign, or traffic, the car jerks to move forward. this does not happen all the time, it has been doing this since the beginning of the year. ford dealership replaced an abs ring that was cracked. they said, this is causing the vehicle to move forward because the abs is trying to engage. *tr

My pcm has failed. i understand that this is a known problem with the escape for over 5 years. i would like to see if there is any adjustment or recall for this as i know of many failures. i enter my complaint to see if it will help others, and perhaps initial a recall and a credit for this very expense repair. *tr

Fifth time vehicle has been to the dealership for the same problem. vehicle is stopped at a red light or in traffic, the vehicle lunges forward with the brakes applied. daughter took it back to the same dealership and they thought they fixed the problem. she was on her way back to college...4 miles from the house at a red light. she called and said the vehicle was still doing what it was doing before. this needs to be investigated and a recall issued. *tr

Dear sirs, as you are aware, this past weekend on the san mateo bridge in hayward ca, a horrific accident/fire occurred with a limousine, where five individuals were trapped and killed due to a vehicle fire. upon seeing and hearing about this horrific tragedy, my wife insisted that we have all of the recalls performed on our 2001 ford escape. much to my surprise, when i took our escape into fremont ford on may 7th, [xxx], the assistant service manager, told me that he was refusing to perform all of the recalls on our truck, because they have expired. as the original owner and primary driver of this vehicle, please explain to me how recalls involving safety issues expire? is this a ford company policy or a fremont ford dealership/service policy? when i picked up our escape on may 8th from the dealership, i documented on the paperwork that they refused to perform these very important recalls. i am not comfortable driving this vehicle in light of the tragedy that occurred this past weekend. please advise how you would like to move forward concerning this very important matter. thank you for your assistance. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that he received notification of nhtsa campaign id number: 12v353000 (engine and engine cooling) and took the vehicle to the dealer for repairs however, the dealer refused the recall repair and did not provide a reason why. the contact notified the manufacturer of the incident and the contact was advised to take the vehicle back to the dealer for recall repairs. the contact had not experienced a failure. updated 09/11/12*lj updated 09/14/2012 *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. the contact stated that the vehicle would only shift into drive and would not shift into park or reverse. the contact was unable to remove the key from the ignition switch when the failure recurred. the vehicle was neither inspected nor repaired for the failure. the failure and current mileage was 113,319.

My "stick shift" 2001 ford escape tends to stall when the clutch is pushed in, clear to the floor. the engine would die and leave me stranded everywhere. even if you are driving down the road at 45mph or higher, once you push in the clutch to change to the last gear, it will still stall at high speeds. the engine completely cuts off, but only when you push in the clutch. once this happens, it will not stay running. it will restart for just a few seconds, (not the battery or starter) then it will die again, repeatedly. it would get towed to the nearest dealership with no luck. they could not "duplicate the problem". once, the car cools off, then the problem disappears. there is a valve the heats up and gets stuck open. if the valve cools down, it can close and then it is fine. now, if i make alot of short stops (errands) where the car doesn't get a chance to cool off, say ten minutes or less, then it won't stay started. if you turn over the ignition, it will start, but immediately dies. however, if i let the car sit for say a couple of hours, say 4-6 hours. it will start back up just fine and stay running like nothing ever happened. the key tip is: don't put ethanol in the gas tank. if i buy the most expensive gas, the problem tends to clear up on it's own. it started doing it again this summer. once i changed to the primo (most expensive) gas, it has now stopped without taking it to a dealership. personally, i think gas containing ethanol has too much moisture in it causing this problem. even the dealership told me that this ford escape car is not designed to run on "ethanol" products. this all mostly happens when it is very hot and humid outside. was just wondering if anyone else had this problem and if it would qualify for others as a recall item? *tr

The automatic transmission on my 2001 ford escape v6 xlt suddenly downshifted into second gear while driving on the freeway at 65 mph. i exited at the first available exit, and drove the vehicle back home in second gear. prior to the failure, the transmission exhibited no signs or symptoms of anything being wrong with it. at present, second gear is the only gear that still works in the transmission. it now sits inoperable in my driveway because i don't have the $3000-$4000 required to get it fixed. after much internet research, i've found that transmission failures in this vehicle and later years of the same model are quite common, with several people experiencing multiple transmission failures on the same vehicle. a common consensus, is that the failures are due to a four cylinder transmission being installed in a higher torque and horsepower v6 model. ford must be forced to recall these vehicles and fix the transmission problems once and for all. it's really unfair that the consumer is required to pay huge sums of money to repair shops to get problems fixed that shouldn't be happening in the first place. i've written to ford, and visited the dealership that sold me the vehicle and both are unsympathetic. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving at speeds of 2 mph in the reverse position, the gear shift selector fractured. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 70,248. updated 07/14/2010.*lj the consumer stated the vehicle was repaired. updated 07/23/10*jb

Gearshift cable broke. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while attempting to accelerate from a stop at 8 mph, the transmission and steering wheel began to shake. the shaking continued for five miles until the contact smelled burning rubber and pulled the vehicle over. she took the vehicle to the mechanic and they stated that the cause of failure was the transmission. the current and failure mileages were 68,308. the consumer stated wants to be reimbursed for repairs. updated 09/18/07 *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford escape. while driving 10 mph, the vehicle stalled intermittently when the clutch was depressed. the mechanic was unable to diagnose the cause of failure. the manufacturer stated that her vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 04v165000 (power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm, pcm)). the powertrain was unknown. the failure mileage was 110,000 and current mileage was 120,000.

My over drive light came on suddenly and continually flashed during a ten minute drive home. the rpm needle spiked straight up a few times during the drive and it seemed like i "lost power". dean sellers ford diagnosed an internal transmission failure requiring a whole new transmission for $3600. i have never used a service other than lapeer ford and dean sellers. i bought the escape (2001 xlt 4 wh) from lapeer ford with 16,000 miles on it. the car never showed signs of this failure previous to yesterday. dealerships. searching the internet, i found that there was one transmission recall but when i put in my vin it was free of recalls. dean sellers charged me $89 to diagnose the car. i got another quote at american transmission in troy. they towed my car in. ford test drove my car and electronically checked it. previous repairs all done at lapeer ford and dean sellers ford: new tire at 16,000 miles; new ignition at 25,000; check engine light at 33,000; plug tire at 40,000; new windshield at 43,000; 4 new tires at 44,000 due to numerous flats (lapeer gave me 3 free); front brakes and wheel bearings at 55,000; tire nail at 60,000; new blades at 61,000; belt recall and tie rod and master cylinder at 69,000; crank case oil leak and rear brakes at 74,000; front brakes at 76,000; washer pump and multi-function switch and fuel filter at 78,000; rear wiper at 85,000; abs light module, front brake pads, rotor pads right front abs sensor at 86,000; air filter and battery cleaned at 89,000; license plate bulb and both front sway bar links at 90,000; front lights kept flashing, replaced daylight running lights control assembly at 93,000 and now at 94,000 the transmission. no one at dean sellers today told me that i might not make it home! but immediately upon leaving the dealership the transmission stalled especially during turns. *jb

Vehicle is 2001 ford escape xlt 4x4. full transmission failure and stall in overdrive on interstate with no advanced warning. vehicle has under 70,000 miles. no wreck involved only by miracle. cost of transmission is over $4,000. happened to fast and with under 100,000 miles has got to be a defect. *jb

Transmission in my ford escape xlt has had a vibration for 2 years or so and i just found out that the torque converter is now bad! i spoke with a friend at apple ford in lynchburg virginia and he told me that the factory recommends a fluid flush first and it didn't fix the problem! torque converter must be replaced! it seems like to me that the factory is definitely trying to patch the problem by flushing the system and using a new type of transmission fluid to mask the problem so the car is out of warranty before the torque converter fails again! *nm

On friday 8/11/06 i was on my way to work driving my 2001 ford escape (with 5-speed manual transmission). i was going at around 45 mph in a busy road. suddenly there was a total transmission failure and my vehicle came to an instant total stop. there was screeching of tires and i was very fortunate not to crash and that the vehicles behind me did not hit me. it was also a matter of luck that there were no persons killed nor injured. my car was stuck on gear and could not be pushed forward or backward, so it had to be towed with a platform truck. i bought this vehicle new in 2001 and have been the sole owner. i have given this vehicle all of its recommended maintenance every 3,000 miles. i informed ford motor company about this failure and they were not helpful at all. i think the general public has to be informed about this safety risk with 2001 ford escapes. *nm

Third time my rear differential has leaked!!! first time was in 2003, second time in 2005, and this time in late 2006. *nm

Stop right in street and no way could make it go if someone was behind me we would of been hit. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving in stop and go traffic, the vehicle had a rough idle and stalled intermittently. the vehicle was taken to dealer for inspection; however the problem could not be duplicated. after a short period of time the vehicle had the same problems again. the vehicle stalled and was towed to the dealer. the dealer replaced the pcm but this did not correct the problem. the dealer stated the wiring under the dash needed replaced. there is a nhtsa recall 04v165000, regarding the power train: automatic transmission: control module pcm and a nhtsa tsb item #617976, regarding the electrical system: wiring under dash. the vehicle has the same problems as indicated in the recall and technical service bulletin; however it is not included in the recall due to the vin. the consumer was informed the vehicle had an electrical short. updated 04/11/06. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving at 40 mph, the transmission shifted into overdrive and the vehicle stalled. there is a nhtsa recall, # 04v165000 which relates to the power train: automatic transmission: control module. the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin.

For a few months now, my 2001 v6 automatic ford escape has had a problem trying to shift into the last gear at 45-50 mph. the vehicle's rpm's will be near 3000 for a good 30 seconds before it finally engages into the next gear. the problem is definitely worse on colder days, but it is still certainly noticeable on warmer days too. there is no smell emanating from the vehicle. i had a complete transmission flush at about 40k. the vehicle now has 65k on it. have there been any similar reports filed and if so, could you please notify me? thank you. *jb

Transmission shift linkage broke. causing vehicle to go into neutral and roll down driveway. 3rd incident of same problem on this vehicle. *nm

Dt: after the contact was pulling out from a highway on october 11, 2005 the vehicle acted like it was losing power. it would slow down, and then it would only go less than 10 mph. when this occurred the overdrive light started flashed. three of the children in the car sustained minor injuries. the contact stated that seven months before she had the transmission flushed. there were no problems at that time. the contact took vehicle to the dealership, and they said that the computer showed the code p0733, that the problem was with the automatic transmission, and it would need to be replaced. the contact found that there were other people with similar transmission problem. *ak.

Dt: the consumer owns a 2001 ford escape that experienced a transmission failure. while driving on the highway at 55 mph the overdrive light flashed. the consumer exited the highway and was stopped at a red light. when the light turned green the vehicle revved, but would not move forward. the transmission would not shift. the consumer was able to engage second gear and drive 10 miles home. the vehicle was shaking or lurching back and forth on the drive home. the vehicle was taken to a dealership where a diagnostic check was performed and suggested a new transmission. the dealer could offer no explanation other than it may be the torque converter. this happened at 71,000 miles. this was the second transmission. the exact same thing had happened at 49, 000 miles. the consumer split the cost with ford with the first transmission. the second transmission has not been replaced. the consumer was negotiating with ford about the problem. *ak

(1) [2nd failure] no warning. (2) transmission failure could have resulted in crash. (3) transmission replacement. *jb

We are a leasing company and have had three (3) 2001 ford escapes to date that have had failed transmissions. ford refuses to acknowledge our attempts to get reimbursement.

2001 ford escape, 61,000 miles, clutch failure, clutch pedal went to floor, would not disengage. was on entrance ramp to interstate highway, in slow moving traffic, otherwise extremely dangerous. investigated on internet and found that this problem is described in ford technical service bulletin 1-24-1, so is obviously a known issue. one of relatively few tsbs that could cause a catastrophic accident if it occurred at speed. most of the tsbs are for things like "whining/buzzing in audio system," "engine oil recommendations/applications," "intake manifold gaskets--fuel smell to the interior." while some of these may be significant, few of them would cause a catastrophic problem if they occured at speed. the "general recall" and "safety recalls" categories, which include things like "speed control cable defect" and "rear driveshaft replacement differential leak" seem to me much more appropriate places for this serious problem to be reported. had vehicle towed to ford dealer. conversation with them this morning. confirmed that problem was with master and slave cylinder which they said needed to be replaced. denied knowledge of a known problem of this type. said that this was not covered under warranty. i told them to go ahead and replace the cylinders.

Automatic transmission is starting to fail. the gear shifting is becoming more and more jerky. grinding sounds are now audible during gear shifts.

The o/d light started flashing .i drove the vehicle about 5 miles to my driveway.when i went to move the car it wouldn't go in reverse. contacted dealer with no results. sent car to transmission shop and had a rebuilt transmission put in.

Transmission failure resulting in unsafe operating conditions. vehicle developed intermittent shudder during accelerations along with intermittent loss and slipping of forward gears. hazardous conditions when merging with traffic or under normal driving conditions since condition was unpredictable and vehicle did not respond to driver's input. appeared to happen mostly in cold weather conditions. failure also resulted in non compliance with fmvss regulations since shift lever did not correspond accurately to operator's intended vehicle driving mode (i.e no forward motion when shift selector was in drive position). multiple technical service bulletins exist for this cd4e auto transaxle relating to this failure mode in ford system and also on nhtsa website, so condition is known and is widespread on many vehicles. created very hazardous driving situations before catastrophic failure resulting in inoperative vehicle.*ak

Was struck in the rear end by another vehicle, evidently, after that the two front hub bearings went bad. dealership stated it was not due to accident.*ak

Myself and a friend, deane griggs, have had the transmission fail in our 2001 ford escape, suddenly and without warning, at approximately 60,000 miles. *jb

The vehicle jerks and rapidly accelerates when pressing the gas pedal in reverse. when taken to get serviced they could not determine the cause of the problem.*ak

The transmission would hesitate before accelerating in reverse. the dealership repaired the problem. please provide more information. *nm

Engine surge - ford escape 2001 - transmission failed at 54,000miles. in relation to intermit problems with the transmission, the vehicle_x0019_s (often when placed in park setting) engine would surge causing that tachometer to race to about 5 to 6 thousand revolutions per minute. on december, 8, 2004 while in a parking lot and attempting to park the vehicle with the transmission set in d, the vehicle engine surged is the same manor as described above, and caused the driver to hold the brake with full force in order to keep the vehicle from hitting a parked car. the vehicle was taken to the dealer (freedom ford, hampton va) when they replaced the transmission. they were not able to reproduce the engine surge.*ak

2001 ford escape began having transmission shudder during shifting at approximately 20,000 miles. at 30,000 miles, dealer performed transmission fluid flush which resulted in the shudder going away. recently the shudder has returned. the vehicle has approximately 56,000 miles. the transmission failed while traveling at highway speeds resulting in a sudden loss of power. the rpms suddenly jumped up to between 5000 and 6000. the vehicle is no longer driveable. *ak

Sudden failure of automatic transmission, necessitating replacement with complete new transmission and cooler. *ak

Just driving, came to a slow are and when accelerating it feels and sounds like the transmission wouldn't shift gears or it would stall in the gear. took it to the don kott ford for service and they charged me for a transmission service.*ak i took it back and after one day it had the same symptoms. this problem has been ocurring several times. i'm just waiting for it to fully break down because i need this vehicle for transportation and i don't have the time or money to get it repaired. i feel like i got ripped off for a useless transmission service. to this day the transmission seems to feel like it has a problem. what i'm doing to get it to work is starting the engine and putting it in drive. i press on the overdrive button that is located at the end of the gear shifter. this will get me going as i start to accelerate. however, if i didn't press on the overdrive button to get going, the acceleration would be poor and sometime not go. there were several situations when the vehicle was put in reverse to back up and if it need some acceleration to get going nothing would happen when i pressed on the gas pedal. you could hear the engine reving up but no acceleration. another time was when i was making a left turn and upon acceleration the gears didnt' seem to kick in. the vehicle made the oncoming cars either stop or slow down or swerve. luckily i'm use to knowing how the vehicle operates and i make sure that i have plenty of time before turning. i believe this is a flaw in design and workmanship and that ford should be looking into this and even compensating those who have this problem before someone gets seriously hurt and a lawsuit ensues.

Transmission failed at 83,000 while driving on a highway at speed of 60mph. was told by dealer this was a lack of maintenance and would cost approximately $3,800 to fix. took to local mechanic who replaced trans. for $3,000. while taking apart old trans found that an internal component fell apart causing the entire transmission to fail. said this was a defect in the transmission and not fault of 'lack of maintenance'. have contacted ford since and they refuse to reimburse for expenses.*ak