Problems with 2005 Ford Escape ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

The electric power steering system failed in the middle of an intersection and almost caused an accident involving other vehicles.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. the contact stated that the vehicle's alarm sounded after locking the doors with the key fob. when the contact manually inserted the key into the door and turned it to the left, the alarm would turn off. when the key was turned to the right, the alarm would sound. in addition, the alarm would sound a half hour to 45 minutes after locking the doors. the dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 142,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. the contact stated that the vehicle stalled when traveling on an incline. also, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. the contact was able to coast the vehiicle to the side of the road and powered off the engine. the vehicle was restarted and was able to drive, but the failure recurred after a few miles. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the power train cable caused an electrical failure and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 152,000.

Driving 65 mph on the interstate my 05 escape began to skip,stall & died, anti theft light came on. i drive for 20 miles slow with it skipping and stalling. when i left off on gas it would continue to run until i made it to safe place. attempted to drive for repair on state hwy it stalled and went dead. ford dealership reprog keys- repaired drive off, barely off the lot and it quit again. now i see this is a manufactures issue with 05 escapes after an online search. new ford diagnosis- new plugs & coil pack, intake gasket. 170,000 miles. my alarm randomly goes off too which could be related to electrical issues. ford motor is liable if someone's vehicle stalls and is killed due to this problem they know about but have not corrected or recalled.

When starting the vehicle and getting to a destination, put the vehicle in park and turn off the key will not remove from the switch have did all the troubleshooting it is in gear all the way off and still can't remove if we leave it set for about an hour we can then remove the key this started on monday oct 8th and has done it ever since consistently

Well my door ajar light comes on randomly. it makes the dome lights stay on. need help before it gets worse.

My vehicle alarm will just start going off nobody is near the keys or vehicle, it will just go off and you have to hit the button on the key and shut it off today at work i was sitting at my desk and in a matter of 10 minutes it went off 4 times. i am not sure why it is doing this, but it is concerning.

While driving the car on the freeway the car jolted. after 3-5 more miles the car kepped jolting as if it wanted to die then lost all power, even the emergency lights wouldnt come on. once i turned the car off it turned back on fine then continued the process. the car for no apparent reason died on the freeway and i could have been in an accident to where my life was almost lost. i made it to my mechanic shop they ran the care for codes and no codes came up at all. my mechanic has done research and found that some 2005-2008 fored escapes have recalls. he feels as my car is one because my car has the exact same symptoms as the recall. in this article i have had all of these issues.the 2005 escape has problems where the engine shuts down while driving. ford finally issued a september 2014 recall. time will tell if the recall fix really solves the problem. however the 2005 escape also has a defect where the pcm (power control module) fries at around 100k miles. ford extended the pcm warranty to 80,000 miles, but only after most owners were past the mileage limit. now owners are on the hook for the average repair cost of over $2,000 (!!)

Terrifying! potentially fatal . power just cut out on highway while going approximately 55 mph. no steering, no brakes. no power. all warring lights ablaze, but no warning beforehand! gratefully, i was in the right lane and managed to get the car into the median. after several minutes, car restarted. luckily i was only 1/4 mile from the exit. i read about this well known electrical problem. it is the pcm. apparently ford used faulty spark plugs. the fix is too costly. i will have to purchase a new vehicle. ford recalled the 2005 escape hybrid but not this model? criminal

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning, there were no warning indicators illuminated. the contact placed the gearshift into neutral and was able to coast over to the side of the road. the contact waited for a few minutes and restarted the vehicle, the vehicle restarted and stalled. the vehicle was towed to a park and ride lot. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to nhtsa. the approximate failure mileage was 122,607.

When the car is fully locked and all door well shut the rear right door sensor says its opened or ajar which makes the alarm go off when no one has tried to touch the car and because of this it has drain the battery while having a less than 1 year old battery

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. while driving 55 mph, the vehicle stalled and the anti-theft indicator illuminated. the vehicle was towed to a local dealer (capital ford located at 4222 oleander dr wilmington, nc 28403) where it was diagnosed that the system needed to be updated. the vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 200,000.

When the vehicle stops, engine shuts down. if i start it again it turns on just fine but everytime i stop at a light or at traffic, the engine stalls. went to the ford dealer and they cant tell what is happening because there is no check engine light turned on. they checked it and everything was fine, battery, oils. they say there is a recall for the throttle position sensor but the deadline for this was on january 2015. now ford wont repair my vehicle because it has more than 10 years old (it has less than 116,000 miles).

My 2005 ford escape ltd with 122k miles with no warning stalls when i come to a stop, or when i'm going less than 5 mph. the vehicle has done then same thing when i was driving 65 on my way to lax, had to pull over to the shoulder and was almost side swiped and rear ended by cars. no check engine lights illuminate, nor can the mechanic find anything wrong. after doing research i've come to learn this is a very common problem among this year and model, yet ford will not address the issue with a recall. this is dangerous, i'm scared to drive my vehicle. there are thousands of complaints on the internet about this vehicle with the same issue. something needs to be done. ford is in the know. i'd like to see some action being done.

Engine stalls while driving; almost $4,000 in repairs have failed to correct the problem and it keeps happening. the car is not safe to drive. *tr

Takata recall passenger back tower wheel rusted on my 2005 ford escape the meter sensor keep going off like the doors are still open the rims of the car has rusted like we had the car for 30 years in motion when i notice the wheel tower rusted out

Hi i have a 2005 ford escape & up into about and year i started had having engine failure, my vehicle would start & stop, to sum this up, im affaid to drive when this accures praying that know 1 runs into the back of me...ive tooken it to the auto place to get a reading & ive replaced everything that it read ignition coils (twice), fuel filters, tune a/c compressor, wouldnt come on etc....i can go on & on..& im still having the same problems & finally ive decided to google these accurances, to find that there's other vic..that has occurred theses same incidents....this is a serious matter, that ford needs to address / resolved before someone doesn't make it. vic. just shutting down in the middle of traffic....& it also accures while stationary & while turning, this has been going on since oct. of 2015 & in between replaceing parts it stalled for a while of the killing & now it has started back up full force about a week ago. 6/13/2016 & today is the 6/21/2016

Entering and accelerating from a main street that turns into a freeway the engine lost all power very suddenly, abs light engaged, then died as exiting the freeway. extremely dangerous with children in car and no warning which would have caused a mechanic to look into previously. exiting the freeway the engine died but restarted with ability to drive at 10 mph (in a bad area) with engine loss and noise. at shop, i was told the spark plugs, coils and pcm would need to be replaced in that order ($795), then the coils ($600), then the pcm ($1400) not including labor. a ex-ford master technician said ford new of problem and replaced those components when the cars came into the shop. ford has a separate software checking program only designed for ford escapes to test the pcm for damage caused by faulty plugs. apparently a recall occurred for some vins, when i contacted ford headquarters i was told my vehicle was not made at a particular plant ergo my burden to pay out of pocket. recall was in 2014 for escapes with 80,000 miles or less while in warranty. this is a common well-documented electrical component failure which occurs after 80,000 miles.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. after coming to a stop, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not diagnosed nor repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 160,000.

Car running rough, car slowed and then would not drive. towed, told it needs new pcm, cylinders, coils, and spark plugs. car has less than 80,000 miles. this is a known problem with this car and the pcm was changed in later models. ford created a defective product and does not seem to care.

Bought my 05 xlt escape last may 2015 and all of a sudden it started to shudder stall while idling and just completely die when i was driving on the highway! got the codes read and it said i had a misfire on cylinder 2, so i put new coils and spark plugs in it but it's still not working! still doing a misfire and it's running bad when it decides to crank up! now it's not even drivable.

The light for the airbags is yellow and has been for about 2 years. i ask the mechanic what that meant. he told me the airbags wouldn't deploy in an accident. i also found out the module that controls that also controls the auto lock on the doors when you take off. i feel this is a safety issue but i'm not able to afford the repair so i contacted ford motor company but they told me there is no recall for that, needless to say, i just hope i don't ever need them. the module just gave out and the light came on and has been on any time the car is turned on. i no longer have the repair bill kraphol ford gave me. on 01/30/2016 i sent in a complaint but as far as i know, nothing has been done about it, so this is a repeat.

Vehicle jerking 4wd light keeps blinking, power lock light pops on car act like it wants to shut off

Car alarm always going off causes interior lights to run battery down. alarm will not reset lock doors. sensor light comes on with door ajar and alarm refuses to set. has been going on for a year or more. complaints on internet from other people with the same problem but there is no recall. others are saying it is the latch that needs to be replace but ford company can't tell us this. it doesn't matter if the vehicle is moving or not for the door to be ajar.

Was driving my car to work - at first if didn't want to start but cranked fine. let it sit idle and headed to work - 1/2 to work stopped at a light where it started to shudder like it was going to stall (never had any issues before and still no warning lights). got thru the intersection and loss all power on the busiest street in bowling green. i didn't even have enough power for my emergency blinkers. stuck where i was was a hazard of me being hit - had it towed to mechanic thinking it was the alternator. alternator and starter both good - once put on the diagnostic machine - the car started smoking and sparking. end result - i have at least 3 coils, potential fried wire harness and pcm failure (a logged complaint but never a recall). the potential fix with no guarantee that this wouldn't happen again is 5-8k. my family could have been severely hurt if someone would have plowed into us. this is not a safe vehicle at all!

Every morning the car alarm suddenly goes off until i press key fob. it happens routinely from 5 to 8 am and 8 to 9 pm. according to the internet, there are many ford escape owners who have the same issue. you can search it by "ford escape alarm goes off". this is really annoying not only for owners but also for their neighbors. although this is not critical safety issue, this is absolutely manufacturer's defect.

Our daughter was driving her 2005 ford escape. she had just gotten on the turnpike - as she was driving the dash board lights started flashing and the car started slowing down - the steering wheel locked up and the car died. she luckily was able to get to the side of the highway and was not hurt. it was about 99 degrees outside at 2:00 in the afternoon. we had to have a tow truck take the vehicle to a car repair shop. it was determined that the spark plugs and coil had burned up and it would be $2,200 to repair the car. after looking online, this is s common problem with 2005 ford escapes. there are no recalls. ford has said to keep the receipt in case there are recalls in the future. that is little relief from the fact that we are out $2200 now and don't feel safe having our daughter driving this vehicle any longer. she has had regular maintenance on her car. one other problem with vehicle is that the leather interior has started coming off the side door panels - it's like the adhesive has just worn out. we have tried to fix this but it looks bad and no one will guarantee a repair on it because they say it's a manufacturing error and it is a difficult repair. this 2005 ford escape should be considered a lemon!! we have always driven fords with no problems - very disappointing.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. the contact stated while driving 25 mph, the vehicle experienced a complete loss of power without warning. the vehicle had to be towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the pcm and all six coils burned and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. the approximate failure mileage was 121,000. ma 10/15/2015 updated 11/08/2017*cn

One of my door open sensors acts up when the weather is hot causing the alarm to sound on its on. when it's cold the open door indicator goes away and alarm doesn't go off. how can i find out which sensor to service?

On several ocassions, vehicle security alarm sounded several times while trying to start engine. alarm horn eventually deactivated after pushing key button during several starting attempts. drove vehicle out of parking lot slowing for stop light and vehicle completely shut off. major safety concern. restarted engine and gauges swing minimum to maximum continually with air bag light on, check engine light on, theft light on. gauges worked alternately during min-max swings, then stopped working completely. day after occurence, new battery was completely drained and would not hold a charge. when trying to charge battery, vechicle had clicking sound in gauge console. had vehicle towed to auto electrical mechanic who tells me it is a faulty dash console and not the vehicle computer and dash gauge console needs to be replaced at a new part cost of $700. replacing dash gauge console with a new one to find if this fixes vehicle problems. major consern if engine shutting down while driving.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. while driving at approximately 30 mph over a bump, there was a loud abnormal noise coming from the vehicle. the contact mentioned that the failure occurred when going over a bump. the contact noticed that the top of the steering tower had separated from the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the struck tower separated due to excessive rust. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the contact was made aware of nhtsa campaign number: 14v165000 (structure); however, the vin was not included. the failure mileage was 128,000.

Was driving at highway speed (appx 55mph) in 5 o'clock traffic in raleigh, nc on us 1 and the vehicle lost speed. all emergency lights came on. forced to pull the vehicle off onto the shoulder and was almost rear ended. the vehicle sputtered and totally cut off. attempted to restart the vehicle but it kept cutting off. i was unable to restart the vehicle and was stranded on the highway. after a call to a family member and to aaa, the car was towed home 3 hours later. the next day, the car was towed to crossroads ford in cary, nc. they determined that the pcm, spark plugs and ignition coils all failed at once and charged me $2700. error codes p0351, p0354 and p0353 appeared on the diagnostics. the vehicle was repaired the next day. this is a huge safety issue since the vehicle suddenly undergoes a catastrophic failure with loss of power and acceleration and could lead to an accident. *tr

While driving vehicle shuts off without warning, usually restarts but have had it towed. car has been back to dealer 11 times in 12 months for same problem. no rhyme or reason can be city or highway. it is usually preceded by interior light and or door adjar light coming on , after stall happens check engine light comes on. dealer has replaced countless fuel and emmision parts including ecm and coils, fuel pump etc. this has been an ongoing problem since day of purchase, this car is unsafe and appears ford doesn't know how to fix it. vehicle last left us sit in florida, after 2 weeks and $3200 in repairs on 12/21/2015 the check engine light and interior light came back on 2/2/2016

Ongoing problem with coils. i was driving my car and smoke started to billow out of the front hood. i then pulled over and call the berkeley township police and they arrived with the pinewald fire company. my husband and son arrived at scene and we had the vehicle towed to our home. the engine control module melted the coils. when my son examined the car the upper intake manifold exploded in his face. i have contacted the ford motor company and they refused to do anything about it. also, we noted that there where many other complaints online regarding the same exact problem. *tr

While driving about 30 mph, the car started sputtering as if it were running out of gas. i was near a gas station and as i was pulling in, the engine just stopped and the power steering went dead. the car then wouldn't restart. i called aaa and they couldn't start it, so i had the car towed to the ford dealership. they examined the car and later that day told me the coils overheated and fried the pcm. now it needs new coils on 2 cylinders, possibly more, and a new pcm with reprogramming. cost quoted was $3520. the service tech that looked at the car said he hasn't seen this before, nor heard of this. after researching this problem online, i don't believe him. i wonder how many people haven't reported this because they were made to think their problem was a very rare occurrence. *tr

As soon as i hit about 60 mph, between 2-3 rpm, my car begins to stall and feels like the gas pedal is grinding and won't let me go any faster without vibrating the entire vehicle. i initially thought it was the transmission slipping so i took it in to a transmission auto shop where the found absolutely nothing. which is very odd for an auto shop to not find anything. about 1 week after this problem, the service emission light came on. i was driving home from work the day the light came on and the car completely stopped on the highway, in rush hour traffic. thankfully i was close to the side of the highway and was able to pull over. i got to the side and put my car into park, turned the engine off, and waited a couple of minutes to allow my heart rate to come back down to a normal pace. i turned the key and the engine turned back on. i drove it into an auto shop to see what the issue was, and the reader showed cylinder 2 misfire. the first possible fix was to replace the coil on plug, which is what i did. i got home today and am still experiencing this scary feeling of my car not being able to excel above 60. i read many reviews this evening and so many people have experienced very similar issues. this is not safe and people are at serious risk or getting injured and/or in an accident. the average cost to fix the issue - reported by many users on http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/escape/2005/electrical/computer_pcm_failure.shtml, is $2000. when you have a 2005 car of any kind, $2000 seems very high to fix when the car is 10 years old. please investigate this issue further as this is unacceptable that ford has yet to recall this issue. *tr

Started off from a light and the car hesitated concerned gave it gas and it stuttered,i rolled to a stop and had it towed to a repair shop.evidently the powertrain computer module is bad several complaints that ford put the wrong spark plugs in this escape which after time ruins the pcm.seriously why hasn't a recall been issued for this problem? had i been traveling faster would have been an accident as i was in morning traffic.now looking at a $1000 in repair bills.ford needs to fix this problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. the contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the engine stalled as all the warning lights illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the ignition coils and the electric control module (ecm) needed to be replaced. the failure was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 165,000.

Door ajar light stays on so does dome light and alam goes off every so often on its own. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. while driving at approximately 70 mph, an unknown warning light illuminated and the vehicle stalled. the contact restarted the vehicle, but the failure recurred multiple times. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the failure was unable to be replicated. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact received a notice for nhtsa campaign number: 14v526000 (hybrid propulsion system). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown. the vin was not available.

I've always been a staunch defender of the ford brand...until now. the more research i did on the link between faulty factory-installed spark plugs and pcm failure, and fords knowledge of this link from the get-go, the angrier i become. there is a tsb out on this "known" issue however the warranty period only extends up to 80,000 miles. pretty convenient since the average failure marker is 98k miles. also convenient that ford waited until 99.99% of all affected drivers would be outside of their "warranty" period before graciously extending said "warranty". hogwash. i consider myself fortunate that my failure did not cause an accident (because you know, loss of all electrical control at 70 mph is not high on my bucket list). i brought it into my mechanic . diagnostics was the # 3 coils was bad. it was replaced and retested. it showed that it was good but the next coil was bad and the engine light was still on. we took the car to ford and was told that the pcm was bad and needs to be replaced 2,100 later still having issues. on the way home from the shop i noticed it was still hesitating slightly, but nothing like it was .no, it will not last forever but known issues such as these really chap my hide!!! this has soured me off ford forever at this point. disappointing, dangerous and downright deceptive. why won't ford do a recall on this? safety is an issue.... *tr

Driving hm from wk, 5fwy car stall coast to the side called aaa to be towed to ef1 motorsports inc. i was informed that this was a manufacture problem for this year suv 2005. the wrong computer system was installed the cost to repair $1443.06. i would like a refund. *tr

I bought a used 2005 ford escape limited 6 days ago it was running fine no problems lights or warnings. then i was driving down the highway accelerating to 50mph and my dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and stopped running. i towed it back to where i got it and they stated that the computer waa fried. now i am waiting for them to replace it. i have seen similiar complaints about the same model and year. fried computer due to ignition coils. i believe with as many complaints about this recurring problem there should be a recall, but i guess we have to wait till someone dies because of it. a shame that's the only way things get done. *tr

Add me to the list. i was headed north on highway 17 in santa cruz. i had my wife and two kids in the car. all of the sudden the engine starts running rough, the o/d light goes on and then everything in the car stops working. we were approaching a hidden turn so i did not want to stop in the middle of the highway so i looked quick and swerved the car off to the shoulder. this was a very dangerous position to be in. i had it towed to a mechanic. all of the engine coils were firing codes. took it to ford. pcm failure, all coils ,plugs and the pcm itself need to be replaced. if you do the math, it's only a matter of time before somebody gets seriously hurt because of this manufacturer defect. these cars were sold in 2004-2005. i am guessing that most will be getting close to that 100k mile mark right around now. ford needs to recall and replace all of the bad plugs. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. the contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the engine stalled. the vehicle was not able to restart. the failure recurred on one occasion. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be repaired. the vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 167,000.

I was driving down a local highway at around 50 miles per hour in heavy morning rush hour traffic with my foot resting steadily on the accelerator pedal. the vehicle shut off and violently came to screeching halt. it felt like someone had placed the transmission range selector into reverse... i repeatedly attempted to restart the vehicle with no success... i waited five minutes and was able to get the vehicle started but it would not go over five miles per hour at wide open throttle... a diagnosis was performed and all systems via laptop scan tool appear to be operating normally... researched internet and learned that many other escape owners are having the same problem and having the same scenario. http://www.carproblemzoo.com/ford/escape/2005/ignition-coils-failure-problems.php that the vehicle shuts off at or above 50 miles per hours... contacted local ford dealer who informed me that they know about the problem. that there are so many escapes failing that the parts are on back order for as long as 90 days... the problem is the original spark plugs and ignition coils (there are six) are defective from the factory and these parts cause the main vehicle computer to fail. the cost to repair the vehicle is around $ 2,800.00... *js

My 2005 ford escape 3.0 v6 had a coil issue that ford knew about and sent service bulletins to dealers, but not the affected parties. the coils were defective from a vendor and when they failed, burnt out the psm, making the automobile unusable and expensive to fix. ford has known about this since 2011 and has done nothing to rectify it, or help, all of those whose escapes have stopped running completely. mine had this go out and now the parts are on back order for months, as well as incredibly expensive. please help to get ford to order a recall on this for all of us. *tr

I turned a corner and was only going 20 mph when the vehicle went dead. i had no control so luckily i wasn't going fast. i stopped the vehicle. i had to get it towed. one mechanic said my coils and spark plugs were bad because of the fuel rail pressure sensor malfunction. second opinion - the pcm needed to be reprogrammed or replaced. third opinion - all of the above. it costs $1900 and two tow bills ($275). the engine light had been on for several months. the only code was the fuel rail pressure sensor high input (p0193 generic). *tr

I was driving my ford escape 2005 and it completely shuts off, the steering wheel got very hard!!! it was very difficult to steer, *tr

I was driving down a hill and the engine just stopped.i pulled over,and started it up and drove straight home. .i took it to a mechanic who put an obd computer on the car and it said faulty primary/secondary ignition coil. he replaced all coils and plugs and restarted vehicle but it still misfired on cylinder 3 (c).he tested the wire sending spark to that coil and there was no spark . the pcm was determined to be bad. now i'm finding out that it was a factory defect but mine was 3 months older than the 8 year period allowed by ford to repair for free. only 40,000 miles and the computer goes to and costs over 1000.00 dollars to fix it. not fair. *tr