A lack of clearance between the engine cover and the speed control cable connector meant the throttle could get stick open when the accelerator was fully depressed. Following a petition from the Center for Auto Safety, NHTSA opened an investigation and eventually issued a recall to fix the sticky throttles in the 2001–2004 model years.
Even with the throttles fixed, the 2001 model year could still have trouble stopping due to multiple problems with leaking brakes.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
1,365 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My observation of when it occurs is usually when going 50 mph for a number of miles, make a turn then go downhill with the heater on full-speed. About halfway down the hill the ignition nocks out and I must pull over and restart the engine. This has happened to me about 5 or 6 times since I bought my 2001 Escape in April 2001. I've never taken it to the dealership.
Vehicle stalled without warning while doing 30mph on a downhill grade. Will bring it in for service. Many similar stall events have been reported by Escape owners on internet sites such as www.Escape-central.com. this is a safety issue. Please order a recall to fix this dangerous problem.
I bought my vehicle new ooon 08/18/01 as a demo w/ 5600 miles. On 10/22/01 my vehicle stalled for no reason on my way to work. I was going slightly downhill (not that steep of a hill) at approx 35mph. I lost power & my check engine, oil & battery lights came on. Luckily I could pull over quickly. I turned the vehicle off & waited about 30 sec. It started no problem. I called the dealership that morning & was told there was nothing wrong with it but to call back should it happen again. On 10/24/01 the same thing happened again at the same point in my commute under the same circumstances. Once again I was able to start the vehicle with no problems after pulling to the side of the road. I called the dealership again & took it in. Of course they couldn't find anything wrong w/ it & the called the Ford hotline for any recommendations. I brought it back the following week so they could replace the idle motor & a few other things. The dealership states there is no recall & it sounds like they don't even really know what it is or how to fix it, the hotline just recommended some things to do hoping it would fix it. Shortly after that I noticed my vehicle was leaking fluid (11/15/01) about a week after an oil change. I took it back to the oil change place & they said it wasn't oil but I had a pretty big leak of what looked like transmission fluid. I immediately took it to the dealer. It ended up being differential fluid & they replaced the power transfer case. So far my vehicle hasn't stalled or leaked any other fluids. My biggest concern however, is the stalling problem which could potentially be very dangerous. I was lucky in that I wasn't on the highway & it was very early & I had a place to pull over so I didn't get hit. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
While driving 30 mph vehicle stalled/lost power steering and braking ability. Consumer used park brake to stop vehicle. Also, on December 7, 2001 at 30 mph vehicle stalled again, consumer unable to stop vehicle due to no braking ability and rearended another vehicle. Damage unknown at this time. No injuries.
- Long Valley, NJ, USA
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Engine stalled losing all power while driving down road. This has occurred 4 times. Vehicle has been worked on by dealer to attempt to solve this problem all 4 times. Car must be pulled off of road (if possible) and restarted. The last time this occurred the car could not be pulled off of road and completely stopped on road. This is a very dangerous situation and someone is going to be hurt or killed if Ford cannot correct this problem.
Ongoing problem with engine stalling while traveling 30 or more mph. Vehicle been in dealer shop on three occasions, dealer tested for possible fuel concern and replaced power relay but did not correct the problem. Aux power point inoperable due to blown fuse.
Vehicle stalled again. This is 4th time vehicle has stalled while driving. Vehicle has already been in for repair 3 times without any successful fix. Travelling ~30mph, no A/C, stalled without warning. Lost all power and braking. Ford (via customer response center - crc) has been notified of previous incidents and has contacted dealership. Owner is currently awaiting call-back from dealership customer relations manager per crc for resolution.
Twice, the stall almost caused an accident. Due to loss of power brakes, we almst rearended the car in front of us the first time, and the second time we nearly went off the road into someones year -- across double yellow line on a backroad -- because of loss of power steering.
Vehicle stalled wihtout warning while driving @~30mph. This has happened several other times on the road. Dealer has performed repairs 3 other times as follows: Visit 1 - changed fuel pump relay, visit 2 - changed ECM module relay, visit 3 - replaced fuel pump and sender. Dealer service has indicated that they were unable to find exact cause of stalling, so they are replacing components in hopes of catching the problem. After vehicle stalled, power steering and brakes were non-functional and I once again needed to pull off the road evasively to avoid rear-ending the cars in front of me. Clarification: This most recent stalling incident occured today, even after the fuel pump was replaced.
Consumer states that the vehicle shuts itself off without warning, causing the steering column to lock up, and the check engine light to illuminate, dealer repaired the air valve, after leaving repair shop vehicle shuts off again, and the entire dashboard illuminated, consumer requests that Ford replace vehicle with another vehicle.
Vehicle stalled while on a slight incline, power steering and brakes lost power, second time it has happened within a few months. Very dangerous and could cause a bad accident. Taking to dealer soon although they claim to never have heard anything like it happening to others. I have documentation of it being a very serious problem for many people, needs to be fixed asap.
The engine on my Ford Escape stalled while accelerating on the on-ramp to enter a highway, going approximately 60 mph. I have now discovered this is a common problem with Ford Escapes, and hope the manufacturer will take steps to correct it. It can be a very dangerous situation.
Engine stalled while going downhill, power brakes and steering went out so very hard to control on an incline. Seems to be a common problem with the exact same situations with this vehicle.
On four occasions vehicle experienced engine stalling while driving at 35 mph or lower speed. Vehicle taken to dealer shop, and informed consumer that they were unable to duplicate the problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Snoqualmie, WA, USA