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:
15 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
16 / 1
Average Mileage:
68,697 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.
Have at different times the motor reeves. Sometimes when the cruise is set, and sometimes when it's in park. Never know what makes it happen or when it's going to happen. Do have witnesses at the last time this happened. Happened to be at the scene of an accident, pulled up and stopped, only to have this happen. Which the paramedics happened to hear it and got very concerned. Although it's happened before several times, the emt's strongly urged us to report this.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Escape which was purchased in 2001. While the vehicle was parked in his driveway he was notified that it was on fire. Upon further investigation, he saw black smoke under the dashboard. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire; however, they were unable to determine the cause of the fire. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure and current mileages were 120,000. Updated 06/02/10. According to the police report, the fire originated in the engine compartment. Updated 09/28/10
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Escape. The contact's daughter was driving and the vehicle suddenly accelerated to 85 mph. She put both of her feet on the brake pedal but there was no response. She tried the emergency brake which also did not response. After a long while, she was able to get the vehicle to decelerate to 40 mph. She then put the vehicle in neutral and was then able to pull over and turn the ignition off. She had the vehicle towed to a repair shop. The vehicle had not been inspected at the time of the complaint. The contact called the manufacturer who told her that they could not assist with repairs. The current and failure mileages were approximately 135,000.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 40 mph on normal road conditions, the vehicle drastically accelerated when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The brake pedal required greater force to stop the vehicle and the stopping distance increased. There were no warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing and they stated that the throttle was the cause of the failure. The vehicle was unable to be repaired according to NHTSA campaign id number 00V210001 (vehicle speed control) due to modifications. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 100,000 and current mileage was 114,000.
On July 4th, my husband and I were driving on the freeway. Suddenly, the accelerator stuck and my husband was unable to slow the car down with the brakes. He turned off the car and pulled to the side of the road. The vehicle was taken to lithia Ford for repair. The cause of the problem was "cruise control cable failed". the receipt stated that "cruise control cable failed 1.00 verified, cruise control cable sheath broken and cable end flips over cause throttle to be held open". the Ford service advisor stated that he had seen several Escape's with the same problem, but his manager says there is no recall and Ford will not cover the cost of the repair.
- Boise, ID, USA
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The contact owns a 2001 Ford Escape. While the vehicle was in park or idling at a stop light, the engine revved. The contact would have to shut off and restart the vehicle in order to reset the throttle. In addition, the rear hatch door would open intermittently. After several weeks, the rear hatch does not function at all. The dealer stated that her VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign id numbers 00V210001 (vehicle speed control) and 04V602000 (latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch). The vehicle is currently at the dealer, but has not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 120,000.
: the contact stated that the vehicle experiences sudden acceleration from 0-45 mph after releasing the brake pedal while in the stopped position. The vehicle experiences increased braking and jolts forward when braking is applied. When the vehicle is placed in park, the engine revs on its own. The vehicle must be turned off for the engine to quit revving. This problem was initially sporadic, but is now getting progressively worse and occurs more often. The dealership replaced the accelerator cable but the problem still occurred. An independent repair shop determined that the problem might be the speed control servo. There is an NHTSA recall, #00V210001, regarding the: Vehicle speed control. The VIN was not included in the recall.
My VIN# for my 2001 Ford Escape is not listed under the vehicle speed control recall. However, I am and have been experiencing this problem with my vehicle for some time now.
In May 2005 the accelerator cable stuck wide open on my 2001 Ford Escape (V-6 engine automatic transmission) this happened in my driveway when I punched down on the pedal very hard. There is a plastic cover on top of the engine that must be removed in order to see where the cables hook up to the throttle body. I removed this to determine if it was the throttle body or the cable that was stuck. As I was taking it off the cable became unstuck on it's own so I was unable to determine the problem. At that point I took it to the dealer and they said they were unable to duplicate the problem so they did nothing. On 8/10/05 my wife pushed down hard on the gas pedal while merging into freeway traffic. The accelerator stuck wide open again and she found herself going about 100 mph down the highway. Finally she put the car in neutral, shut off the engine, coasted to the berm and called a tow truck. Since the dealer couldn't fix the problem the first time I decided to look at it again myself. Again I took the plastic cover off the top of the engine and once again the cable became unstuck. This made me suspect that the plastic cover may have something to do with the problem. Upon further inspection I found that the cruise control cable housing had broken right before the part that connects to the throttle body. This creates a situation that can cause the cruise cable to pivot up and wedge against the plastic engine cover during hard acceleration instead of it moving in its housing like it should thus causing the throttle to stick wide open. I was able to make this happen a few times so I am confident this was actually the problem. I explained the problem to the dealer but they wouldn't be able to work on the car for over a week so I went to the parts dept. Ordered the part (under $30) went home and put it on myself (takes less than 5 minutes). The car is fixed now.
There were numerous problems. The egr sensor (dpfe) was replaced along with the sop driver side outer belt molding, fuel pump, sway bar links and iac. There was a loud noise coming from the driver's side window, water leaked around the tailgate window, the vehicle was hard to start, the iac was sticking, the driver's side window squeaked and rattled, the vehicle hesitated upon starting, there was play in the front sway bar links, the coolant light stayed on, there was a crack around the oil pan and the oil drain plug was problematic, and the accelerator pedal was sticking.
When I press on my accelerator at a stop sign it sticks. Then when it breaks through I accelerate quickly. I am afraid that I am going to get into an accident and injure myself or others. It happens all the time.
Vehicle experienced sudden acceleration while being driven. Owner had to apply brakes several times in order to slow down. Taken to dealer for cleaning of the throttle body.
While stopped at a traffic light the vehicle surged forward violently without warning. The consumer stated two weeks later while parked the same thing occurred and the vehicle collided into a store window. The vehicle collided into a store window.
Intermittently while driving at 35 mph, the vehicle accelerated on its own. While the consumer shifted from drive to park, the vehicles rpms went up. The vehicle was taken to independent shop and the mechanic cleaned the air idle control. When placing the vehicle in park, the RPM's accelerated between 4000 and 5000.
The gas pedal became stuck, which effected the speed control cable. There was a recall for this year, make and model, however the vehicle's VIN was not included. The dealer replaced the throttle body.
Consumer stated while driving and trying to accelerate vehicle hesitated/or paused before it responded. Took vehicle to the repair shop twice for the same problem, and was told that the problem was the throttle body.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gravois Mills, MO, USA