Here is a fix for everybody griping about the Ford Escape transmission issue... Ford runs the transmission lines through the radiator to save money. (that's no secret, been doing it for years). When the plastic radiator tanks fail through or excess heat from the engine bay, age or damage or the rubber hoses fail, transmission oil mixes with the water and you get (milkshake) water and oil together and it's not good for the transmission correct? Only fix is a new transmission, but this is what you do differently: go get a separate aftermarket trans cooler (yes it looks like a tiny radiator because it is) about $200-300 at the most and it will never do it again. EVER.

This article follows member #16 who describes the problem I experienced. Driving down the highway about 60mph I notice the RPM gauge needle zoomed up to 5000 and back to zero and then did it again. I'm all by myself trying to think fast as to what is happening. Low and behold the vehicle will not allow me to accelerate. So I take the exit ramp to a red stoplight. The light turns green and the car will not go forward. It just revs. The gear shift on the steering column is allowing me to shift from Drive to Park or any gear but the automatic FWD transmission is not engaging. No early warning signs of slippage or noise. Fluid looked clean no smell.

This vehicle has never had a major breakdown to where I was helpless. Only battery but that's expected. I had the car towed long distance of a 2 hour drive back home. It will remain parked until I can figure out who may want it. The interior is still good as is the motor. I refuse to replace the transmission or have a technician take it all part just to figure out what is wrong. No more money for this baby. Proud owner for 14 years...230,000 miles later. I guess she just couldn't hang on anymore.

Does this transmission have any electronic switches or sensors that tell when to shift or could it be in the linkage?

Ok for starters, after paying this off a week earlier, this happens driving down the highway - all the gauges and lights shut down with no warning. I pulled off the road, it acted like the battery was dead, waited for help. An hour or so later it started up without a jump, drove like nothing ever happened for five miles, then did it again. This time we sat for a bit then jumped started it, it wouldn't shift from park, shut it off and waited a few more min. Then it shifted but hard now it won't move. Put in rev, no go, no go in all gears. WHAT THE??? It never showed any problems with the transmission before this.

After getting off of a 12hour shift from work Wednesday morning the car pulled out of the parking spot and stopped. I was blocking several of my co-workers for about 15minutes until a male co-worker told me to go into reverse and see if that works. Well it did!!! I’m thinking to myself I can’t drive home in reverse 40 miles away so I tried 2nd gear and it rode roughly home. I drove it to work in 2nd gear yesterday and coming home I stopped at a red light and it never moved again. Not even in 1st gear. Yes it would go in reverse but I couldn’t drive it home 5 minutes away, that way. Took it to a shop to see how much to get it fixed –Wow--$2500 for a rebuilt one. That includes labor, if they don’t run into any problems.

On my way to a WIC appointment. This is a program for families to help with baby formula and some food. Noticed when I turned the car on the O/D light blinked. Thought it was weird but decided to go on to my appointment. I was pulling out of the driveway at work and the road goes down hill. Reached the stop sign and turned onto the next road and noticed the car was not driving faster. Pulled over and turned the car off. Started it back up and it would not go into any gear but reverse. I had to drive back to my office in reverse to park my car. Luckily I made it back without any major traffic issues. It is going to cost $2800 for a rebuilt transmission. This is coming at the worst time. I have two kids (two year old, nine month old). My fiance and I pay $1000 a month for daycare. I can't afford a new car payment or I would trade this piece of junk in. My only option is to use credit to have it fixed. Which will charge a huge interest rate. I WILL NEVER OWN A FORD AGAIN!!!!!

I bought my Escape on 7/30/13 used. I had no idea that they seem to have horrible transmission problems. I was on my was home (on Labor Day) on the expressway when my transmission started to slip I thought it was low on fluid so I pulled over and checked but the fluid levels were fine. The motor smelled hot (over worked) so I allowed it time to cool down. I started back on my trip home and the transmission started to slip in and out of gear, but worse than the first time. So AGAIN I pulled over to check the fluid and this time the smell coming from the engine compartment smelled like burnt transmission fluid. I tried to limp home but had to call my dad to come and towe me home the rest of the way. The next day I contacted the dealership I had bought it from and they told me they could rebuild and or replace it for $1800 to $1900. I called around and the cheapest I could fine was a transmission place in Grand Rapids, Michigan for $1800 to $2200 depending on the parts needed. I also checked for any recalls on my car per my VIN number. None showed... I called the people who issue the recalls and they said that it is Ford's call to issue the recall. I did forge a complaint with the national saftey whatever it is call. I then called Ford directly and was told that the Escape is one of the best cars they make I did in fact tell him that he was lieing because there were several recalls for this year of Escape. Then I forged a complaint with him because like I told both of these men that this was a saftey issue because I was on a busy expressway and I was nearly hit twice by semi's not to mention other cars traveling on the expressway. I was extremely pissed to say the least because NO ONE was willing to admit to wrong doing or blame. All maintance should have been done prior to my buying this car! If everyone on here and anyone else were to forge a complaint with both of these places like I did MAYBE and I say MAYBE something will get done and WE can be heard.

I'm on my way to work its 3 am in the city of DETROIT and without warning my transmission just goes out on my car. I have kept the maintenance and servicing of the car up to date,,I have taken really good care of this car and out of the blue it just stops going into gear I had to find some one to help me push it out of the road it's 3am in the city of Detroit and my car decides to just stop working not only is this just down right wrong its also dangerous. I really thought that this car was the one for me being that my father worked for ford for over 28 years I always wondered why he never owned a Car made by ford..I see why know and i bet he was rolling over in his grave when I brought this piece of sh*t ass car I found out its going to cost me $2500 just to get the car fixed im so upset about this I ve just decided to trade the car in and get a foreign car something I know will run longer than any ford I could buy..This is the last Ford I will ever buy or drive again Fords are not worth the time money or effort just a big ass joke...I'm done Sorry Dad.

The problem is the same as the previous people describe. Drove the vehicle to a restaurant and the 4X4 light flickered just as we were parking. Came out of the restaurant about 2 hours later and drove off without a problem. The 4X4 light did not flicker. Got about a mile away and the transmission very suddenly and without warning stopped working, I mean no drive, reverse, nothing. Plenty of fluid in the transmission and no filings in the fluid. Towed to a dealership. They said the transmission and cooler needed to be replaced for $6,100.00. Our families have purchased more than 20 fords over the past 10 years. This is likely the last for us.

I bought this vehicle in June 2010, from a relative in another state who had to give up driving. The car was in pristine condition, regularly serviced at the dealership where it was purchased (I have all the paperwork). They never had any trouble with it and loved the vehicle. About 2 weeks after buying the car, I took it on a 2 week roadtrip. On the return trip, I noticed it did not always engage right away, which made me hesitatnt to pull out into traffic unless I had LOTS of room. In September, I was heading to an appointment and was driving on an expressway when suddenly the vehicle would only rev and not engage. Fortunately I was able to coast off an exit, but got stuck at the top of the exit ramp (at 5pm on a weekday). Fortunately (Again), someone stopped and helped me to push the vehicle off the road and into an empty parking lot. I called AAA and had the car towed to their car care center since I had no local dealer. The car was taken to a local and very reputable transmission place, and after a week or so, I had my car back. However, it is still not right.

It is once again in the shop because all of a sudden it will not go in reverse. I also own a 2003 Camry, and I have spent more money on the Escape in the past year than I have in 7 years of owning the Camry. THe Escape SEEMED to be the perfect car. It held lots of cargo (including a wheelchair, walker and luggage) and was comfortable and had great features. I was happy to buy a Ford (having only owned Japanese cars), but this has certainly changed my mind. I will certainly not look at the Fords again, and am already thinking of trading this vehicle in on a new Toyota or Honda.

We'd just gotten married and were driving to the hotel for one evening before leaving on our honeymoon the following afternoon. On the way there, out of nowhere, the O/D (overdrive) light starts blinking repeatedly. The car was running fine and didn't show any other symptoms that we noticed. When I shut the car off to check into the hotel, and got back in, the O/D light wasn't blinking and appeared to be working correctly, so I thought it was just something strange. The fluid was fine, and the filter had been replaced and the system had been flushed in the last 6 months. The next morning, we got up for breakfast and drove less than 1 mile and stopped in front of a 7/11 to get directions to a restaurant. We'd been stopped for maybe 10 minutes, and the car was in park. When I tried to put it in reverse to leave, the car rolled backward (due to a natural incline), but giving it gas didn't do anything. I put it back in park, tried the other gears, and got nothing! I turned the car off, waiting 10 minutes, turned it back on and this time actually got into a gear just long enough to coast into the hotel parking lot. The transmission was going in and out at this point, and I noticed shifting at high RPMs, when it shifted at all.

I had to rush to get the car towed to a transmission shop, on a SUNDAY and still make our cruise in the next two hours. Since no shops were open that day, I browsed online and then had AAA tow it to a shop with the keys in it. I called the shop and left voicemail about dropping the car off and what was wrong...also let them know I'd be out of town for the next 5 days.

When I got back, I found out the car needed the tranny rebuilt. I figured as much, but it still sucked!

Thanks for letting me vent.

The problem started out same as before, that when you shifted into gear it was slow to engage. When it finally went into gear it "slammed". The colder the day the slower it went into gear. Finally, we took it to a reputable nearby transmission shop who confirmed that we needed a new transmission...again! So I called the Ford dealership we bought it from, who had installed a new transmission under warranty at 52,000 miles! I wanted to know if it was under warranty this SECOND failure at 102,000 miles. I was told by the service manager that if we hadn't visited them for service within the past 18 months, they have no record of us! Second of all he would not accept the diagnosis of the shop we took it to...he wanted us to tow it to his shop 12 miles away. I dug up the record of the first repair (luckily I saved it) for them and drove to the Ford dealership. Was informed the warranty was only good for 36,000 miles...so I was out of luck. The service manager stated that HAD I been a regular customer and have had the transmission serviced there, he might have called Ford to plead my case. But since I hadn't been there for the past 18 months I was out of luck! I AM SO DONE WITH ANY FORD PRODUCT>>>>EVER!!!!!! I've had 4 Fords in my lifetime I'm ashamed to say!!! We will escape my wife's Escape as soon as my Toyota Yaris is paid for. And I will sell my Ford F150 pickup right along with it! Hopefully someone will be stupid enough to buy them.