CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2013 Ford Escape has been in the news quite a bit and for all the wrong reasons. Within a few months of its release the SUV was recalled three times, twice because of engine fires.
In July 2012, due to a fuel line that could split and leak, Ford told owners to park their cars because even driving to the dealership for repairs was deemed too dangerous. Instead, in a somewhat unprecedented move, Ford sent tow trucks to pick up the affected vehicles and handed out rental cars while the owners waited for repairs.
A few months later the Escape was recalled again because antifreeze could leak out onto the engine due to a freeze plug becoming dislodged. As the coolant hit the hot engine there was, once again, a threat for fire.
The 2013 is the first model year of the Escape's 3rd generation and proves once again that you want to avoid the first model year when at all possible.
Car sort of saying it was an overheating car would sit for a week in freezing temperatures. As soon as I started the car and put it in drive right away, it would "overheat" and turn off. Ran code reader on the car, repaired all the codes it was throwing. Car would run for about 30 miles and start doing it again.
I ran code reader again and once again fixed the problems it said it was having. It would run for a day then back to overheating. I had it towed to one shop for them to reset the code, charge me, and then it broke down again. Had it towed to the Ford dealership. They replaced the whole coolant system
The vehicle is stuck in false overheat, so I replaced the coolant temp sensor, water pump, reservoir, coolant lines. It's still stuck in overheat status...
Since buying this car have had nothing but problems with cooling system, Water pump has been replaced twice, the coolant reservoir has been replaced the main front hose, the radiator cap, hose behind the engine, and the coolant bypass valve. This is just what I have paid for, and does not include what was done under recalls. Every time I take my car to Ford I read the codes and when the work is done and the car returned I seem to always have new codes. This is getting to be ridiculous!!!!!!!!!
The problems with the cooling system started after I brought it in for the recall. I got a low coolant level, which I was told was normal after this repair, just to add coolant. This kept going on for a couple years every few months. Then the warning light came on and had to replace a bypass valve. Two days later, the overheat warning light came on and they blamed it on pin holes in a hose. They replaced it and all was good for 4 or 5 months and the overheat warning come on again on a 15F day after only 5 mins of driving. They blamed that on a faulty water pump. Fixed that and a week later, the overheat warning happened again. Now they say pin holes in hoses.... What a piece of crap this car has turned out to be.... to bad, I like the way it drives and handles, but it's reliability is VERY SUSPECT.
This is the 5th time this has happened. Once I was on the freeway and it just stopped. Each time I have taken it to the dealer that I bought the car from and each time they assure me that mine is an isolated incident and that Ford is unaware of anyone else with this issue. Without warning you are driving along and the warning comes on for overheated engine and then the shut off happens. I want Ford to acknowledge the problem and come up with a solution. Today the service writer looked at all of the previous times and said "we may have a problem"! Duh!!!!!
Update from Sep 12, 2018: I misspoke in your initial complain it was really the 6th time this has happened. Today the dealership replaced the sensor. They do not have any idea if that will help but they are out of ideas. I turned to Ford to do a a buy back but was informed that the Lemon Law did not apply because it was over the 1 year mark (even though it happened twice during the first year). I have no confidence in this as solution.
- Amy M.,
Saint George, UT, US
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Ford really needs to fix this frequent issue of the Cylinder Head Temp Sensor (CHT) thinking that the vehicle is overheating and then it throws a code & kicks into "safety shut down" mode which abruptly shuts the engine down with no warning! It is VERY dangerous because if it happens when you are on highway or in heavy traffic you have little or no control or ability to accelerate to a safe area. This can happen randomly. I have had my vehicle in cool garage over night, then driven only 1 mile then it can happen. Or be driving at steady speed for 10 miles & it can happen. UGGHHHH!!!!! I brought to FORD Dealer & they said they bled coolant system as maybe it was air in system causing false read. Car was fine for couple months, then BAM it happened again. Coolant levels are always where they should be when this happens. I have read SEVERAL complaints/posts of many people having the same issues. Major defect in this design. This was my 1s Ford vehicle and will probably be my LAST! If this doesn't get resolved I may seriously look into a class action suit as clearly it is a widespread issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Car sort of saying it was an overheating car would sit for a week in freezing temperatures. As soon as I started the car and put it in drive right away, it would "overheat" and turn off. Ran code reader on the car, repaired all the codes it was throwing. Car would run for about 30 miles and start doing it again.
I ran code reader again and once again fixed the problems it said it was having. It would run for a day then back to overheating. I had it towed to one shop for them to reset the code, charge me, and then it broke down again. Had it towed to the Ford dealership. They replaced the whole coolant system
- Dannielle S., Rapid City, US