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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
8 / 61
Injuries / Deaths:
14 / 0
Average Mileage:
55,047 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.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle surged while driving and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that incorrect signals were being provided to the PCM due to insufficient compression in the wiring harness spliced into the manifold absolute pressure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 15V813000 (electrical system), but the VIN was not provided. The failure mileage was 112,000.
The contact owned a 2013 Ford Escape. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. In addition, an abnormal noise emitted from the rear of the vehicle. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but the failure was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000. The VIN was not available. Updated 08/22/16 the consumer stated the vehicle stalled, when he attempted to pass another vehicle. Updated 08/30/16.
First problem April 2016 - engine shaking at 55/60 mph - rear transaxle mount replaced 5/3/16 second problem - car stalling and shaking / but not turning off - towed 5/11/16 - replaced main harness wiring 5/12/16 third problem - car stalled / not starting - towed again 5/12/16 - replaced left ac mount, now to replace right ac mount. Still at dealer - 5/31/16
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. While driving 55 mph, the contact noticed smoke coming from the vehicle and the engine warning light illuminated. The oil light flickered and remained illuminated as well. The vehicle continued to emit smoke fumes from under the hood and the front passenger wheel well. The contact exited the vehicle, lifted the hood, and noticed flames. The fire department extinguished the fire and a fire investigator came to view the scene. Neither a police nor a fire report were filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. There were injuries to the contact's right hand, which required medical attention. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 84,500.
Intermittent check engine light (happens when in park or when driving). Hooked up to code reader and got P026B7; found online that the the engine coolant bypass valve is defective, but not recalled (tsb 13-02-15). Dealer confirms code and that engine coolant bypass valve is defective and should be replaced but referenced tsb 16-0052. Despite the part being so defective it has been discontinued, redesigned, and replaced the dealer claims it isn't covered under any form of warranty.
- Rosemount, MN, USA
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Since January 18, my car has stalled many time while driving, has been to the dealership six times, not fixed, always unable to replicate. It has now been there for a week, trying to replicate the stalling. It has stalled while diving out of my driveway, on side streets, and twice on the highway. No engine lights go on, it just stalls. The radiator, the map sensor and now the battery have been replaced, still no fix. The water pump was replaced after a recall in 2014 after overheating and coolant leaks.
Engine fault service now errors again. Occurred within 1/2 block of leaving the driveway, car stumbles and becomes difficult/dangerous to drive. Was able to return to the driveway and tried it again several hours later with no error. This same issue occurred in 2013 when we bought the car new, it took several months to identify that some wiring splice/heat shield was failing as no error code was captured. Ford eventually issued a recall for that and it has behaved until now. The dealer has advised no error code was captured again this time. They advise all they can do is keep the car and start it several times a day trying to catch it failing in order to capture the code. I cannot believe they've designed a system that cannot capture its own error codes but obviously have here. We learned to take pictures of the screen when it failed and did that again here. There are two Ford recalls for what would appear to be the same issue 14S17 and 14S17-S1 where they expanded the recall. It seems clear they need to expand the recall further.
My engine light came on and my car started to stall and not drive. It started to skip and at as if it was not going to go while driving. When I stopped it started to act as if it was going to cut off in the street. I had to get it towed to a dealership. They said it was my engine wiring system. Cost 500 dollars to fix.
Since August 2015-April 14, 2016 I have taken my vehicle to the Ford service department four times due to reduction of engine power/engine overheating warning. My Ford was subject to the recall and serviced in Aug 2015. In January 2016 and twice in April 2016 I have had the same issue with engine reduction/vehicle heating gauge idle on hot/the vehicle sputters and rides extremely hard until you can come to a complete stop. All incidents have happened while driving in traffic and once on the interstate. When it happened on the interstate I barely made it to the shoulder as I had to try and cross a lane of passing vehicles to do so. I do not feel that Ford has adequately found a fix for this huge and dangerous problem and I do not know if a consumer has to be killed first for them to look at it and suggest a fix that is viable to the problem. I am fearful to even drive my Ford due to the is problem since it only happens when the vehicle is in motion. I am requesting that you please review this for all of the consumers that Ford continues to sell these automobiles too.
My Ford Escape 2013 stalls while driving at low speeds, like a parking lot, at a stop sign. It has done it now 4 times in 2016. The engine just loses power and stalls. The red oil lamp and battery lamp come on. No system check messages show. It will start sometimes and stall again immediately, sometimes it starts and then is ok for the remainder of the trip. The Ford dealer couldn't find the problem when they checked it right after an incident. Offered to drive it till they find the problem and give me loaner till then. "?"
Recall 14S17 specified that a faulting wiring harness for the map sensor could be repaired by splicing the wiring harness. I had this recall work performed on my vehicle in October 2014, but since then the symptoms which led to the original recall persisted. Multiple times, the vehicle has stalled in traffic on a city street, or failed to respond to throttle inputs while merging onto a highway. These are very dangerous situations. Since then, Ford Motor Company has issued a service bulletin advising full replacement of the same wiring harness (not just a splice). This is performed at my cost, not fmc's. full replacement should have been the original solution to this recall, and a second recall or revision should be issued to force Ford to provide a full solution rather than a half-measure.
After driving the vehicle for 7 minutes after I started it, the car overheated on the highway. I had to pull over in a parking lot and shut off the car. When I attempted to open the turn on a car after a little while it would not allow me. This same problem had happened exactly on March 16 and the dealership service had replaced the coolant stand pipe standpipe. They said there is no recall associated with VIN yet it is the second time this happens.
While descending a hill, the engine started to rev up to 4000 rpms and back to normal, tachometer was also showing revs, my wife had to hold her foot on the brake during this time. She stopped the car and shifted to neutral and shifted back to drive and car had no further incidents.
My car was effected by recall 13S12. This recall has a number of different issues dealing with engine coolant and cracks in engine cylinders. I took my vehicle in to have the recalls fixed on it. 5 months later, my engine still has the localized overheating, antifreeze leaks and engine cracks. The entire engine is ruined. The dealership sold me a car that was completely unsafe for my children and I. this recall is said to cause engine compartment fires. Even after they initially fixed the recalls, the vehicle still will overheat and cause fires! additionally - ruining the vehicle engine. Ford will not repair, replace or refund because they said they already closed the recall out - even though the recall was supposed to be fixed.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 20 mph, the vehicle failed to accelerate. The message board indicator requested for the vehicle to be stopped. Four months prior, the vehicle was repaired for the same failure under a manufacturer recall. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that fractures on the cylinder caused antifreeze to leak into the combustion chamber and damage the engine. The engine had to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 109,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the engine was defective and the engine light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an authorized mechanic for diagnostic testing, which located a failure code at the coolant system. When the engine was started, smoke and a burning odor was detected from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 60,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. While accelerating to approximately 5 mph from a stop sign, the vehicle stalled. The "engine fault service now" warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was turned off and restarted. While driving, the engine lost power and the transmission shook severely. The contact stopped again and waited approximately one minute then the vehicle started normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the failure could not be duplicated. The failure recurred three times in one week. The vehicle was repaired under warranty by the dealer the first time the failure occurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 45,121....updated 04/19/16
Wastegate solenoid needs to be replaced but the recall only covers cars manufactured in July 2012 or before. Ours was manufactured in February 2013, 7 months later.
Twice now the RPM accelerate up and down without you pressing the gas pedal. Service engine like appears. Then when stopped at a stop sign it tried accelerating without me pressing the gas pedal. Very scary.
Correspondence with flood Ford of East greenwich, ri to: Michael whyte (Ford service adviser), re: Crash risk with 2013 Ford Escape (stalling while driving and also lack of being able to accelerate vehicle while engine is running). Vehicle was brought to 2 different Ford dealers for same problem and was told that they could diagnose and/or replicate problem. This issue and circumstance has been reported numerous times upon goggle searches (please see below). I contacted the Ford customer relationship center again today to document the situation surrounding our vehicle (case # 8980601). Please note that I had contacted them originally on February 29th (case #8916920) and they referred me to the flood dealership after we had brought the vehicle to the tasca dealership on February 28th and 29th. They tried to contact the service department at flood Ford at 4:00pm today but were not able to get through. I also contacted the consumers for auto reliability and safety and they responded back with the following message and strongly emphasized not to drive the vehicle because of the potential crash risk. I am also in the process of reporting the defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and have also contacted the wjar consumer advocate department surrounding our dilemma to see if they can help us as well. Hopefully the experts at Ford can help provide additional insights as to how to best address this situation. With best regards, victor www.autonews.com/article/20140815/oem11/140819918/Ford-recalls- > 2013 -Escape-for-11th-time-this-time-for-wiring-problem > > > M.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Escape/2013/engine/engine_stalls_shuts > _do > wn_while_driving.shtml > > www.lemonlaw.com/wordpress/Ford-Escape-stalling-problems-contin > ue- > 160000-vehicles-recalled/
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Turner, ME, USA