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.
Coolant is leaking into cylinder 3 and is confirmed by a repair/service shop that it has a bad head gasket. No one else including dealership has inspected it. Upon research, this appears to be a well known and widespread issue with the Ford Escape 2018 as well as other years of this model. Ford continues to give no action, recall, or recourse for those affected who will be out over $5,000K to repair their engine.
It is a power train failure. Hi my name is [XXX] I bought a 2018 Ford escape SE 1.5L eco boost on 9-3-2022 and it had 75,000 miles on it. I-??m now finding out that it had a recall (21N12) when I bought it that expired at 84,000 miles. My car is now at 120,000 miles and my engine needs to be replaced. I was never told about the recall and was still sold the car that didn-??t even last 2 YEARS!!!!! Now it-??s going to be $8,000 to replace my motor. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Engine dead due to coolant intrusion from the manufacturing defect in the cylinder walls.The defect is KNOWN to be an issue according to Technical Service Bulletin 22-2229
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while at the local dealer for routine maintenance, upon further inspection, the contact was informed that a tune-up could not be performed due to a spark plug not being able to be removed. In addition, the contact was advised that there was a coolant intrusion into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 117,000.
Coolant is leaking into the engine and combusting, causing smoke. Happened on the highway, I had to stop and was almost hit. Local mechanic confirmed the problem, says the engine could catch on fire if I had kept driving it. The check engine light came on.
- Sutton, MA, USA
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The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine misfired and the vehicle jerked. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.
When changing the sparkplugs, sparkplug #2 broke off in the engine and needed to have the heads replaced. This was 100,00 mile and the warranty had just ran out so we had to pay over $4,000 out of pocket to the local dealership for this repair.. This is a known issue with Ford but they will not issue a recall. There was no warning lights or sounds that this was an issue.
In March of 2024 warning lights for abs, hill assist, traction control came on while the car was driving. We stopped driving and had the error codes checked at a autozone who said the sparkplugs where misfiring on cylinder 3. it was changed and when we started the car it blew white smoke and the engine seized. The repairs were over $6000. We were told ford had a class action suit which closed on November of 2023. We opened a case but ford closed it and will not help with known problems with the 1.5 lt engine.
Took vehicle in to be serviced for a Crank shaft position sensor yesterday 7/31/2024. Have never had any other issue, but was told that they found coolant in our spark plug cylinder 3. The dealership said it would be around $90.00 for a new engine. Dealership said there was massive amounts of smoke and we have never experiences this issue in the past. Was last serviced on 6/24/024 with 92.086 miles.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed on the highway and changing lanes, the vehicle lost motive power. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the short block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated the while driving at a moderate rate of speed, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was hot(H). The "Engine Fault Service Now" message also appeared on the instrument panel. The contact pulled over and checked under the hood and became aware that the coolant reservoir was empty. The contact added coolant however, the failure returned the next day. The contact took the vehicle to three independent mechanics who could not determine the cause of the failure. One mechanic eventually placed a camera inside the engine which showed that the coolant was leaking into cylinder #3. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the contact was informed that there were no recalls on the VIN. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and provided the same information as the dealer. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to file a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced due to a coolant intrusion into cylinder #1. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,500.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was jerking. Additionally, there was an engine misfire. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,510.
Ford designed, manufactured, and sold flawed 1.5l engines. Ford initiated Customer Satisfaction Program 21N12 as a result. This program unfairly limit the manufacturer-??s liability for THEIR design. Mileage is limited to 84,000. I myself easily googled and located many complaints online of the coolant intrusion issue not occurring until AFTER the 90,000 mile mark. How is Ford able to self-limit their liability for their dangerous and clearly faulty design? This is impacting many people who can-??t afford to drop another $14,000 on an engine replacement (when many of us are making payments on a now un-driveable vehicle). Who will hold Ford responsible?
We started noticing the car hesitating and engine light came on. We took it to mechanic who replaced coils and spark plugs. We drove it for two days and the same problem occurred but only worse. We took the car back and they told us it looked like one of the spark plugs was melted and tried to fix it again only for it to continue as soon as we pulled out of lot. So 3 times at that mechanic and it drove slightly ok for about a week. The next week all kinds of sensors and lights started popping up such as 4wd disabled, ABS, Hills auto start disabled.We took it to the Ford dealer to get a tune up thinking that was the problem only to receive a phone call saying our engine is ruined. There was coolant leaking into the engine and they found metal shavings in the engine. They informed us this was an ongoing problem for some time. They also stated if they put the same engine in the car as a replacement that it would probably be faulty too. They proceeded to tell us that, because we were outside of our warranty, we could either pay 8-10k for a new motor or we could start over buying a much more expensive car. We only have 9,000 left to pay off so exactly 1 year left on our paying off the car and they want us to keep paying them while we pay them more money to fix their problem?!!! We have been with Ford for 10 years and experience a recall before. We lived in California at the time so we were covered under lemon law. This is beyond poor business practice. There are thousands and thousands of people with this very issue and they do nothing to help their consumers who make them rich.
Vehicle has less than 100k miles and has an engine failure resulting from coolant intrusion. Ford support admits this is a known issue but refuses to give any remedial action to solve it because the nhtsa handles recalls not them. They will not tell me anything unless I pay to have it towed to a dealer and pay for diagnostics.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. While the contact's son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was shaking abnormally with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a blown head gasket. The contact was informed that the head gasket needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle had been serviced by the independent mechanic three times due to the persistent failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that the repair was not eligible for coverage under the Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 71,895.
Antifreeze is leaking into the valves. It requires a new engine. The vehicle has 108000+ miles and has regular maintenance. The engine light came on and said the issue was the 2nd valve. Could be a spark plug or coil. On the way to be serviced, very visible white smoke came from the exhaust. Had all spark plugs and coils replaced for an update. Light came on again as did the issue with power train warning. Then the overheating of the car after only driving 2 miles. Further inspection with a camera showed antifreeze in the engine. Ford has already published TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN 2.0L EcoBoost - Coolant In Cylinders, White Exhaust Smoke And/Or Illuminated MIL as they recognize it is an issue. chrome [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hillman, MN, USA