2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

PLEASE ISSUE AN IMMEDIATE RECALL FOR THE MOTOR ELECTRONICS COOLING SYSTEM PUMP ON ALL 2005-2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRIDS. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE TO FORD AND THE SUBJECT OF TSB 08-24-5. THIS PART FAILURE IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. WHILE THE CITED COMPLAINTS FORM AN ALARMING PICTURE OF THE MECS PUMP FAILURE ISSUE, THIS LIST IS BY NO MEANS EXHAUSTIVE. A SEARCH OF COMPLAINTS FOR THE 2005-2007 ESCAPE HYBRIDS RETURNS ADDITIONAL HORRIFYING INCIDENTS INVOLVING THIS PART FAILURE. IT IS APPALLING THAT WITH SO MANY REPORTS OF HIGH-SPEED ENGINE SHUTDOWNS AND NEAR-MISS ACCIDENTS THAT THIS ISSUE DOES NOT EVEN HAVING A PENDING DEFECTS INVESTIGATION. PLEASE RIGHT THIS WRONG BEFORE SOMEONE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED. *TR

WHILE DRIVING ON INTERSTATE 75 IN FLORIDA, THE GAS ENGINE SHUTDOWN AND A WARNING LIGHT/MESSAGE APPEARED "STOP SAFELY NOW". OUR VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO DECELERATE, RUNNING ONLY ON THE ELECTRIC MOTOR, AS WE TRIED TO CROSS TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC "SAFELY". WE PULLED ONTO THE SHOULDER, AND TURNED THE CAR OFF. WE WERE ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE WITHOUT GETTING THE ERROR MESSAGE. WE EXPERIENCED THIS SAME SUDDEN ENGINE SHUTDOWN AND FEH WARNING 5-6 TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF OUR ROAD TRIP FROM WISCONSIN TO FLORIDA AND BACK. UPON RETURN TO WISCONSIN, WE HAD THE CAR CHECKED OUT BY OUR FORD DEALER, AND THEY INFORMED US IT WAS A FAULTY MOTOR ELECTRONICS COOLANT PUMP (PART #5M6Z-8C419-A). FORD HAS ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM (TSB 08-24-5), BUT HAS NOT YET ISSUED A RECALL. SINCE THE UNEXPECTED DECELERATION OF A VEHICLE TRAVELING AT HIGH SPEEDS CONSTITUTES A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE (AS MANY FORD ESCAPE HYBRID OWNERS ON EDMUNDS.COM CAN ATTEST, HTTP://TOWNHALL-TALK.EDMUNDS.COM/DIRECT/VIEW/.F0FF5B5), I AM STRONGLY URGING YOU TO COMPEL FORD TO ISSUE A RECALL ON THIS PART. *TR

WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH THE GAS ENGINE SHUTS OFF, THE STOP SAFELY NOW LIGHT APPEARS AND THE MASTER VEHICLE WARNING LAMP COMES ON. HAPPENED ONLY A COUPLE TIMES THE FIRST 3 WEEKS. IN THE LAST 2 DAYS IT HAS HAPPENED 15-16 TIMES. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS TO HAPPEN WHILE IN TRAFFIC ON THE INTERSTATE. TO SHOULDN'T THIS BE A RECALL. TAKING INTO FORD DEALER TOMORROW. *TR

WHILE DRIVING I NOTICED A LACK OF POWER AND GOT THE MESSAGE "STOP SAFELY NOW". AS THE MANUAL STATED I PULLED OVER, WAITED A FEW MINUTES. THE CAR STARTED UP AGAIN BUT THE EVENT KEPT HAPPENING ALL THE WAY HOME. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO A DEALER WHO MADE A REPAIR COSTING 642 DOLLARS. THE CAR RAN FINE FOR A MONTH BUT WHEN ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY I HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE EXCEPT IT WAS MORE DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH THE LOSS OF POWER IN BUSY TRAFFIC. I WAS IN THE PASSING LANE TO ALLOW ANOTHER CAR ENTER THE HIGHWAY FROM AN ON RAMP WHEN IT HAPPENED AND I WAS LUCKY TO BE ABLE TO CROSS THREE LANES OF TRAFFIC TO BRING THE CAR TO REST. AGAIN, IT HAPPENED ALL THE WAY HOME CAUSING ME TO FINALLY DRIVE IN THE BREAKDOWN LANE WITH FLASHERS ON. I WENT ONLINE AND LEARNED THAT THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH FORD HYBRIDS. MY QUESTION IS WHY NO RECALL ON SUCH AN EXPENSIVE AND DANGEROUS PROBLEM? *TR

VEH SHOWS A CAUTION SIGN (EXCLAMATION IN TRIANGLE) WITH A WARNING (PULL VEHICLE OVER SAFELY AND TURN OFF ENGINE). VEH LOSES ALL ACCELERATION AND I MUST PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT. HAPPENS EVERY TIME WE DRIVE ON THE FREEWAY ONLY, NEVER ON A SIDE STREET OR IN STOP AND GO. I PULL VEHICLE OVER AND TURN OFF ENGINE FOR APPROX 2 OR 3 MINUTES, AND IT STARTS RIGHT UP. SOME TIMES IT WILL HAPPEN MULTIPLE TIMES WITHIN A 20 TO 30 MINUTE TIME PERIOD, SOMETIMES ONLY ONCE IN SEVERAL HOURS OF DRIVING. DEALER HAS NO IDEA WHY AND REQUIRES A TOW IMMEDIATELY WHEN IT HAPPENS TO DETERMINE CAUSE. CANNOT TOW WHEN ON THE WAY TO DR, OUT OF TOWN, OR OTHER. *TR

"STOP SAFELY NOW" APPEARS IN DASHBOARD WHILE GOING 70 MPH AND YOU LOSE THE ACCELERATOR - YOU CANNOT MAINTAIN / INCREASE SPEED. THE CAR BASICALLY DIES AND SHUTS OFF. THIS IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY WHILE DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY OR IN TRAFFIC OF ANY KIND. THIS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES AS WE WERE DRIVING TO FLORIDA FOR SPRING BREAK. ONCE WE STOPPED, WE WERE ABLE TO RESTART THE CAR AND CONTINUE ON UNTIL THE NEXT "STOP SAFELY NOW" APPEARED, SOMETIMES IN LESS THAN 3 MINUTES, SOMETIMES AFTER 3 HOURS. GIVEN THAT IT WAS A SUNDAY, WE WERE UNABLE TO FIND A FORD DEALER WITH A HYBRID TECHNICIAN ON STAFF. THE FIRST FORD DEALER WE TOOK IT TO HAD IT FOR 3 DAYS AND "COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG". THE SECOND DEALER WE WENT TO REPLACED THE THROTTLE BODY AND WATER PUMP. THIS BREAKDOWN IS UNACCEPTABLE AND DANGEROUS. NO CAR SHOULD SIMPLY STOP LIKE THAT. THIS DESIGN / FLAW SHOULD BE RECALLED AND FIXED BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED ON THE EXPRESSWAY. *TR

I STARTED THE CAR UP AND AS IT SAT IDLING THE STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE DISPLAYED AND THE ENGINE DIED. I TURNED EVERYTHING OFF ON THE CAR, RESET THE MESSAGE AND RESTARTED THE CAR. AS I PULLED OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY AND STEPPED ON THE GAS, THE CAR AGAIN DISPLAYED THE MESSAGE STOP SAFELY NOW AND THE ENGINE DIED. I HAD TO AGAIN TURN EVERYTHING OFF IN THE CAR, RESET THE MESSAGE, AND RESTART THE CAR. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS WRONG THIS TIME THAT IS MAKING THE MESSAGE DISPLAY. THERE NEEDS TO BE A RECALL ON THIS VEHICLE. THE STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE KILLS THE ENGINE AT ANY SPEED. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM. NO CAR SHOULD SIMPLY SHUT THE ENGINE DOWN WHILE DRIVING. *TR

I WAS TRAVELING THROUGH NYC ON RT 95 DURING RUSH HOUR, BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC. ALL 3 LANES WERE TRAVELING AT 65 MPH WITH NO BREAKDOWN LANE DUE TO CONSTRUCTION IN THE AREA. THE CAR FOR NO APPARENT REASON DISPLAYED THE "STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE AND THE ENGINE DIED. BY SOME MIRACLE THE JERSEY BARRIERS BLOCKING THE BREAKDOWN LANE OPENED UP FOR ABOUT 100 FT AND I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER. THE CAR LOSES ALL POWER WHEN THE STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE APPEARS. THIS IS A HAZARD AND THIS CAR SHOULD BE RECALLED FOR THIS PROBLEM. IT TURNED OUT THE COOLING PUMP NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. NO CAR SHOULD SIMPLY SHUT OFF WHEN DRIVING. IT CREATES AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. I HAD 18 WHEELERS AND A STREAM OF CARS BEHIND ME AND HAD THE BREAKDOWN LANE NOT BEEN AVAILABLE, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A MULTIPLE CAR CRASH WITH POTENTIAL DEATHS. IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THERE HAVE BEEN NO ACCIDENTS DUE TO THIS PROBLEM. THIS CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHEN THE ENGINE WILL SHUT OFF. THE CAR NEEDS TO BE REDESIGNED SO THAT THE STOP SAFELY NOW MESSAGE NEVER SHUTS DOWN THE ENGINE. *TR

I WAS TRAVELING ON THE EXPRESSWAY IN THE LEFT HAND LANE DOING ABOUT 70 MPH WHEN THE ENGINE SHUTDOWN AND A STOP NOW SAFELY MESSAGE APPEARED ON DASHBOARD. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO RESTART AND CONTINUE TO MY DESTINATION. THIS AGAIN HAPPENED ON THE WAY HOME THE SAME DAY THERE WAS NO PROBLEM FOUND AT THE TIMES I PULLED OVER AND BOTH TIMES WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE. I HAD NO ABILITY TO ACCELERATE AND FORTUNATELY WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER, THIS WAS A SCARY. *KB

GOING FROM MISSOURI TO ARKANSAS MY CAR SIMPLY STOPPED RUNNING NO INDICATOR LIGHTS WERE ON AT THE TIME AND A TRIANGLE CAME ON STATING I COULD PULL OVER SAFELY NOW AND STOP. I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE AFTER TRYING TO MAKE THE ELECTRIC BATTERY ENGINE WORK. NOTHING HAPPENED. PEOPLE HELPED ME PUSH MY CAR OFF THE ROAD AND THEN A MAN SUGGESTED I TRY TO START IT AGAIN. IT STARTED RIGHT UP AND RAN FOR ANOTHER 20-30 MILES AND THEN PROCEEDED TO DO THIS ABOUT EVERY 5-10 MILES FOR HOURS. THE TEMP WAS RAINING AND ABOUT 60 DEGREES. AGAIN ON THE WAY HOME IN DRY WEATHER AND AT NIGHT IT DID THE SAME THING FOR 136 MILES. THIS WAS AT NIGHT AND I TRIED TO KEEP IT AT 60 MPH. FINALLY DROPPING IT TO 50 AND FINALLY MADE IT HOME. I'M TAKING IT TO MY MECHANIC BUT WHEN I CALLED FORD WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR THEY SAID THEY NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM. I FIND THIS TO BE AN UNTRUTH AND FORD ( WHICH MY FAMILY HAS SWORN BY FOR MANY YEARS) REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PROBLEM. *TR