2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

I WAS PULLING OUT OF A PARKING SPACE AND LOST POWER STEERING. THE TORQUE SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON. I HAD IT TOWED TO MY FORD DEALERSHIP, WHO INFORMED ME THEY NEEDED TO REPLACE THE POWER STEERING MODULE FOR $2200. WE WERE DECIDING WHAT TO DO NEXT, WHEN THE RECALL CAME OUT FOR THIS EXACT ISSUE. THE DEALERSHIP COULD NOT FIX IT AS FORD HAS NOT PUT OUT CORRECTIVE ACTIONS. IT IS NOW JUNE 16TH, WHICH IS WHEN THEY PROMISED CORRECTIVE ACTION WOULD BE OUT BY. WHEN WE CALLED ABOUT GETTING A RENTAL VEHICLE, AS MY HUSBAND AND I ARE NOW USING ONE CAR, THEY SAID THEY WOULD NOT COVER IT. THEN 15 DAYS LATER THEY CALLED AGAIN SAYING NOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR CAR IS NOT COVERED BY THE RECALL. HOWEVER, READING THE RELEASE FROM THEIR SPOKESWOMAN ON AUTOBLOG, IT IS EXACTLY WHAT IS COVERED, WHICH IS REPLACING THE POWER STEERING ELECTRONIC SENSOR MODULE. FORD IS TRYING TO PASS THE BUCK HERE AND NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROBLEM. WE HAVE LOST INCOME DUE TO OUR LACK OF HAVING A SECOND CAR, AS I MUST DRIVE MY HUSBAND TO WORK 15 MILES ONE WAY, THEN GO BACK ANOTHER 55 MILES THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, SO NEITHER OF US CAN TAKE ON EXTRA WORK SO THAT EACH OF US HAS A WAY TO GET TO AND FROM WORK. *TR

AS WE WERE DRIVING, A "HAZARD" LIGHT COME ON THE DASH, THE ENGINE SHUT COMPLETELY OFF, AND A MESSAGE, "STOP CAR SAFELY," ALSO APPEARED ON THE DASH. WE DID SO, AND TURNED OFF THE CAR AND TURNED IT BACK ON. CAR DROVE FINE FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED. WE DID THIS FOR ABOUT AN HOUR OR SO TO GET HOME. HAD WE BEEN ON A BUSY INTERSTATE. A SUDDEN ENGINE SHUT OFF COULD HAVE BEEN VERY DANGEROUS. WE TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WERE INFORMED THAT THE ELECTRIC BATTERY HAD OVERHEATED BECAUSE THE WATER PUMP WAS NOT WORKING. I HAVE COME ACROSS SIMILAR COMPLAINTS WHILE LOOKING INTO MY SITUATION. SOME EXAMPLES: HTTP://REPAIRPAL.COM/COOLANT-PUMP-ON-HYBRID-MAY-FAIL-AND-CAUSE-CELENGINE-SHUTDOWN-562. *TR

I WAS DRIVING MY 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID AT ABOUT 65MPH IN THE LEFTMOST LANE SHORTLY AFTER MERGING FROM I83 SOUTH ONTO I395 (BALTIMORE BELTWAY) WHEN, WITH NO ADVANCE WARNING WHATSOEVER, THE GAS PEDAL STOPPED RESPONDING AT THE SAME TIME AS THE TRIANGLE WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT AND THE "STOP SAFELY NOW" (AS IF I HAD ANY CHOICE) MESSAGE APPEARED. BY THE GRACE OF GOD I WAS ABLE TO COAST ACROSS 5 LANES OF TRAFFIC TO THE BREAKDOWN LANE. I WAS ANXIOUS TO GET HOME TO FEED THE DOGS, AND MY HUSBAND WAS OUT OF TOWN, SO RATHER THAN CALL A TOW TRUCK I RESTARTED THE CAR AND KEPT GOING IN THE RIGHT-HAND LANE FOR ANOTHER 3 OR 4 MILES UNTIL THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. IT TOOK ANOTHER 2 HOURS (WITH AN 15-20 ADDITIONAL STALLING EPISODES) UNTIL BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME TO ANNAPOLIS. THROUGH THE INTERNET (AND MY HUSBAND CRAWLING UNDER THE CAR) WE HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM IS A WELL-DOCUMENTED FAULTY OEM HYBRID DRIVE TRAIN MECS COOLANT WATER PUMP. SEEMS TO ME THAT THIS IS A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE THAT IS EVERY BIT AS SERIOUS AS THE GM IGNITION SWITCH PROBLEM, AND A FATAL ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. IT IS UNCONSCIONABLE THAT FORD HAS NOT ISSUED A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE, AND UNCONSCIONABLE THAT NHTSA HAS NOT FORCED FORD TO DO SO. *TR

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IN MY FORD ESCAPE HYBRID 2008 SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING AT HIGH SPEED (INDICATOR WITH A TRIANGLE SHAPE AND AN ADMIRATION SIGN INSIDE). THE "STOP SAFELY NOW" SIGN WAS DISPLAYED AT THE SAME TIME. I COULD NOT ACCELERATE ANYMORE, THUS LOSING FULL CONTROL OF THE CAR. I PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER, TURNED THE ENGINE OFF AND TURNED ENGINE BACK ON. ONCE I TURN THE CAR OFF, IT WILL DRIVE AND THEN REPEAT. INITIALLY IT ONLY HAPPENED ON THE FREEWAY BUT NOW IT HAPPENS WHILE DRIVING AT REGULAR SPEEDS (25MPH). THE FIRST DEALER I TOOK IT TO TOLD ME TO REPLACE THE ENGINE COOLANT PUMP, I DID STILL THE SAME PROBLEM; I TOOK IT TO ANOTHER FORD DEALER WHO SAID I NEEDED TO REPLACE THE FILTER TO THE COOLANT PUMP, I DID STILL THE SAME PROBLEM. TODAY I WAS TOLD THAT THE THROTTLE BODY WAS BAD SO I REPLACED THIS, STILL THE SAME PROBLEM!!!! THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH NOSOLUTION. FORD, PLEASE RECALL THE MODELS IMPACTED AND FIX THIS ISSUE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE PEOPLE GET KILLED. *TR

FOR THE LAST MONTH OR SO, MY CAR HAS RANDOMLY STALLED, IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING. THE "PULL OVER SAFELY" LIGHT WOULD LIGHT UP, AND THE ENTIRE CAR WOULD SHUT DOWN. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER, AND THEY SAID THAT I NEED TO REPLACE MY ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BECAUSE IT IS SHUTTING DOWN. AFTER RESEARCHING, I HAVE DISCOVERED THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AND I WOULD LIKE TO URGE FORD TO RECALL THE PART AND ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELLING DEFECTIVE CARS. *TR

CAR GOES LIMP. FORD HAS TSB 08-24-05. MECP FAILS. POOR DESIGN. HAS GONE LIMP ON ME ~8 TIMES. EACH TIME CAR DRIFTS TO A STOP REGARDLESS OF LOCATION, SPEED, ETC...(EG, CAN BE GOING 75MPH ON HIGHWAY) AND IT GOES LIMP. CANNOT MOVE AFTERWARDS FOR MINUTES. MANY CASES OF THIS HAPPENING HAVE BEEN REPORTED. TSB 08-24-5 STATES THAT SOME 2005-2008 ESCAPE HYBRID AND 2006-2008 MARINER HYBRID VEHICLES MAY EXHIBIT A RED TRIANGLE LIGHT AND CODES INDICATING A TRANSAXLE OVERTEMP. THIS CONDITION MAY RESULT IN REDUCED POWER AS THE SYSTEM ACTIVATES FAIL SAFE OPERATION. CODES P1A0E, P1A0F, P0A3C, P0A3E, P0A7A, P0A7C AND P1A0D MAY ALSO BE SET. *TR

THE POWER STEERING LOCKED UP ON ME AS I WAS DRIVING MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE THE CAR. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER AND STOP THE CAR BECAUSE I HAPPEN TO BE DRIVING VERY SLOWLY AT THE TIME AND SHUT OFF THE CAR AND THEN RESTARTED IT. AFTER I RESTARTED IT THE STEERING WORKED FINE. I LOOKED ONLINE TO SEE WHY THAT WOULD HAPPEN AND I FOUND 302 OTHER PEOPLE COMPLAINING OF THE SAME PROBLEM HTTP://WWW.ABOUTAUTOMOBILE.COM/COMPLAINT/2008/FORD/ESCAPE/STEERING. THE COMPLAINTS SAY THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN MORE AND MORE FREQUENTLY AND CAN HAPPEN WHEN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY. FORD IS NOT DOING A RECALL APPARENTLY EVEN THOUGH THIS LACK OF STEERING HAPPENS WITH NO WARNING AS PEOPLE ARE DRIVING AT HIGH RATES OF SPEED. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS! *JS

I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWARY GOING ABOUT 70 MPH WHEN THE ACCELERATION WENT OUT AND THE OK TO STOP SAFELY LIGHT CAME ON. I PULLED OVER AND STOPPED AND RESTARTED THE CAR AND IT OPERATED OK. THIS IS PROBABLY THE 6TH TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST MONTH. I WILL BE TAKING IT IN FOR REPAIRS. I CALLED FORD REGARDING THIS ISSUE BECAUSE THERE IS A LIMITED CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM BUT WAS TOLD BECAUSE MY CAR WAS NOT BUILT AT A PARTICULAR FACTORY MY CAR WAS NOT COVERED BY THIS LIMITED PROGRAM, EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM AS I HAVE SEEN ON OTHER WEBSITES. THIS IS SHOULD BE PART OF A RECALL. *JS