2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED 10/8/10 IN A 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID WITH APPROXIMATELY 53,000 MILES ON IT. DEPARTED CORDOVA, TN ON A WEEKEND TRIP TO TALLADEGA, AL AND CHATTANOOGA, TN. DROVE STEADILY FOR 3 - 4 HOURS AT 65 - 70 MPH AND STOPPED FOR DINNER IN BIRMINGHAM, AL FOR APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR. RESUMED TRIP AND IN ABOUT 15 MINUTES, AT AROUND 8:30 PM ON AN UNLIT STRETCH OF I-20 AT APPROXIMATELY MILE MARKER 135 WEST OF BIRMINGHAM WHILE TRAVELING AT 70 MPH THE MASTER VEHICLE ELECTRICAL HAZARD WARNING LIGHT (RED TRIANGLE) CAME ON, THE INFORMATIONAL DISPLAY SHOWED "STOP SAFELY NOW", AND THE ACCELERATOR BECAME UNRESPONSIVE. ALL THE LIGHTS REMAINED ON, STEERING APPEARED NORMAL, AND BRAKES FUNCTIONED NORMALLY. WE WERE BASICALLY COASTING IN 70 MPH TRAFFIC TRYING TO CROSS 3 LANES TO GET OFF THE ROAD. MANEUVERED TO THE RIGHT SHOULDER, TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF WITH FLASHERS GOING. AFTER ABOUT A MINUTE COMPOSING MYSELF, DECIDED TO TRY TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. IT RESTARTED WITH NO WARNING LIGHTS OR MESSAGES AND ALL SYSTEMS APPEARED TO FUNCTION NORMALLY. DROVE THE VEHICLE APPROXIMATELY 500 MILES WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT UNTIL I COULD TAKE THE VEHICLE TO MY DEALERSHIP. THEY RETRIEVED CODES P1A0D AND P0A3E AND SAID THEY HEARD A LOUD HIGH PITCHED NOISE FROM THE ELECTRONICS COOLING PUMP MOTOR WHICH THEY REPLACED. WE FEEL EXTREMELY FORTUNATE THAT WE WERE ABLE TO SOMEHOW GET SAFELY OFF THE ROADWAY WITHOUT CAUSING OR BEING INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. WE WERE ALSO LUCKY THAT THE FAULT DID NOT OCCUR AFTER MILE MARKER 147 BECAUSE, DUE TO CONSTRUCTION THAT WENT TO MILE MARKER 155, THERE WAS NO WAY TO PULL OUT OF THE TRAFFIC FLOW AT ALL. *TR

WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS (~75 MPH) MY COMBUSTION ENGINE SHUT OFF AND A RED WARNING LIGHT WAS DISPLAYED ON THE DASH WITH A MESSAGE OF "PLEASE PULL OVER SAFELY". MY VEHICLE HAS APPROX 53000 MILES ON IT AND IS 3.5 YEARS OLD. LUCKILY I WAS IN THE RIGHT LANE AND NOT IN ANY DANGER OF CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. THIS IS TRULY A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. HAD I BEEN PASSING ANOTHER VEHICLE OR HAD SOMEONE TAILGATING ME, IT COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN A MAJOR OR EVEN FATAL ACCIDENT. I CALLED FORD AND THEY SAY THEY HAVE NO RECORD OF THIS EVEN THOUGH I'VE SEEN ANOTHER OID ON THIS ISSUE THAT STATED THEY WERE # 891 IN LINE FOR A REPLACEMENT PART. PLEASE MAKE FORD RECALL ANY VEHICLE THAT HAVE THIS PART INSTALLED AND REPLACE IT WITH A MORE RELIABLE PART. *TR

2008 FORD HYBRID ESCAPE, 26,000K MILES ON IT. THE ABS, REGENERATIVE BRAKES FAILED WHILE PUTTING THE CAR INTO REVERSE LEAVING ONLY MANUAL BRAKES WORKING. THE EMERGENCY LIGHTS CAME ON IDENTIFYING REGENERATIVE BRAKE FAILURE. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER AND WHEN TURNED ON THE ISSUE COULDN'T BE REPLICATED INITIALLY AND APPEARED TO WORKING FINE. THE TECHNICIAN DID TESTS AND FOUND THE MASTER CYLINDER WAS FAILING. I HAD THE CAR TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER I PURCHASED IT FROM TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AND AGAIN THE WARNING LIGHTS DIDN'T COME ON AND THEY COULDN'T FIND THE ISSUE. I LEFT THE CAR WITH THEM TO LOOK AT AND THEY DROVE IT AROUND TESTING IT WHEN THE BRAKES SUDDENLY FAILED AGAIN WHILE A TECHNICIAN WAS DRIVING IT ON THE ROAD. THEY ORDERED A NEW MASTER CYLINDER WHICH HOPEFULLY WILL ADDRESS THE ISSUE. *TR

OUR 2008 FORD ESCAPE (HYBRID) SHUTS DOWN WITHOUT WARNING. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED AS A FAILED COOLANT PUMP FOR THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. WHEN WE TRIED TO HAVE IT REPAIRED, WE LEARNED THAT THERE WERE 891 REPLACEMENT PUMPS ON BACK ORDER - THESE ARE NOT ORDERS FOR NEW MANUFACTURING, BUT FOR REPLACING FAILED PUMPS. THESE ARE JUST THE ONES ON BACK ORDER AND DO NOT INCLUDE ONES ALREADY REPLACED, OR THOSE OWNERS THAT HAVE NOT TAKEN THEIR ESCAPE FOR DIAGNOSTICS. OUR ESCAPE HAS SHUT DOWN SEVERAL DOZEN TIMES AND IT HAS ALMOST ALWAYS BEEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON AN INTERSTATE. THERE IS NO WARNING, THE VEHICLE SHUTS DOWN AND GIVES US A MESSAGE TO PLEASE STOP SAFELY. THE VEHICLE WILL RE-START ONCE IT HAS BEEN SHUT OFF, BUT THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO COAST TO THE SHOULDER WHILE AVOIDING OTHER VEHICLES. WE THEN HAVE TO MERGE BACK INTO INTERSTATE TRAFFIC. FORD IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE, BUT HAVE TOLD US THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH "RECALLING THE PART" AS THAT IS UP TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT! *TR

I HAVE A 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. ON 3 SEPERATE OCCASIONS, MY COMBUSTIBLE ENGINE HAS SHUT OFF. THE DISPLAY ON MY DASH THEN TELLS ME TO "PULL OVER SAFELY." I STILL DO HAVE A SMALL AMOUNT OF POWER FROM THE ELECTRIC ENGINE. AFTER PULLING OVER, I CAN TURN OFF THE CAR, WAIT A COUPLE OF MINUTES AND RESTART THE ENGINE. IT WILL NOT LAST. AFTER MILKING THE GAS, TRYING NOT TO EXCEED 2,500 RPMS, MY CAR MIGHT LAST 1/2 TO 4 MILES BEFORE IT DOES IT AGAIN. LUCKILY, DURING THE TIMES THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME, I HAVE BEEN ON AN INTERSTATE THAT HAD 3 OR LESS LANES. HOWEVER, I MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN AS LUCKY IF I WAS ON THE 8 LANE CONNECTOR OF I 75/85 IN ATLANTA. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP ABOUT MY PROBLEM AND SPOKE TO THE ASSISTANT SERVICE MANAGER AT GENE EVANS FORD IN UNION CITY. AFTER DESCRIBING MY PROBLEM, HE QUICKLY KNEW WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS AND MENTIONED THAT HE HAS HAD QUIET A FEW PEOPLE WITH THIS PROBLEM. HE SAID THAT IT IS A PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE'S COOLANT PUMP. I DID SOME RESEARCH SAW SEVERAL POSTINGS OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. IT REALLY CONCERNS ME THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE CASES OF THIS OCCURRING AND I HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING FROM MY DEALER OR FORD THAT THIS IS GOING ON, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE TOYOTA SCANDAL. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD ESCAPE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MOTOR ELECTRIC PUMP FROZE AND CAUSED THE ENGINE TO SHUT DOWN. THERE WERE NO WARNINGS PRIOR TO THE FAILURE. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE PART WAS ON BACK ORDER SINCE THIS WAS A COMMON FAILURE ON THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 81000. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 83202. UPDATED 11/05/10 *BF UPDATED 11/05/10 UPDATED 11/17/10

THE VEHICLE HAS HAD AT LEAST TWO ISSUES PRIOR WITH THE ABS SYSTEM FAILING. CURRENTLY THE ABS AND THE REGENERATIVE BRAKING SYSTEMS BOTH FAILED MAKING THE VEHICLE IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP WITH THE BRAKES "CUTTING OUT" IN THE LAST 5 MPH. THE DEALER WAS CLOSED SO THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO AN INDEPENDENT SHOP WHO FOUND THAT THE ABS CONTROL ASSEMBLY AND THE TRAVEL SENSOR IN THE MASTER CYLINDER HAD FAILED! *TR

I HAVE A 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID. WHILE TURNING I HAVE LOST STEERING, THE STEERING WHEEL BECOMES DIFFICULT TO TURN AND THE VEHICLE DID NOT TURN, IT LASTS APPROX 5 SECONDS AND THEN WORKS AGAIN, THIS HAS HAPPENED TWO TIMES IN 4 DAYS AND ONCE ALMOST CAUSING ME TO CRASH INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE. I TOOK ESCAPE TO FORD DEALERSHIP WHERE I WAS TOLD THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE THEY CAN NOT FIND THE PROBLEM. THEY SAID THEY TRIED TO RECREATE IT AND WERE UNABLE TO DO SO (THEY ONLY DROVE MY ESCAPE 2 MILES THE ENTIRE 2 DAYS THEY HAD IT). I HAVE NOTICED, ALWAYS WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT, THAT SOMETIMES WHEN THE ENGINE SWITCHES FROM GAS TO ELECTRIC THERE IS SOMETIMES A SUDDEN DIFFERENCE IN STEERING WHEEL TENSION, ALMOST LIKE THE POWER STEERING TURNS OFF FOR A FEW SECONDS. *TR