2016 Ford Escape

While driving home going about 40 mph my Ford Escape lost acceleration and then completely shut off IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! I was able to "limp" it to the side of the street where it would not start at all. I then placed it in reverse (as I was on a hill) to roll it backwards into a neighborhood to get it out of the way of on coming traffic. It was 10 PM at night! I waited for a few minutes and was able to get it to start but not change gears. I was able to get it to my neighborhood with hazards on going barely 10mph. It literally rolled into my driveway where it has been since (November 2023).

When driving the car at interstate speeds the transmission overheats after just a few minutes. When this happens it triggers the car’s information system to send a message stating “Transmission Fault Service Engine Now.” Just a moment or two later it sends another message stating “Speeds Reduced To Lower Engine Temperature.” Once that message is received you no longer have any throttle control and speed will continue to decline, speed dropped from 70 mph to 30 is maybe an minute, until you pull over and let the transmission cool down. This is especially hazardous on the interstate if your in faster moving traffic with cars behind you and you can no longer accelerate with no way to signal this to the traffic behind you except the four ways. The problem seems to be the fan to cool the transmission never gets the signal to turn on and cool down the transmission. This is an ongoing issue with this vehicle and has been since I got it, there are also multiple site and forums full of this same year make and model having the same issue.

On November 14th, 2023, a red alert appeared on the dash that indicated an engine temperature warning indicating that there was a high temperature warning and that I should find a safe place to pull over and immediately stop the vehicle. The temperature indicator on the dash showed the needle move instantly into the red/high area and then drop down. This happened twice, back-to-back. I checked the coolant and it was below the minimum level indicator as shown on the reservoir. A day later, the service engine light illuminated. I took the vehicle to Advanced Auto and asked to pull the service code and was told there were two, P0303 and P0304 which indicated a cylinder three misfire and cylinder four misfire. I noted that the coolant was also low once again despite seeing no fluid on the ground after allowing the vehicle to run. Bill Collins Ford inspected the misfires and coolant and found the issue to be related to a flaw in the engine design which allows coolant to leak into the cylinders. I was told this could have allowed the vehicle to overheat and catch on fire as well as causing the engine to lock up while in operation. Bill Collins Ford provided an estimate of $13,000 to repair the vehicle stating it required a new engine. I purchased this vehicle used from CarMax on August 2, 2023 and have put less than 3,000 miles on it before experiencing this issue.