2017 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal sound. The check engine warning light was illuminated, and the temperature gauge displayed that the engine was overheating. An unknown message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to AutoZone, where it was diagnosed with a cylinder #3 misfire, and determined that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the head gasket was blown. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 149,000.

I own a 2017 Ford Escape SE with an eco boost engine. All service of the vehicle was done in the dealership except the tune up. At 100,000 miles, I had a full tune up done on the vehicle. 30 days later, the engine light turned on so I had it checked. The frequency of the light turning on increases. I notice a slight shaking at times when the vehicle was cold. The company that did the tune up told me that they notice the car is loosing coolant but there were no visible leaks. When the coolant is replenished, the light turned off and the car works until one morning it just would not start. I towed the vehicle to the dealership to have it checked. They kept the vehicle for three weeks trying to figure out what was wrong with it since the car was not giving them any codes. They notice the second cylinder bore was corroded and so was the spark plug indicating that there was coolant intrusion into the cylinder bores. The car never gave me any indications of overheating. I spoke to Ford customer care to address the issue and was told I’m out of luck. I had found a letter they sent to me back in 2020 “ Customer Satisfaction Program 19B37. The letter described coolant intrusion into the cylinder bores that can lead to coolant loss, excessive tailpipe smoke, or illuminated malfunction indicator lights ( MIL ) due to engine misfire and could potentially lead to engine damage. Ford dealership said this recall has expired. They diagnosed the issue of the car as engine failure due to coolant intrusion in the engine and quoted me $10,000 to replaced the engine. Upon my research I learned that there’s a class lawsuit again Ford regarding this issue with their eco boost engines. I have a voice message from regional manager of the dealership claiming that all recall on this issue has expired and they can not do anything about it. The fact that the car did not give proper code for its engine light is a safety issue. Please investigate.

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon start of the vehicle, the check engine warning light appeared on the instrument panel with heavy white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The contact also stated that vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the high-pressure fuel valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer where it was determined that there was coolant intrusion into cylinder #1. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on the VIN. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the engine experienced rough operation, reduced power, and the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed an engine misfire was present in cylinder #3. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 80,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the catalytic converter. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 94,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 65-70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked for a while. The contact stated that while continuing to drive, the warning light was no longer illuminated. The contact stated that approximately two days after the first failure, the failure reoccurred; and the warning light started blinking instead of remaining constantly illuminated. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that coolant was leaking into the cylinders causing engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 58,000. The VIN was unavailable.

The contact's daughter owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while her daughter was driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated intermittently. The vehicle was taken to both an independent mechanic and the local dealer; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was a coolant intrusion in the engine, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

There is a known problem with the Ford Escape engines leaking coolant into the cylinders. I have a 2.0 which for two years there have been issues with engines needing to be replaced but Ford will not help owners of the 2.0 engine, only 1.5 and 1.9l engines. My 2.0 has coolant in the cylinders and needs a new engine. Ford claims there is not an issue with this engine yet and will not cover the repair. The warranty ran out two weeks ago and been dealing with this issue for months. There needs to be a recall on all Escape engines to protect the owners from being charged for an issue that Ford knows about but will not help all owners.

The check engine light came on so we called the dealership. This is a 7.5 year old vehicle with under 50,000 miles. They made an appointment for us to come up over a week later. In the meantime the vehicle started to blow a lot of smoke when starting. Smelled like anti-freeze. We took it to the dealership early. Two days later they told us it needed a new engine. Our extended bumper to bumper warranty just ran out 6 months prior and we were hit with an estimate of $8000. I researched and found that Ford knows about this issue, and has for a few years now. There are recalls for this 2.0L engine in the Fusion, but not in the Escape. From what I read it seems to be a flaw in the design of the coolant channels, which can cause a coolant leak, engine over heating, and possibly a fire. We did not have this happen as we seem to have caught the issue early enough, however at this point we are without the vehicle and waiting for a new engine to be installed. And we are stuck with the bill.