2005 Ford Freestyle

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 FORD FREESTYLE. THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO SHIFT THE VEHICLE INTO DRIVE BUT INSTEAD, THE VEHICLE LUNGED FORWARD ABNORMALLY. THE FAILURE ALSO RECURRED WHILE IN REVERSE WHERE THE VEHICLE WOULD LUNGE BACKWARD. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTICS OR REPAIRS. AN INVESTIGATION WAS OPENED UNDER NHTSA ACTION NUMBER: PE11018 (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL) THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN RELATED TO THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

SUDDEN ACCELERATION IN VEHICLE: AFTER DRIVING 200 MILES I WAS PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE WHEN I HAD A SUDDEN ACCELERATION IN THE VEHICLE. I HAD MY FOOT FIRMLY ON THE BRAKE WITH NO CONTACT ON THE ACCELERATOR. THE TURN WAS A 180 DEGREE TURN INTO THE PARKING SPACE. (90 INTO DRIVEWAY THEN CONTINUOUS 90 DEGREE TURN INTO SPACE.) HAD TO INCREASE ANGLE OF TURN TO AVOID HITTING PARKED CAR. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ACCELERATION THE VEHICLE STALLED. THERE WAS NO DIFFICULTY RESTARTING THE VEHICLE. THE RADIO WAS OFF, AIR CONDITIONING ON (APPROXIMATELY 90 DEGREES OUTSIDE, SUNNY HIGH HUMIDITY.) THREE ADULT PASSENGERS IN VEHICLE AT TIME. SPEED APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES AN HOUR. FIRST TIME I NOTICED THIS IN THE VEHICLE. THREE HOURS LATER AS I WAS DECELERATING WHILE APPROACHING A LIGHT I ALSO HAD A SUDDEN SURGE LASTED MAYBE TWO SECONDS. HAD FOOT ON BRAKE AT THE TIME. WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE SLOWING DESPITE SURGE IN ENGINE AND ATTEMPTS BY CAR TO INCREASE SPEED. CAR DID NOT STALL THIS TIME. SPEED ABOUT 25 MPH. HAVE DRIVEN ABOUT 300 MILES SINCE AND HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THE PROBLEM. VEHICLE FRONT WHEEL DRIVE WITH CVT TRANSMISSION. *KB

WHEN PARKING THE VEHICLE OR REVERSING OUT OF A PARKING SPOT THE ENGINE WILL "REV" AND THE VEHICLE WILL LUNGE FORWARD AS IF I HAD PUSHED THE ACCELERATOR BUT MY FOOT WAS APPLYING PRESSURE TO THE BRAKE. THIS HAS OCCURRED SINCE I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE IN 2005 AT APPROXIMATELY 11,000 MILES BUT THE LATEST INCIDENT HAPPENED YESTERDAY, JULY 4, 2011. UP UNTIL RECENTLY I COULD NOT REPRODUCE IT ON A REGULAR BASIS SO I DID NOT TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP. AFTER READING AN ARTICLE ON REUTERS WEBSITE THAT THIS IS BEING INVESTIGATED BY NHTSA I DECIDED TO REPORT IT HERE. AS THE ARTICLE STATES, IT APPEARS MORE OFTEN WHEN I HAVE THE AIR CONDITIONING ON HIGH. I SPOKE TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT THE FORD DEALERSHIP IN FLAT ROCK MICHIGAN AND THEY SAID THEY WERE UNAWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND THAT THERE IS PROBABLY NOTHING THEY CAN DO TO CORRECT IT. TO DATE, THIS HAS CAUSED NO INJURIES OR ACCIDENTS BUT IT IS ONLY BECAUSE I TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS (E.G. TURN OFF THE AIR CONDITIONING OR BE PREPARED TO APPLY EXTRA PRESSURE TO THE BRAKE WHEN PARKING) TO ENSURE THE CAR DOES NOT LUNGE FORWARD AND HIT ANYTHING. *KB

OUR FREESTYLE HAS EXPERIENCED MILD BUT WORSENING UNINTENDED ACCELERATION FOR TWO YEARS NOW, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS "MILD" AND DID NOT CAUSE THE CAR TO LURCH FORWARD EVEN WHEN THE DRIVER'S FOOT WAS HARD ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. THEN WE HAD A NEW PROBLEM: NO COLD AIR FROM THE AC AT IDLE. WE RESPONDED (6/11) TO A MAILED PROMOTION FROM HERTRICH FORD (EASTON MD) FOR AN AC "TUNE UP." THEY DID NOTHING BUT ADD DYE TO OUR REFRIGERANT AND "CLEAN" OUR AIR DUCTS WITH DISINFECTANT. SO WE TURNED TO THE OWNERS' FORUM, MYFORDFREESTYLE.COM, AND QUICKLY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM: A SEIZED-UP PRESSURE CONTROL VALVE. APPARENTLY FORD DEALERS REFUSE TO PERFORM THIS SIMPLE REPAIR (PART COST $40) AND WILL ONLY REPLACE THE ENTIRE AC COMPRESSOR ($800 + LABOR). SO WE ORDERED THE VALVE ONLINE AND HAD A COMPETENT LOCAL MECHANIC REPLACE THE VALVE (1-HOUR LABOR PLUS COST OF REFRIGERANT). THE AC IS "GOOD AS NEW", BUT THE UNINTENDED ACCELERATION IS NOW MUCH WORSE. THE INCIDENTS ALWAYS OCCUR AT VERY LOW TO NO SPEED AND WHEN MANEUVERING THE CAR (I.E. PARKING, K-TURNING, ETC.). IN ALL OF THESE SITUATIONS, BOTH THE AC AND THE POWER STEERING PUMP ARE DEMANDING/DRAWING NEAR-MAXIMUM POWER FROM AN ESSENTIALLY IDLING ENGINE, NEARLY STALLING THE ENGINE; THE ELECTRONIC ENGINE/IDLE CONTROL THEN KICKS-IN AND HUGELY "OVER-REACTS" BY REVVING THE ENGINE TO 2,000+ RPM. EVEN WITH YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE, AN AUTOMATIC IN DRIVE IS GOING TO SURGE QUITE FAR AT 2000+ RPM. PLEASE LOOK AT THE MYFORDFREESTYLE.COM WEBSITE: NOTE THAT ALMOST ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS ABOUT UNINTENDED ACCELERATION COME DURING HOT WEATHER MONTHS AND A FEW ALSO NOTE THE PROBLEM IS MUCH WORSE WITH THE AC ON. IT TOOK US LESS THAN 30 MINUTES ON THE WEBSITE TO DIAGNOSE BOTH THE AC PROBLEM AND UNINTENDED ACCELERATION PROBLEM. IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT FORD HAS NOT BEEN AWARE OF BOTH OF THESE PROBLEMS FOR YEARS. (SURELY FORD'S CUSTOMER RELATIONS STAFF MONITOR OWNER FORUMS).

FOR MONTHS, CAR HAS SURGED FORWARD OR BACKWARD DEPENDING ON GEAR. ALTHOUGH A LITTLE FRIGHTENING, IT HAS BEEN EASILY STOPPED BY APPLYING THE BREAK FIRMLY. ON JUNE 27, 2011, THE ENGINE UNEXPECTEDLY REVVED SEVERAL TIMES WHILE IN PARK, NO ONE IN DRIVER SEAT. LAST SUMMER A/C COMPRESSOR WAS REPLACED, PROBLEMS SEEMED TO BEGIN AFTER THAT. *TR

THE CAR OCCASIONALLY LUNGES UNEXPECTEDLY AT SLOW SPEEDS WITH THE A/C RUNNING SUCH AS WHEN PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE. THIS ALSO COULD OCCUR WHILE DRIVING IN A DRIVE-THRU LANE WITH A/C ON. I CAN ALSO GET THIS TO HAPPEN AT A STOP LIGHT OR SIGN BY JUST TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL SLIGHTLY TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT WITH A/C ON. I BELIEVE THE ISSUE IS WITH THE A/C SYSTEM AND POWER STEERING BECAUSE I DON'T RECALL HAVING ANY ISSUES WHEN THE A/C IS OFF. ANOTHER ISSUE WITH THE CAR IS THAT IT CAN STALL AFTER IDLING IN PARK AND THEN GOES INTO FAILSAFE MODE. IN THIS MODE, THE CAR ACCELERATES VERY SLOWLY WITH A MAXIMUM SPEED OF 30 MPH. I DON'T RECALL ANY FAILSAFE OCCURRENCES DURING THE WINTER. THIS ONLY SEEMS TO OCCUR AFTER THE CAR HAD BEEN IDLING IN PARK WITH THE A/C ON. TO RESOLVE THE FAILSAFE ISSUE THE MULTIPLE TIMES IT HAS HAPPENED, POWER OFF THEN ON THE CAR. IT HAS NEVER HAPPENED TWICE IN A ROW. I NO LONGER IDLE THE CAR WITH A/C RUNNING. MY WIFE WILL OCCASIONALLY DRIVE MY CAR; SHE KNOWS ABOUT ALL OF THE ISSUES AND HAS HAD THEM OCCUR. MY SON (18) IS NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE MY CAR. ANOTHER ISSUE IS WITH THE DRIVER'S SIDE MIDDLE ROW SEAT. THE SEAT WILL NOT GO DOWN UNLESS EXTREME FORCE IS USED. ONCE THE SEAT GOES DOWN IT WILL WORK NORMALLY THE NEXT FEW TIMES BEFORE NEEDING EXTREME FORCE AGAIN. WE HAVE TAKEN THE CAR TO A FORD MECHANIC MULTIPLE TIMES FOR THE ABOVE ISSUES AND THEY WERE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE NEW IN NOVEMBER '04. THE CAR NOW HAS OVER 103,000 MILES. I HAVE HAD THESE ISSUES FOR MANY YEARS. MY INCIDENT DATE IS THE LAST TIME THE LUNGES OCCURRED AS I DON'T RECALL THE DATE OF THE FIRST ISSUE. *TR

2005 FORD FREESTYLE LURCHES FORWARD WITHOUT ANY ACCELERATOR INPUT OR WARNING. I AM SURE THAT IT IS GOING TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT OR INJURY. THIS STARTED AT ABOUT 140,000 MILES THE FIRST TIME, AND IS GETTING WORSE. VERY DANGEROUS EVENT WHEN IT HAPPENS. FROM WHAT I GATHER FROM OTHERS ON LINE IT IS A PROBLEM WITH THE THROTTLE BODY. THIS IS FOR SURE A SAFETY ISSUE AND FLAW IN THE DESIGN AND USE OF THE THROTTLE BODY WHICH SHOULD BE MADE WHOLE AND FOR SURE BE PUT ON A RECALL TO CORRECT BEFORE SOMEONE IS HURT. BEING IT HAPPENS WHEN AT AN IDLE IF COULD CAUSE A COLLISION WITH A VEHICLE IN FRONT OF YOU, BUT WORSE THAN THAT COULD BE A CHILD OR PERSON WALKING INFRONT OF THE VEHICLE AND SUDDENLY BEING HIT BY THE LURCHING CAR. *TR