2008 Ford Escape Hybrid: sudden loss of power

Filed Nov 29, 2021 · Steering · 250,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact stated while pulling out of a parking space, the vehicle lost power steering assist. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the residence in manual steering mode. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 250,000.

Filed Dec 11, 2018 · Steering · 144,000 miles · CA · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. While driving, the steering wheel shook, jerked, and lost power. As a result, the vehicle crashed into a median and a tire blew out. There were no warning indicators illuminated. There were no injuries. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed to big valley ford lincoln (3282 auto center cir, stockton, ca 95212, (800) 867-1516) where it was diagnosed that the power steering assist failed and the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and did not assist. The failure mileage was 144,000.

Filed Sep 21, 2018 · Brakes · 115,000 miles · VA

While driving the car I started seeing ABS lights pop up on the dash and immediately lost all power of the braking system. I had to slam so hard on the pedal for it to barely come to a stop almost hitting the car in front of me in a shopping center. After taking it to a mechanic I was told the ABS control module is bad. After some research, I see that this is a common problem in this generation ford escape hybrids and many other people have had close calls with some getting into accidents due to the faulty ABS issue.

Filed Nov 22, 2017 · Transmission · 150,000 miles · PA

I have a 2008 ford escape hybrid that displayed a stop safely now sign and then immediately lost power, while I was driving 60 MPH on the highway. The car began losing power and within seconds wouldn't move at all. I am the not the first person to have this happen to and it appears that ford is aware of the cause. It is the engine cooling system pump, and yet even with their knowledge they have failed to issue a recall. I believe they are waiting for something terrible to happen to someone before anything is done about this. Having a car lose complete power on a highway is completely unsafe and the issue appears to only be with 2005-2008 ford escape hybrids. Again indicating ford is aware of the problem, and the problem stems from something they originally did wrong in the manufacturing of the car and yet chooses to do nothing about it. This needs to be investigated before something terrible happens.

Filed Nov 8, 2017 · Electrical · 146,000 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. While driving approximately 35 MPH and attempting to make a right turn, the vehicle's power began to decrease and the vehicle eventually came to a stop and lost all power. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the ignition switch failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 146,000.

Filed Jun 5, 2017 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · IA

Dealer says electronic throttle body must be replaced, powertrain control module refreshed. Escape stalled multiple times while driving in city, loss of power and fuel, emergency light, had to be restarted. Known issue. "customer satisfaction program" for electronic throttle body 2009 - 2013 escape of warranty extension 10 years, 150k, is not extended to 2008. My escape is 9 years, 110k. Should be recalled for all years. Incredibly dangerous and scary.

Filed Mar 10, 2017 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 180,000 miles · CT

Multiple episodes of "stop safely now" (after new engine ($8000) was put in 6/2014). At time of engine replacement, recall for power steering module was completed. Fast forward to 3/2017.... Monday morning (8am) new 'wrench' light goes on in dash. Drop kids at daycare and when I restart car (830am) and went to back out of the driveway - no power steering!!! Good thing ford took care of that recall back in 2014...*sarcasm* now they say that the only way it would be covered under recall was if loss of power steering occurred within 12 months of recall being completed. This car has been nothing but a headache and 2 ford dealerships that do not stand behind the ford name or their service!

Filed Aug 17, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 161,000 miles · CA

The vehicle stalled and lost all power to the engine with a "pull over safely" sign while on the freeway back in september 2013 wherein I was told to have the cooling part for the hybrid battery replaced. I was told the part was faulty. The replaced part had to be replaced again that same week by another dealership with ford. Fast forward to today, and the same red triangle warning lights appeared and the part needs to be replaced again. The warranty for the part is only for 2 years, but after 3 years with the part, the dealership is telling me it needs to be replaced again. I find this aggregious in nature and a racket that ford is taking advantage of their customers. The make and model were a part of a recall specific to this very issue, but my specific VIN number was not included in this recall, so I'm out of options for ford to address this issue themselves, telling me that it is out of warranty and they will not assist me with the replacement/costs and now I'm expected to come out of pocket again for the same issue. The original situation occurred while traveling 70mph on the i5 southbound near lake elsinore, ca in the hov lane on the freeway, and two days ago it was stationary and could not be started after driving it that morning after sitting for one hour.

Filed Feb 16, 2016 · Steering · 98,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. While driving approximately 25 MPH, the steering lost power for a few seconds and then returned to normal. The failure recurred two days later, while the contact's daughter was in reverse. The steering lost power completely without warning. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who previously repaired the vehicle according to the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v284000 (steering). The dealer stated that the recall repair was already performed and the contact would be responsible for the repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the local dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.

Filed Jan 28, 2016 · Steering · 100,178 miles · MD

Received recall notice for steering issue. No issues with steering prior to recall. Software update performed. 4 months no issues. Then steering wheel began moderate shaking upon start, driving and idling. Several days later 'power steering assist fault' appeared in message center. Shaking continued but no immediate loss of power. Two days following on the heels of major snowstorm, all power steering lost. Contacted ford directly, they instructed me to schedule service appointment. They claimed that codes can back as torque sensor and nothing to do with power steering issue.

Filed Jan 26, 2016 · Steering · 122,000 miles · MD

2008 ford escape hybrid. Well maintained, always taken in for any and all repairs/maint/recalls. Recall # 14s05 was attended to in 2015 , by way of reprogramming. After this "repair", we complained of loss of steering radius, was told that was not possible and that it was fine. Fast forward to january of this year, wrench light comes on, no power steering at all. Our dealership says it is the same item as recall and should be fixed by ford corp. Ford corp said no, since its 7 years old. The law says 10 years from recall or purchase.. Because they reprogrammed it, they may not be responsible for any thing else that goes wrong, even if it is the same issue. A known issue. Very unsafe, and not something the consumer can damage on their own. This will cost us between 500 to 2,500 dollars to repair. Seems that a known problem should be covered for more than a year out from the recall. It failed six months after the recall was closed, which was only open for a year. The loss of ability to steer was tremendous . Almost impossible. Not safe to drive, as the effort required steer would prevent the ability to avoid a situation completely. My vehicle is useless at this time. The open investigation dp15001, shows what a true problem this is . Very dangerous. Many people are having this failure while actively driving. It would appear that ford needs to re address this issue. My vehicle repair light came on while driving. The failure occurred after I had parked and turned it off. Once I restarted the vehicle, I had lost all power steering . I was 60 miles from home, so I was forced to drive it in that condition.

Filed Nov 23, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 105,200 miles · FL

In 2012, I was driving on freeway at approx 70mph when I heard the warning sound and red light warning me to "stop safely now." I had to cross four lanes of traffic and barely got to the shoulder before the power shut down completely. I waited and it restarted, but it did it two more times before I reached my destination. I called and took my vehicle for repair, which was determined to be the coolant pump (cost $1010.96). The next year a recall for this issue occurred and I was refunded the cost for repair. Today, 2015, the same issue occurred. This time I had just pulled off from a traffic light making a u-turn, so traveling maybe 10 MPH when I got the same sound and warning red light as I felt the engine losing power. I got through the busy intersection and safely to the shoulder. I immediately drove the vehicle to the dealership. This time I was told the issue was the throttle body. It was cleaned and reprogrammed (cost $369.15; I was told my vehicle is not in the VIN# group). While the costs have been high financially, we are mostly concerned about the potential costs from having the vehicle suddenly lose power and shut down. Both times I have been very lucky to avoid crashes. Same symptoms, different diagnoses; concerned about what might happen next.