2008 ford escape hybrid. Consumer the safety recall for when engine goes into "idle" mode and does not respond to throttle inputs when a fault is detected with the motor electronics coolant pump, was not being fully address by ford. *ta the consumer stated the real safety issue was the software that triggered the engine going into immediate idle mode. Future failures of the motor electronics coolant pump would trigger the engine going into the immediate idle mode. The consumer believed the appropriate fix would be to change the software from going to immediate idle mode to going to idle mode after a delay of a period of time or when the vehicle's speed is zero whichever occurs first. Recall # 14v526000. Jb
2008 Ford Escape Hybrid fuel system complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 31 of 31, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the VIN was included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v526000 (hybrid propulsion system). The failure mileage was 28,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford escape hybrid. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the stop safely now warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle decelerated to approximately 20 MPH. The vehicle was stopped and the engine was turned off. After restarting the engine, the vehicle operated as normal. The contact indicated that the failure occurred on two separate occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v526000 (hybrid propulsion system). The failure mileage was 140,000.
Engine died multiple times in a parking lot. Car had been idling and had recently been driven over thirty miles on the highway and the ambient temperature was over 90 deg f. Had the car towed home because the dealer service dept was closed. The next day the dealer was unable to reproduce the problem and no dtc found in ECM. Paid the dealer for diagnostic time and picked up up the car. One week later, the car died again while driving at about 10-20 MPH. Dashboard display said to pull over and park safely. After waiting for 30 minutes for the engine to cool, we were able to drive the three miles home. The next day at the dealer, no dtc found in the ECM, but the dealer said that the symptoms pointed to a throttle body problem. They were unable to recalibrate the throttle body, so they asked us to approve paying for a throttle body cleaning, which we did. This seems to indicate that the hybrid system directs the engine to shut off whenever it detects a sensor problem that it can not resolve. Most cars would produce a cel illuminated on the dash and set a limp home mode. The escape hybrid seems to just shut off and let you hope for the best. This may seem like an irrational response to a modest problem, but these were the same things that happened before when the problem was diagnosed as a pump problem for the electronics, which is now a safety recall for 2005-2008 escape hybrids. To compound the problem, the dealer did not offer to refund our previous payment for the pump replacement. I had to ask for it and am now waiting for them to give me a refund, even though the ford website clearly states that they should expedite refunds for prior work done once a recall is started. Unhappy on multiple levels.
My wife left our house to run errands in our 2008 ford escape hybrid. She didn't even get out of the neighborhood before she got the "stop safely now" warning, and the vehicle went into "limp home mode". She turned around in a neighbor's driveway and came back home. I took it to the dealership today thinking that it might be the mecs pump for which there is a recent recall. It turns out that it was the throttle body causing the warning. Even though there was a the federal safety agency investigation on the throttle bodies of these vehicles (dp12006), the 2008 ford escape hybrids were not included in ford consumer satisfaction program #13n03, which extends the warranty of the throttle body on some escape models (among other vehicles). So, I now have to spend $775.00 to replace a part that was known to have issues. Luckily, my wife was not on the highway with our 2-month old daughter when this occurred. I don't quite understand how escapes from 2005 to 2012 were part of the investigation, but the preliminary evaluation pe13-003 only applies to 2009 - 2012 models.
Mecs coolant pump defect causes loss of engine power at highway speeds resulting in an extremely unsafe condition. Ford is aware of the defect in this "hybrid unique" component but refuses to cover it under their hybrid component warranty. In my case I was driving at 55mph on a public highway when the dash illuminated a red triangle with the message "stop safely now". I had to scramble to get to the right shoulder and create a dangerous condition by cutting off the drivers around me. I had to pay out of pocket for a redesigned mecs pump replacement and have not experienced the issue since. Pending lawsuit, macdonald v. Ford motor co., case number 3:13-cv-02988, in the u.s. District court for the northern district of california.
Starting in may of 2014, my car's performance has been untrustworthiness. Some days there's no problem-- I push on the gas pedal and the car moves accordingly. At a stop sign, I can go. While moving at 50 MPH on the freeway, I can easily accelerate and move around a monster size 18 wheeler. But on the days when I press the gas pedal and the car doesn't respond, I sweat. Here's a description: foot on the gas pedal, no response... So I press down further, without any acceleration of the car. Finally, now freaked out that the car is not moving (and that another car is right on my tail) I press the pedal to the floor-- with no immediate reaction. Then-- bam-- surprise! It works and the sudden surge sends me flying beyond intention and I must press on the brakes to slow. At stop signs this happens and people behind me get frustrated, probably thinking I'm on drugs or something. But really, it's not me; it's my ford escape hybrid 2008. The rate of incidence has gradually increased from may to the current date of july, and consequently, I am afraid to drive this car.
This week the news had stories about general motors recalling several cars because the ignition can suddenly turn off causing the car to lose power while driving. There were even deaths due to bad accidents as a result of the ignition failure and car losing power. This reminded me of an incident that happened to me which was similar. I was driving my 2008 ford escape hybrid last december, on I-280 in san francisco during rush hour at 65 MPH, when suddenly the dash beeped at me, flashed the check engine light, displayed a message to pull over safely, and the engine had no power! I suddenly found myself in heavy traffic, middle lane of the freeway and no power to safely pull over. I was losing speed and slowed to where I cut between other cars and over to the shoulder. I'm sure I cut someone off in the process. Luckily there was not a horrible accident. There could have easily been an accident. The same thing happened three more times in the next few days before I took the car to the dealer to be fixed. They indicated that this is a common problem of which they are aware. The ford dealer diagnosed it with code p1a0d, which was a bad coolant pump for the electric generator. I did some research and found that many other ford escape owners have experienced the same situation as I did where the vehicle lost power while at high speed and put them into a dangerous situation. A simple google search on this finds several blog reports of people with similar situations. Ford has yet to issue a recall on this, but I have found that there is a class action lawsuit against ford: macdonald v. Ford, case no. 3:13-cv-02988, in the us district court for the northern district of california.
While traveling at interstate speeds (65 -70 MPH) in the middle lane, my 2008 ford escape hybrid had a sudden loss of power with a red triangle exclamation mark indicator light in the driver message center reading 'stop vehicle safely', had to coast to the side of the interstate which was very dangerous, this sudden loss of power incident almost ended in me being rear ended and then in a collision as I tried to cross over to the emergency lane. Could you please investigate this. I will be taking my car into the shop tomorrow to see what they say. I see on the internet that many other ford escape owners have had this same thing happen to them.
While exiting a state route on a off ramp I was applying brakes on a turn. The brake light, ABS light, check brakes warning came on and I lost all of my brakes. Fault codes that are setting are u2023,c1526,c1477. Ford is aware of this problem and to repair it you must replace the master cylinder $850 and ABS pump assembly $3500.
While traveling at highway speed, the car suddenly loses all power and the stop safely now light comes on in the dash. I had to pull over quickly while avoiding being killed by highway traffic. No warning at all. During my road trip, this happened 3 times on the highway. During my return trip, it happened 3 more times. Problem will only occur at highway speeds and during long road trips. My 20-min drive to work has no issues. This is a serious safety problem and a flawed design on ford's part. My family and I could have been seriously injured or killed during any one of the six times the car mysteriously died on the highway. From my research, this problem can be caused by several components and is difficult to diagnose in the shop. For older models, there has been tsb's issued, but not for 2008 and later models. I have known several 2008 models that experienced the same problem around 60,000 - 70,000 miles. Browsing though this website shows many have complained about this issue. Ford needs to address this asap before someone gets killed or injured on the highway.
On 4 separate occasions, all occurring at highway speed after at least 40 minutes of driving on a hot day, the car's engine suddenly cut off, causing the vehicle to lose speed rapidly. A red triangle warning light appeared on the dashboard with the following words: "pull over safely now and turn off engine". All 4 times I was driving around 65 MPH on an interstate. All 4 times the car started again normally after a few minutes. After the 3rd incident, I started the car again soon, and it stalled again after 10 more minutes of highway driving. First incident late july 2012, then late august 2012, and twice on june 19, 2013. This is a terrifying experience, and I was extremely lucky not to be rear ended. The dealer claims it cannot duplicate problem or see any codes in diagnostic computer, refuses to pursue. Help!!!!
Driving vehicle on interstate highway @ highway speeds. While merging into traffic, experienced abrupt loss of power. Amber wrench warning light came on. Moved to shoulder of road in heavy traffic, stopped vehicle, turned off ignition & after about 30 - 40 seconds restarted vehicle, power restored & vehicle continued to drive normally (wrench light off). Took vehicle to dealer, where throttle body was replaced, not under warranty (despite tsb 09-19-12). On feb. 3, 2012, experienced similar loss of power problem, and the amber wrench light and master vehicle electrical hazard warning light came on, and vehicle completely shut down (mileage at this point: 45,500 miles). After shutting off the ignition & restarting, the vehicle would run normally for 45-60 seconds, then would fault & shut down. I was close to my workplace, so I limped it back to work. Called dealer, who recommended calling ford's roadside assistance. Vehicle was transported to hybrid certified dealer, where the throttle body was replaced (under warranty this time) and the PCM was reprogrammed. When I came to pick the vehicle up, I experienced the same loss of power & warning lights (open wrench light). Dealer now claims a sensor in the shift assembly is bad & is causing the problem (claiming this is not covered by warranty). Vehicle is still at dealer at the time of this post.
I was on a road trip with a passenger in my vehicle. We stopped in barstow, ca for lunch. While pulling into a parking space, my vehicle suddenly accelerated jumping the parking block and the curb. I was able to stop the vehicle from going into the building but not before hitting some newspaper vending machines. The front bumper sustained minor damage. I have been driving for many years and have never experienced anything like this. Both my passenger and myself were pretty shook up afterwards. The person sitting in the car next to us who witnessed this event said that there was an older man standing right where we jumped the curb a few moments earlier. Fortunately, he had left or this incident would have been much worse.
Vehicle gave "stop safely now" readout on display and red triangle light on dash. Power dropped off and I had to pull of the road. I was traveling from la to santa cruz in the evening. Happened four more times on the same drive. Just happened again coming back from palm springs also in the evening. Took me seven hours to drive 140 miles. Car stopped over twenty times.
Traveling on freeway at approximately 70 MPH. Without warning, engine completely shut down. Chime sounded and warning message appeared on dashboard saying "stop safely now." red triangle with exclamation point in center appeared on dash. I was informed by ford service department during repairs that this is a known failure problem as related in ford tsb 09-18-6, affecting similar vehicles up to 2007.
While driving 65 MPH the gas engine shuts off, the stop safely now light appears and the master vehicle warning lamp comes on. Happened only a couple times the first 3 weeks. In the last 2 days it has happened 15-16 times. This is very dangerous to happen while in traffic on the interstate. To shouldn't this be a recall. Taking into ford dealer tomorrow.
Going from missouri to arkansas my car simply stopped running no indicator lights were on at the time and a triangle came on stating I could pull over safely now and stop. I turned off the engine after trying to make the electric battery engine work. Nothing happened. People helped me push my car off the road and then a man suggested I try to start it again. It started right up and ran for another 20-30 miles and then proceeded to do this about every 5-10 miles for hours. The temp was raining and about 60 degrees. Again on the way home in dry weather and at night it did the same thing for 136 miles. This was at night and I tried to keep it at 60 MPH. Finally dropping it to 50 and finally made it home. I'm taking it to my mechanic but when I called ford where I bought the car they said they never heard of this problem. I find this to be an untruth and ford ( which my family has sworn by for many years) refuses to acknowledge this problem.
Triangle light with exclamation in red came on. Vehicle will not accelerate past 15 miles per hour.
2008 ford escape hybrid: turned on the car, turned into a drive way to turn around noticed parking brake light on. Brake not engaged? Brake failure car rolling into parked vehicle had to put car in park to stop. Backed out of drive way ABS light on, brake failure on dash, get brakes checked, parking brake light on. No brakes. I backed up again and then the lights were out and the car had hyper brakes.... Light brake pedal pressure way sensitive. Over stoppage... Took to dealer they said it was a connection to the battery? Then my son told me about the hydraulic problem????? Ford still has care servicing other issues, 34,485 miles>. *tr consumer stated damaged was repaired, by state farm. Traded the car shortly there after. Updated 6/8/18
Was driving 2008 escape hybrid on highway yesterday @ 55mph, attempted to pass slower vehicle by switching lanes and accelerating. Accelerator stuck and car continued to accelerate despite my attempts to stop it. I had to drive off the road while slamming on the brakes to stop the vehicle. Vehicle reached speed of 80 + MPH before accelerator became unstuck. Heard a "pop" similar to the sound of a car hood popping open once accelerator became unstuck. Car was then drivable, but I did not drive over 35 MPH after that out of fear that car would again become uncontrollable. Had vehicle towed to ford dealership out of fear of driving it. Currently being examined by dealership and problem has not yet been diagnosed.
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