2002 Ford Escape: sudden loss of power

Filed Nov 29, 2019 · 200,000 miles · GA

I had just purchased used a 2002 ford escape nov 27 2019 deciding to take the kids and go to grocery store that I did but on the way home the vehicles steering locked up when I realised it I mashed the brakes they wouldnt work so I slamed it in park there were no dash warning lights it lost all power we skirted to side sliding but safe the SUV cranked right back up as nothing happend but cut off a couple more times but I was at a stop sign the last two times and it cranked up no problem every time I havent looked at the veh but theres was a vibration after that dont know if it broke something in motor or not

Filed Sep 12, 2014 · Transmission · 160,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford escape. The vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 04v165000 (power train). While driving in reverse, the vehicle lost power and stalled. When driving in hot weather or after a certain amount of time, the vehicle would stall in the middle of traffic. A mechanic stated that the PCM/TCM power train need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.

Filed Jun 19, 2009 · Engine · 84,000 miles · MI

Catalytic converter cracked along welds at around 84000 miles. Research on open sources on the internet as found at the v-6 equipped ford escapes are prone to these failures over and over. There have been some reported cases of vehicles losing power while driving and vehicles completely dyeing while driving.

Filed Sep 15, 2008 · Transmission · 200 miles · MI

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford escape. Immediately after purchasing the vehicle in august of 2002, it began stalling and lost all power. The contact received a recall notice in april of 2004 for the federal safety agency campaign id number 04v165000 (power train:automatic transmission:control module). She took the vehicle to a local dealer and received her free repair. In august of 2008, the failure recurred. While driving approximately 10-20 MPH, the vehicle stalled and lost all power; however, it was able to be restarted. On august 11, 2008, while backing out of the driveway at an unknown speed, the vehicle lost power. The contact lost control of the vehicle. The failure recurred two additional times the same day. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and a complete diagnostic test was performed; however, no failures could be found. The manufacturer stated that since they already repaired her vehicle, they were not liable for another repair. The current mileage was 51,007 and failure mileage was 200.

Filed Dec 14, 2007 · Engine · 90,000 miles · WA

We have a 2002 ford escape xlt we bought new in sept of 2002. It has 90,000 miles on it. Last week my husband was coming home when it lost power and would not go over 50 miles an hour there was also a whirring sound. He got home and to our mechanic. There was a hole in the egs valve (?) which it turns out was caused by the catalytic converter getting clogged, building up pressured and causing it to blow. Based upon my research on the net, this is fairly common. I am wondering if there is anything being done towards a recall. Our dealer is trying to get a new cc from the east coast (we are in the seattle area) but it may take up to 2 weeks.

Filed Jul 25, 2007 · Engine · 67,000 miles · WA

(1) approximately 100 miles of highway driving LED up to (2) a loss of power at all speeds with excessive rpms for given speed followed by a flashing check engine light, followed by considerable engine and cabin vibration. (3) ford diagnosed the problem as a rare internal engine failure in cylinder #4. No remedy has been provided. The engine can be replaced for about $6,000.

Filed Aug 3, 2005 · Engine · 48,285 miles · VA

Dt: vehicle lost power in the middle of traffic, thought it was fuel injectors. Put fuel injector cleaner and better gas but a couple of weeks later. The mechanic said the the idle air control motor was*ak bad. The mechanic did replace it and have the part. The vehicle started doing this around june 1, 2005. Have not contacted dealer.

Filed Jun 1, 2005 · Transmission · 87,000 miles · IN

Just after the warranty period on my 2002 ford escape expired, I started having trouble with the transmission, specifically, the transmission would not engage in reverse without revving the engine and having the gears jump into place, causing the vehicle to lurch backwards. When I contacted my local ford dealership where I had purchased the SUV, I expressed to them my displeasure in having transmission trouble at only 35,000+ miles and was informed that it was not unusual to need a new transmission at that odometer reading, and, indeed, they had replaced transmissions as early as 12,000 miles. I contacted my regional ford corporate headquarters about the problem without any success. On thursday, may 12, while traveling 55 miles per hour on the highway, the transmission failed, with the car sounding like I was revving the engine in neutral, and I was losing power quickly. I had to get off the road quickly and was unable to engage the transmission in any gear. After having the car towed to a transmission facility in indianapolis, I was told that the problem did not originate in the transmission, but was the result of a ground circuit problem. Ford constructed the car with the ground running through the transmission, which means that every time the car is started the high voltage running through the transmission melts the gears together. Additionally, the transmission was leaking onto the front suspension, which meant the ball joints needed to be replaced as well. The transmission company rebuilt the transmission, replaced the ball joints, and added an additional ground so that the problem would not happen again, which resulted in a total cost of $3655.

Filed Apr 5, 2004 · Engine · VA

Intermittent stalling problem occurs with my 2002 ford escape (v-6 engine) at speeds between 30-35 MPH and always when I am going down hill and in a decelerating situation. I have a 9 mile commute on a hilly, curvy 2 lane road and during the stall I lose all power steering and braking. I have had some very close calls on curves where I could easily have lost control and gone over an embankment or hit an oncoming car. I have actually learned to become a defensive driver mechanically by keeping my eye on the RPM gauge when I decelerate because I've noticed that the RPM's sometimes drop erratically when the car is about to stall and by giving it a little gas I can avoid the stall. The car has been back to the dealer 3 or 4 times and all tsb fixes have been performed, yet the car has stalled at least 3 more times since the last fix. The dealer wanted to put a flight recorder on to help diagnose the problem, but wanted me to put a $500 deposit on the device!! Why isn't ford taking this problem more seriously? From the numerous complaints I have read on this site, it's obvious that a very serious problem still exists with this car.

Filed Mar 12, 2004 · Electrical · 6,000 miles · WA

I bought a new 2002 ford escape xlt 4x4. 4 months after receiving it from the factory, it lost power and died suddenly while driving. I put the car in park and restarted it. I took the car to a ford dealership and they "reprogrammed and reset the relay switch" saying that would correct the problem. Then last week, I was travelling 30 MPH on a busy road when the exact same thing occurred. The engine stopped and I lost all power, including power steering. This was very dangerous as I was going around a curve and nearly went into the oncoming lanes and I was in the middle of the road just around a curve, where a car could come around the corner and not be able to stop in time before hitting me. Luckily I was able to coast for a few feet and then restart the car again. I returned to the same ford dealership again and they "reprogrammed the computer again" I have had new cars before and have never had this happen or heard of this happening. I do not feel it is safe to have a car's engine just stop while driving at 30 MPH on a road. I feel there is something defective with the computer that came with the vehicle and the computer needs to be recalled.

Filed Dec 29, 2003 · Engine · 29,199 miles · CA

My wife was coasting (traveling downhill) in our 2002 ford escape xlt (2 wheel drive) when the engine suddenly stopped. The effect was as if the key had been turned off. She lost all power (steering, brakes, etc) and coasted into a sidewalk. It could have been much worse. Taking the proper precautions, she had the car towed to the nearest dealership (hayward ford - very helpful, performed the tsb work right away), where they told her of a tsb that described the appropriate steps for the mechanics to take. The supposed tsb included replacement of the following items: throttle body assembly, air charge body, mass air flow sensor, air charge sensor gasket, power relay for PCM, egr sensor, and the purge regulation valve for vapor system. I searched the federal safety agency tsb site for the bulletin and couldn't find it. The number we were given was tsb 02-23-01. I noticed that an investigation into the cause of this problem by the federal safety agency was closed and reopened in sep 2002. From what I have read here at the federal safety agency site, I think it's time for ford to warn their escape owners of this problem before someone is injured.

Filed Dec 18, 2003 · Engine · 26,351 miles · MA

While commuting to work at very busy intersection, traveling at 20 MPH, vehicle completely stalled losing all power utilities engine completely shut down. A number of passing motorists attempted to assist in moving vehicle out of intersection but could not get vehicle out of park key would not turn as well. After a number of attempts vehicle was restarted, and driven to local ford dealership. They stated they were not aware of difficulty--after reviewing the number of complaints on this web site that is very hard to believe--dealer worked on vehicle for 1.70 hrs replacing over 13 parts,such as eec relay,dpfe,airbypassvalve,throtle body,maf,vmv,throttle body gasket per: tsb-02-11-6. Recheck ok. According to this web site this situation has occured at least 50 times. This is potentially a very dangerous situation. Owners of escapes should be informed as this can& has happened to others at higher rates of speeds with potentially fatal outcomes if the vehicle cannot be coasted to a shoulder...