The airbag light on the dash board flashes as it's supposed to and then remains illuminated. After having the car into the shop they informed me that it's a problem with the circuit and would cost an additional $100 just to move forward and may cost more. After researching the issue it appears that several people have this problem with their escapes and it fails after being fixed repeatedly.
2004 Ford Escape airbags complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 45 of 45, newest first, as owners wrote them.
(1) normal driving to work & school. (2) while driving on freeway to work approx 70 MPH, airbag warning light came on for 3rd time. (3) returned vehicle back to dealer with following results: perform self test on rcm module koeo b1881. Pinpoint test found high resistance on passenger side pretensioner. Remove both from seat & replaced pretensioner connectors per tsb 05-17-11. Cleared code & retest ok after repair.
(1) I drive approximately 60 miles per day. Vehicle is used primarily for driving to work and transporting children to school & activities. (2) on 12/6/05, I returned vehicle to dealership for 2nd time due to air bag warning light illuminating. (3) per dealer description: performed self test on rcm module koeo b1998. Pinpoint test found high resistance in side air bag harness. Replaced connector under passenger seat per tsb 04-26-12. Cleared code & retest okay.
2004 escape will not start. Vehicle was purchased in september of 2003. It has been to the dealer 6 times for it not starting and they say that they cannot find anything wrong with it and to let the problem get a "little worse" and maybe they can find out what is wrong. This has happened in warm weather and cold weather. I contacted ford's consumer telephone number and was told that the dealer cannot find any codes so they can't fix it. Just because a computer can't tell the mechanic how to do their job does not mean that there is nothing wrong with my car. Ford offered to reimburse me a car rental so ii could leave my car at the dealer again for an extended period of time so they can try and figure out what is wrong. I do not have extra money laying around for a rental so they can have my car again for service and then have to wait for a reimbursement. This vehicle starts when it wants to and hesitates. This is a constant issue and I believe I have a defective vehicle.
I purchased used 2004 ford escape with 5650 miles in 8/04. In sept04, front passenger door unlatched while I was driving in parking lot. My 13-yr-old son was in the passenger seat. After I stopped the vehicle, he attempted to open the door using the door handle, and the door would not open. He then tried unlocking the door using the pwr door control to no avail. I then used the driver side pwr door control to lock/unlock the door, and door still would not open. Suddenly the door look control on passenger side began locking/unlocking by itself. In order to open the door, I had to get out of the car and open the passenger door from the outside. I took car into dealership, and they did not find a problem. Five days later on 10/5/04, the airbag light came on. Returned vehicle to the same dealership. Dealership advised blinking code 37. They ran self test on rcm module. Fault code is b1998 (passenger side air bag high resistance). Code was cleared & self test re-ran. They also flexed wires at connectors & fault did not return. On 11/24/04, I returned vehicle to dealership again because airbag light came on again. The found same fault code. Dealer found oasis message 18280. Ford is working on a fix that is supposed to be available 4th quarter 2004. Dealer cleaned terminals per ford instructions & re-tested. I asked service advisor if my airbags will work, and he advised he didn't know. I feel this is a safety hazard.
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