2005 Ford Escape: multiple warning lights

Filed Apr 28, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 105,000 miles · AK

2005 ford escape. Purchased with a car loan in 2012. @ 40,000 miles.$$ kept all regular maintenance up. $$replaced battery & had $$all brakes done front & back in 2014. $$paid off loan in 2015, & 2016 rolled over to 95,000 miles.. $$had to replace alternator & battery & $$redo the brakes in 2016. $$in 2018 had to replace alternator again..(note: during all these years the check engine light was constantly coming on & showing 'check emissions system'.. Bringing up all sorts of fuel & emissions codes. $$replaced 4 different fuel related parts as well). In 2019 all brakes failed! & had a near crash! $$having to replace the brake lines. Then in april 2019 driving an alaska mountain pass in a spring winter storm! Major breakdown!! Lost all power with no control of steering or braking.. Panel was lighting up on & off like a christmas tree! Engine chugging & sputtering like getting no fuel but also not getting the power to keep running.. $$left stranded 500 miles from home. $$had to get towed back home! To have a PCM burn up! $$new/remanufactured PCM, $$new alternator, $$new battery, $$new coils!! Still did not run right! Check engine light still coming on only showing check emissions system, but all parts replaced! Engine sputtering but no code on diagnostic machine to give right correct problem or how to fix!$$$!! 6 months later, replacing alternator yet again!! $$4 alternators one in 3 years!! $$3 coils replaced. & engine is still not running right!! Seems once this PCM goes out.. It's all over for this vehicle!! Nothing is keeping it going anymore, $$just a moneypit of endless fixing & breaking down on the road! Not to mention how it stalls out in mid driving at high speeds! Leaving you with no steering or brakes or power to stop! And then crash!?! I'm feeling left in the dust by ford company with no compensation on over $20,000 spent on a ford escape that can't run!

Filed Sep 24, 2018 · Steering, Transmission · CA

While going onto a freeway onramp at approximately 45 miles per hour, the vehicle suddenly lost all power, all lights came on, the ability to steer and brake was affected by total power loss. The vehicle did not display any issues leading up to this but nearly resulted in an accident by the inability to control the vehicle and get it off to the side of the road. After being towed, the auto shop diagnosed a p0354, p0351, p0355, p0352 ignition coils, and PCM failure. My research shows there are multiple claims of this occurring and it is definitely a safety issue.

Filed Aug 21, 2016 · Engine · 136,989 miles · TX

The vehicle began to stall and die while driving. Before the incident no previous warning signs had been present. The day the incident occurred the vehicle began to rock back and forth during a complete stop. When the vehicle began driving again everything seemed fine, until the several warning lights flashed on and then off (engine, tire pressure..) and the vehicle speed began to reduce. After a moment the speed returned to normal, and then the vehicle lost power and died on a city street. I restarted the car and resumed driving, but within 5 minutes the warning lights flashed on/off again and the car lost power and died again. This happened 3 times within an 30 minutes as I drove to the ford service center. On the 3rd time the car was stopped at a red light and began to move back and forth, and started to lose power. When the light turned green and I began to turn the vehicle it again lost power. After the 1st power loss I headed to the ford service center which was located 5 miles away. The vehicle died 3 times before I reached the service center. The service center determined that it was the throttle body assembly.

Filed Apr 27, 2015 · Engine · NC · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. While driving at 65 MPH, the engine warning light illuminated first and then all the lights on the instrument panel illuminated. In addition,the vehicle stalled. The contact also mentioned that the vehicle shook. The vehicle was not able to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the spark plugs were burned. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Feb 8, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 48,881 miles · MD

First occurrence of problem: 48800 miles, 5/2012. Engine light on and engine misfiring. Ford dealership determined faulty ignition coil in # 6 cylinder. Replaced ignition coil and spark plug. $295 second occurrence of problem: 74,400 miles, 11/2013. Engine light on and engine misfiring. Mechanic replaced sparkplugs in cylinders # 1-3 all at once since it is difficult to access those. $276 additional occurrences of same problem: upon misfiring in 2014 I bought a code reader which indicated cylinder #5 misfire - replaced ignition coil and spark plug. More misfiring indicated cylinder #4 misfire - replaced ignition foil and spark plug. Major problem update. 2/2/2015 - travelling 55 MPH car shuts off, all warning lights come on, coast to shoulder. Restart car, seems fine, no warning lights. Again cylinder # 4 misfiring - replaced spark plug. My research indicates the ECM/PCM may be damaged and that this is a very frequent problem with this car, often manifesting after the warranty expires/recall mileage, and costs $2000-$3000 or more. I don't wan't to pay to have it fixed because many people have had the PCM fried multiple times but I'm scared it will shut down while driving again and think this should be covered by a recall. Many people are having this problem and it appears to be caused by ford engineering. Please help force a recall or provide me with information for a class action lawsuit.

Filed Oct 27, 2014 · Electrical · 165,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the engine stalled as all the warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the ignition coils and the electric control module (ECM) needed to be replaced. The failure was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 165,000.

Filed Aug 15, 2014 · Locks · 69,000 miles · MS

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. The contact stated that the alarm activated intermittently when the vehicle was placed into the park position and the doors were locked. The contact mentioned that all of the warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The failure recurred on eight different occasions. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the right door latches were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 69,000.

Filed Jul 18, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 140,000 miles · NJ

I bought a used 2005 ford escape limited 6 days ago it was running fine no problems lights or warnings. Then I was driving down the highway accelerating to 50mph and my dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and stopped running. I towed it back to where I got it and they stated that the computer waa fried. Now I am waiting for them to replace it. I have seen similiar complaints about the same model and year. Fried computer due to ignition coils. I believe with as many complaints about this recurring problem there should be a recall, but I guess we have to wait till someone dies because of it. A shame that's the only way things get done.

Filed Jul 8, 2014 · Engine · 76,382 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 25 MPH, all warning lights started blinking and illuminating on the control panel. The contact mentioned that immediately after the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but no repairs had been made. The dealer was contacted and stated that the transmission needed to be pull apart to determine if the torque converter caused the failure. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 76,382.

Filed Nov 9, 2012 · Engine · 106,000 miles · NJ

I was trying down the highway doing about 55 MPH all the lights came on the car, I was able to get to the side of the road. I stopped the car for about 5 minutes was able to restart and drive another 1/2 mile and it happened again. Got the car towed to a mechanic, who placed engine on code machine and states my engine coils were bad. Replaced all of my engine coils and the car is still riding like a dump trunk. Took do a ford dealership who charged me 160.00 to put on machine and told me it was my engine coils, I have replaced all the coils. I am just at my witts end. I will not ever buy a ford again. As a side note, I put a transmission in this truck about 2 years ago and the dealer who fixed my car, didn't even give me a rental to drive. Its a new and used car dealership and they couldn't even give me one of their cars to drive. Are you serious?

Filed Sep 5, 2012 · Transmission · 123,000 miles · WA

While exiting highway, all lights on dash came on, vehicle started sputtering. Ford dealership hooked up to diagnostic and indicated that the PCM had "blown" and taken all six coils with it. Thus, resulting in upwards to $2500 for repairs for not only a new PCM but also all six coils. Of which, I had 2 replaced less than a year ago. Dealership also indicated that ford was aware of the problem but it was not classified as a recall. What the heck as I read up on internet and this is indicative to a problem they are aware of and also that occurred in previous years.

Filed May 23, 2011 · Electrical, Engine · 104,000 miles · SC

I am a wedding photographer and while traveling about 4.5 hours away from home to shoot a wedding I had problems about 2 hours into my trip. I was on interstate 20 just outside of columbia, sc. I was in the left hand lane behind a semi truck, there was another semi truck in the right lane beside me and behind me I had a large van. I was going about 65-70 when suddenly, the car lost all power including the steering and all the warning lights blinked on. I somehow regained control of the car by shifting in neutral and restarting. I hate to think what would have happened had I not been able to react as fast as I did as the van behind me had to slam on his breaks to keep from hitting me. Once the semi truck was cleared of the right lane I got over and turned on my flashers. Since I had it running I was too scared to pull over on the side. I got to my nearest exit and pulled over. I turned off the vehicle and all the warning lights went off except the ABS and the check engine light. I restarted and drove about a mile to a mechanic. They could not see anything wrong but heard the misfire. The car was towed to classic ford in columbia, sc. I had to rent a car to finish my trip as I couldn't let down a couple about to be married. I just got the estimate to the tune of over $2700.00. It's the PCM module along with coil, spark plugs and a few other things. I am now debating about weather to fix it or not as all the reviews I have read it seems like people continue to have problems after it's fixed. It sounds like ford really needs to figure out a way to fix this chronic problem before someone dies in an accident.