2005 Ford Escape: sudden loss of power

Filed May 14, 2023 · Fuel system, Transmission · MN

Stalled out while driving down hwy. At 70 mph. Cars swirved and I almost got hit from behind due to my vehicle just cutting out. No warning lights came on it just shut off battery light n engine light then came on after vehicle lost power and I had to get off road without causing an accident which almost occurred due to the speed and area I was driving at time vehicle cut out I still have not figured out why it just cut out. Very dangerous all around.

Filed Oct 29, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · CA

Drove vehicle to drop off dog at sitters, started vehicle began to make u-turn and vehicle stalled. Attempted to restart, cranks but won't run. Recently purchased from used car dealer, new battery was installed, no trouble up to this point. Began checking usual problems, fuel delivery, crank pos.sensor, cam pos sensor, have no spark. Upon further research this appears to be faulty coils, spark plugs and pcm from factory but no recall has been employed. Possibility of collision during u-turn very likely. Loss of power to all systems could cause extreme risk to life at higher speeds. Ford Motor Company is aware of this problem, with the high number of similar problems in the federal safety agency data base it is impossible for them not to know. the federal safety agency should force Ford to fix this. If you make a product that can be dangerous if faulty, you are responsible to the public to do the right thing. I think that if the governmental agency responsible for traffic safety won't do their job then a class action lawsuit should be started. I bet I could find a good lawyer in the SF Bay area.

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 Jan 23, 2019 · Engine · 170,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. The contact stated that the vehicle lost power while traveling 55 MPH on the highway. The vehicle slowed down to 5 MPH. The contact was able to pull over and turn off the vehicle. Once it was restarted, the vehicle jerked forward and stalled less than a mile down the road. The contact completed the same process until she was able to slowly arrive home. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact planned to have the vehicle towed to an unknown dealer. The manufacturer and dealer had not been contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 170,000.

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 Feb 20, 2018 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 5 miles · CA

While driving the car on the freeway the car jolted. After 3-5 more miles the car kepped jolting as if it wanted to die then lost all power, even the emergency lights wouldnt come on. Once I turned the car off it turned back on fine then continued the process. The car for no apparent reason died on the freeway and I could have been in an accident to where my life was almost lost. I made it to my mechanic shop they ran the care for codes and no codes came up at all. My mechanic has done research and found that some 2005-2008 fored escapes have recalls. He feels as my car is one because my car has the exact same symptoms as the recall. In this article I have had all of these issues.the 2005 escape has problems where the engine shuts down while driving. Ford finally issued a september 2014 recall. Time will tell if the recall fix really solves the problem. However the 2005 escape also has a defect where the PCM (power control module) fries at around 100k miles. Ford extended the PCM warranty to 80,000 miles, but only after most owners were past the mileage limit. Now owners are on the hook for the average repair cost of over $2,000 (!!)

Filed Sep 25, 2017 · Engine, Steering · 136,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. While driving 50 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering ability without warning. The contact, an independent mechanic, stated that the idler pulley bolt fractured in half and caused the vehicle to overheat immediately. The contact pulled the vehicle over to the right side of the road and the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. A dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and stated that the vehicle was out of warranty and that there was no recall. The failure mileage was 136,000.

Filed Apr 25, 2017 · Driver assistance · KY

Today while driving my 05 ford escape I was making a right hand turn when all of a sudden I lost all power, my brakes locked up, power steering was gone, causing me to almost wreck into another vehicle. I was able to safely move to the side of the busy main road and stop the vehicle. No warning light came on, nothing informing me of an issue. It was very scary for me & could have been a lot worse if I hadn't of been able to get control of the vehicle.

Filed Dec 16, 2016 · Engine · 145,000 miles · MA

Engine PCM (computer) fails due to a defect, causing total engine failure while driving. This is a known issue which the manufacturer refuses to recall, repair, or warranty. Faulty spark plugs installed at the factory, along with deficient driver transistors in the PCM, lead to a malfunction which stalls the engine. Vehicle was on the highway when it occurred, and experienced a total loss of power.

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 Jul 19, 2016 · Electrical · 92,000 miles · CA

Entering and accelerating from a main street that turns into a freeway the engine lost all power very suddenly, ABS light engaged, then died as exiting the freeway. Extremely dangerous with children in car and no warning which would have caused a mechanic to look into previously. Exiting the freeway the engine died but restarted with ability to drive at 10 MPH (in a bad area) with engine loss and noise. At shop, I was told the spark plugs, coils and PCM would need to be replaced in that order ($795), then the coils ($600), then the PCM ($1400) not including labor. A ex-ford master technician said ford new of problem and replaced those components when the cars came into the shop. Ford has a separate software checking program only designed for ford escapes to test the PCM for damage caused by faulty plugs. Apparently a recall occurred for some vins, when I contacted ford headquarters I was told my vehicle was not made at a particular plant ergo my burden to pay out of pocket. Recall was in 2014 for escapes with 80,000 miles or less while in warranty. This is a common well-documented electrical component failure which occurs after 80,000 miles.

Filed Jan 6, 2016 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 127,144 miles · KY

Was driving my car to work - at first if didn't want to start but cranked fine. Let it sit idle and headed to work - 1/2 to work stopped at a light where it started to shudder like it was going to stall (never had any issues before and still no warning lights). Got thru the intersection and loss all power on the busiest street in bowling green. I didn't even have enough power for my emergency blinkers. Stuck where I was was a hazard of me being hit - had it towed to mechanic thinking it was the alternator. Alternator and starter both good - once put on the diagnostic machine - the car started smoking and sparking. End result - I have at least 3 coils, potential fried wire harness and PCM failure (a logged complaint but never a recall). The potential fix with no guarantee that this wouldn't happen again is 5-8k. My family could have been severely hurt if someone would have plowed into us. This is not a safe vehicle at all!