2005 Ford Escape: misfire or rough idle

Filed Jan 2, 2018 · Engine · 93,000 miles · KY

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. While driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle started to hesitate and then stalled. The SRS warning indicator illuminated and then dimmed. The contact managed to start the vehicle and drove to an independent mechanic that determined that coil number five had misfired. The dealer was not contacted. The contact also stated that the vehicle was repaired by the same independent mechanic for the same failure approximately two months ago. The dealer was also not contacted at that time. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 93,000.

Filed Mar 14, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 152,000 miles · GA

Bought my 05 xlt escape last may 2015 and all of a sudden it started to shudder stall while idling and just completely die when I was driving on the highway! Got the codes read and it said I had a misfire on cylinder 2, so I put new coils and spark plugs in it but it's still not working! Still doing a misfire and it's running bad when it decides to crank up! Now it's not even drivable.

Filed Feb 11, 2015 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 155,900 miles · MO

As soon as I hit about 60 MPH, between 2-3 RPM, my car begins to stall and feels like the gas pedal is grinding and won't let me go any faster without vibrating the entire vehicle. I initially thought it was the transmission slipping so I took it in to a transmission auto shop where the found absolutely nothing. Which is very odd for an auto shop to not find anything. About 1 week after this problem, the service emission light came on. I was driving home from work the day the light came on and the car completely stopped on the highway, in rush hour traffic. Thankfully I was close to the side of the highway and was able to pull over. I got to the side and put my car into park, turned the engine off, and waited a couple of minutes to allow my heart rate to come back down to a normal pace. I turned the key and the engine turned back on. I drove it into an auto shop to see what the issue was, and the reader showed cylinder 2 misfire. The first possible fix was to replace the coil on plug, which is what I did. I got home today and am still experiencing this scary feeling of my car not being able to excel above 60. I read many reviews this evening and so many people have experienced very similar issues. This is not safe and people are at serious risk or getting injured and/or in an accident. The average cost to fix the issue - reported by many users on http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/escape/2005/electrical/computer_pcm_failure.shtml, is $2000. When you have a 2005 car of any kind, $2000 seems very high to fix when the car is 10 years old. Please investigate this issue further as this is unacceptable that ford has yet to recall this issue.

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 Dec 23, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 86,000 miles · FL

After totaling a 2004 escape, I purchased another 2005 escape because I loved it. Well not so much anymore. I bought the vehicle from a dealership in september 2012. Only three short months later I started having the exact same problem I am reading in all complaints. I tried to push on the gas and nothing. It was misfiring bad. I then took it too a shop and they told me coils 1, 3, and 5 were out and needed to be replaced. The dealership wanted close too $2,000 to repair it. I was furious because I had bought my 2004 from the same dealership and my family alone had purchased a total of 6 vehicles from the dealership. I was a loyal customer and was not going to pay to have it fixed. So they split the cost of $1000 with me. Now it is acting up again and I've replaced the fuel filter and the thermostat bc that's what the computer said only for it to still not be running. I am a single mother, college student, and server and it's 2 days before christmas so I am very disappointed! Fix the problem ford!!

Filed May 27, 2014 · Electrical · 39,950 miles · VI

I was driving down a hill and the engine just stopped.I pulled over,and started it up and drove straight home. .I took it to a mechanic who put an obd computer on the car and it said faulty primary/secondary ignition coil. He replaced all coils and plugs and restarted vehicle but it still misfired on cylinder 3 (c).he tested the wire sending spark to that coil and there was no spark . The PCM was determined to be bad. Now I'm finding out that it was a factory defect but mine was 3 months older than the 8 year period allowed by ford to repair for free. Only 40,000 miles and the computer goes to and costs over 1000.00 dollars to fix it. Not fair.

Filed Feb 27, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 51,000 miles · IL

The engine began misfiring and the check engine light was illuminated. Upon inspection at the ford dealer they determined that all 6 coils and the powertrain control module had failed. The cost to repair was $2750.00. Ford is aware that many of these vehicles are having this problem but will not assist the owners in any way.

Filed Nov 14, 2013 · Engine · 101,000 miles · IL

My son was driving the car and it started to sputter. Did the same thing the next time it was driven and has ever since. I had it to two mechanics which said that the #4 was misfiring and start coil problem. Replaced.. Not working still. Have talked to two dealerships about it one told me to have it towed to them. Going to one closer so that I can talk to them. Both say there is a problem. From what I have read ford company has not issued a recall to fix it. Not sure if I will be able to afford it. I prefer ford but may have to go with a different ford vehicle. We have had everything else but there is nothing like a ford. Our last ford truck was a 93 and we just got rid of it a year and a half ago still running. I do not want to give up on my fords.

Filed Jul 31, 2013 · Driver assistance, Engine · 153,200 miles · CA

9/10/12, while driving on the freeway my check engine light came on and my car started running very hard and started shaking and I could feel the car loosing power. I turned the steering wheel towards the right to pull over and as I pressed the gas pedal I could feel the car had shut off. I was able to pull off to the side of the highway and my car smell like something was burning. After sitting for about 15mins the car started and I was able to start the car and drove it at about 40 MPH until getting off the exit to go home which was about 10 more miles. I had to continuously press the gas making the car accelerate between 30 to 40mph because the car started to repeat the same thing as I stated earlier. I took the car to the shop 9/13/12 (my car had 153224 miles) and was told there was misfire on #2 coil, so I paid to have the coil changed. 2/15/13 my check engine light came back on and the car was repeatedly hesitating, I took it the shop 2/19/13 (my car had 163071 miles) and had the same misfire code, so I paid to have all three rear coils changed, the owner showed me the old coils & the #2 coil look burned and burst open from the top. After changing the coils the check engine light came back on with the same misfire code for #2 coil and I paid to have it changed again 6/18/13 (my car had 171459 miles). The engine light came back on with the same code and I paid to changed it again 7/12/13 (my car had 173095 miles) after I drove the car about 50 miles the light came back on. I had the code read again on 7/30/13 (my car had 173920 miles) and it gave the same code for a misfire on coil #2. The owner of the shop advised me to take the car to the dealer and explain the problem and check if there has been a recall on the 2005 model. I called the ford dealership and was told I would have to pay for them to do another diagnostic quoted at $140.

Filed Jul 19, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 90,150 miles · MA

Within 1/4 mile of starting and driving from home, the engine began to run very rough, misfiring, idling rough, etc. Pulled over, opened hood, engine was idling very rough. No check engine light. Brought it back home. Total trip was less than 1 mile. Next day, started it up again, ran smoother, but had no power; very difficult to get above 20-30mph. Brought it to repair shop. They determined that all three catalytic converters were clogged up from broken/melted catalytic converter internal parts. Replaced all three catalytic converters, but repair shop could not determine the cause of the initial misfiring and catalytic converter damage. Check engine light never came on at any time. Total repair cost $2350.00. Car had been in the same shop earlier that week for state inspection and lube-oil-filter. No issues found at that time. Battery had failed two days before the problem, and was replaced the morning of the problem. The issue appeared upon first driving the car after the battery was changed.

Filed Jan 29, 2013 · Engine · 30,000 miles · NJ

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford escape. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact took the vehicle to a mechanic for a diagnostic test. The test results showed a defect in the engine causing the cylinders to misfire. The mechanic noticed a cylinder was cracked and replaced the damaged cylinder. The repair did not remedy the misfiring. The dealer performed another diagnostic test. The second test results showed that all of the cylinders were misfiring and the computer had malfunctioned. The contact had replaced the coils several times before taking the vehicle to a mechanic. The failure mileage was 30,000. The current mileage was 124,000.

Filed Nov 18, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 75,000 miles · CA

Prior to the incident in question the car had a few days of abnormal behavior including hesitation and rough idle. The incident occurred on christmas eve while I was driving down a two lane highway. While traveling 50 MPH the car lost power and although I was terribly scared, I managed to get off the highway safely. I was told that the computer failed (PCM) which is very expensive to fix hence the reason it has been almost a year. I am a retired widow raising my 12 year old granddaughter feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place; not able to afford the repairs and unable to do things without a car. I see that many many others have had this same issue, please help ford face their neglect with regard to this issue. Thank you