Rear wheel wells where the shock mounts is rusted through causing ride and control issues. I noticed clunking while driving caused by the rust and lack of shock stability. I talked to other owners and found this is a common issue. Being that my vehicle is not rusty and is cared for regularly this is bad and I am no longer going to invest my money into it. This is a safety concern and I feel with as common as the issue seems it should be taken care of by ford as the shock being loose coming into the interior is another safety concern, and the wear and tear from the tire ride causes premature tire wear not to mention wear and snapping the break line causing the brakes to fail.
2006 Ford Escape: harsh or hard shifting
10 of the 464 complaints about the 2006 Ford Escape describe harsh or hard shifting.
- owner complaints
- 10
- of this car's complaints
- 2%
- typical mileage
- 128,400
- recalls
- 1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall and 3 service bulletins for this area of the car. See below
Harsh or hard shifting by model year
What owners say
While driving my vehicle on a highway, I could here a loud clunking sound coming from the rear. After investigating, it was visibly noticeable that the shock tower on the rear passenger side rusted completely off the vehicle. This allowed the wheel to bounce freely and the shock to jam up into the wheel well repeatedly. The vehicle is unsafe to drive.
There is a clunking sound coming from the rear passenger side. It happens every time I hit a bump. Upon inspection I see that the passenger side rear wheel well is completely rotted and rusted and involves shock mount. It is unsafe to drive and research shows that this is an ongoing problem with this model. I was told not to take my truck on the highway because if I were to hit a bump at 65 MPH, I would be "asking a lot of this car to hold together." I reported the damage to the ford dealership. I was told to contact ford directly and if they were to write up a work order then I was to come back for repairs. So the ford customer relationship hotline informed me that no recall had been issued for this vehicle, and that they were unaware that this was a common, frequent, or widespread problem. They did not consider it a defect. I am unemployed at the moment seeking disability so that mean no income. What am I suppose to drive now?????
Went change the shocks and the whole bracket system had rusted out on the passenger side rear. They have recalled these from 2001-2004. It is fine on the drivers side but the passenger side it totally rusted thru it is going to cost 3000 to fix. I have only had this vehicle a year. It made a clunk noise twice so I took it in to the shop, I am driving two kids around I am a single mom suck crap.
The 2006 ford escape xlt car was well maintained and I am the only owner. The right wheel well shock tower is completely rusted out and is very dangerous to drive. The cost was estimated at over 1,000. Dollar to fix. There has been numerous others who have had the same experience and ford will not do anything about the safety issue. Since I replaced the 2 rear shocks the right wheel well rusting clunking issue has gotten worse and is a very bad safety issue to drive. Please make ford responsible for this common terrible safety issue.
The right wheel well has rusted out completely around the shock.I can see into the car from the outside. There is a loud rattle constantly and a horrible clunking noise every time I go over a bump.
My right wheel well has rusted out completely and the inside compartment is now open to the outside. There is a terrible, constant rattling noise and a horrible clunking noise every time I go over a bump.
The right rear wheel well of my 2006 ford escape has rusted completely away, where you can see into the inside of the car from the outside. It is causing a constant rattling and a horrible clunking noise every time I go over a bump.checking online, I see that this has been a problem for some time now and the shock has completely separated from the vehicle. Ford has always been a company to stand behind their vehicles, so I imagine it will only be a matter of time before a recall is issued, but someone needs to do something about this now before there are fatalities involved.
Began to notice a rattling noise/clunking in right rear corner of vehicle. Took the vehicle to our mechanic who told us that the right rear wheel well was completely rusted through and the shocks were exposed. Only the right rear wheel was rusted. Informed by our mechanic that the vehicle was not safe to drive and we would need to have it towed to the body shop. When we contacted the body shop and said we had an issue with the under body on our ford escape he new immediately that it was the right rear wheel well because it was the 3rd ford escape with the exact same problem in less than 2 months. We were fortunate that we only had to wait 3 days for the part as we were told that the last 2 ford escape owners had to wait 6 weeks because the part was on back order from ford. Looked online and there were hundreds of complaints for ford escape with exact issue (always only the right rear wheel well) from 2004 on. Obviously this is a recall issue that should be address by ford before someone is seriously injured or killed.
I was pulling out of a parking space with the wheel turned to the left & heard a loud clunk like something fell from underneath my car, like my car literally was falling apart. I got out to check and my tires were okay, and nothing was hanging or leaking from the car. So I drove to my office which is about a mile away. I went to make a left turn into my office complex and I heard the clunking again. I parked and went inside to call a mechanic. The mechanic across the street from my office took it for a test drive & said it sounds like my transmission was sticking for some reason. He called a transmission guy he knows not far from there & I was able to drive it there. He drove it & said it was clunking bad & it sounded like a transmission problem. He kept it over the weekend to look everything over. On monday afternoon he contacted me & said that the clunking was the wheel bearing hub assembly and once they fix that, that could still just be the first part of the problem. He was right. After test driving it again he heard another noise that I can't describe in words. He said that it was the transfer case & something about the transfer case controlling the 4-wheel drive which is all related to the transmission. At first I was going to let him order the generic parts, but after I did some research on the warranties for 2006 ford escapes I called him back and spoke to him about what I found about the power train and transmission modules under the emissions warranty being covered up to 80,000 miles. He said emissions has to do with pollution. So I just said order the ford parts instead in the event that I have to revisit this situation. Although I would've saved about $100 now I'm not willing to take that chance if something else happens & ford say they are not responsible because they are not ford genuine parts. My car is still in the shop because they had to order the parts and then they will be able to complete the replacement of the transfer case and parts.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
Power train: automatic transmission: lever and linkage: floor shift
- What is wrong
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2001-2008 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner vehicles manufactured March 31, 2001, to September 1, 2009. The affected vehicles are equipped with either a 2.3L or 3.0L engine and have had their CD4E transmission replaced with remanufactured one that was rebuilt between June 11, 2015 through July 15, 2015. These service repair part transmissions have a shift lever bolt that may not be properly tightened. As a result, the shift control lever could disengage from the transmission without warning.
- Risk
- If the shift lever disengages from the transmission, a driver may be unable to shift gear positions and the indicated shift position may not represent the gear position the vehicle is in. Should a disengagement occur while the vehicle is being driven, when the driver goes to stop and park the vehicle, the gear selection indicator may show that the transmission is in the "PARK" position, but the vehicle transmission may not actually be in the "PARK" gear position. If the vehicle is not in the "PARK" position there is a risk the vehicle will roll away as the driver and other occupants exit the vehicle or anytime thereafter. A vehicle rollaway increases the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.
- Remedy
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the transmissions and either tighten the manual shift lever bolt or replace the manual shift lever assembly. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 23, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1‑866‑436‑7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S28.
Recall number 15V606000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2006 Ford Escape harsh shifting
Is harsh or hard shifting a common problem on the 2006 Ford Escape?
10 of 464 owner complaints about the 2006 Ford Escape (2%) mention harsh or hard shifting. The model year with the most reports is 2005.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2006 Ford Escape?
There is 1 recall and 3 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2006 Ford Escape
Stalling 40ABS 37Engine failure 19Check engine light 14Brake failure 13Transmission failure 10Fire or smoke 9Loss of power 9Adaptive cruise 8Grinding brakes 8Jerking 8Airbag light 7Wipers 7No deployment 6Knocking 6Slipping 5Sudden acceleration 5
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