2009 Ford Escape: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Apr 16, 2021 · Steering · 155,000 miles · IL

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 ford escape. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH with the cruise control activated, the power steering suddenly malfunctioned causing the steering wheel to become difficult to turn in either direction. During the failure, the battery light was illuminated. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact was informed that the vehicle was previously serviced under the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v284000 (steering). The local dealer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 155,000.

Filed Mar 10, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 70,900 miles · FL

I was driving home on a 6 lane highway yesterday after work. Posted speed limit 65 MPH. My cruise control was set at 65, I was in a center lane when my vehicle made a loud clunk and the cruise control cut off and I started losing power to the car.the engine was on but pushing the gas pedal did nothing. I was trying to get out of traffic to the side of the highway with cars speeding and swerving all around me. I was petrified. I called the dealer and the car was taken for service today. They told me it was the throttle body and motor and it was on an extended warranty so I did not have to pay for it. The receipt clearly states this is recall notice 13n03. I have now read about this online and you guys are letting ford call this a "customer service satisfaction program". Well, you should know that someone is going to be killed. There is no excuse for not notifying customers of a default with a vehicle that endangers people. I never received a recall letter and I could of died yesterday.

Filed May 27, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 58,000 miles · KY

Had car set on cruise control, felt a pop or a snap under car, looked down and cruise went off and I was coasting, I had my foot in the gas and the RPM's were at 1000, gas was not revving and the RPM's didn't move, coasted to side of road. The engine sputtered as if it was going to shut off, but it didn't. I shut the car off and restarted it and it was fine, until 3 days later when it happened again. Have taken it to a ford dealer 3 times and they claim that it is not tripping a code and that they can't replace the throttle body until they have a code. I don't know what else to do, I have been driving a loaner car since last friday and they still haven't been able to recreate the incident.

Filed Apr 23, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 123,250 miles · TX

For the past 2 months my 2009 ford escape xlt has been jumping and shifting roughly, I thought it was transmission related despite that I flushed my transmission a little over 1 year ago. On 04/24/14 I was driving 60 MPH cruise control on the highway and the cruise control cut off and my 2009 ford escape xlt began to lose speed, I notice when the 18-wheeler behind me was approaching my bumper rapidly, nearly rear ended me - had to coast 2 lanes over to get to on coming exit to avoid rear ending due to heavy traffic. My SUV would not re-start until the throttle control/powertrain light cut off however the engine light remains on. I had to coast lanes of a busy highway with 8 am traffic to the exit ramp and stopped in the middle of the street and was stranded until my SUV started again.

Filed Oct 29, 2013 · Acceleration · 60,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 ford escape. The contact stated that the cruise control was activated while driving approximately 65 MPH when an unexpected increase in acceleration occurred. In addition, the engine began to race. The wrench warning indicator was also illuminated on the instrument panel when the malfunction occurred. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

Filed Oct 17, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 85,500 miles · MN

As I was driving and the cruise control was set the road I was traveling had slight hills. It seems as though when the car went to down shift and speed up is when it lost power and went into limp mode. The last occurrence was on 10-17-13 while I was driving on a flat road. I had to brake for traffic when I went to accelerate is when it lost power and went into limp mode.

Filed Sep 30, 2013 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 108,000 miles · WI

Identified as throttle bottle malfunction. Driving in cruise control at 70mph and car stalls out. Wrench symbol comes up and car looses all acceleration. Almost had an accident and had to safely get on the curb. Car continues to rev. Turn car off and then restart and everything is fine. Also took video of incident. This had occurred multiple times. Had ford install new throttle body for $400 on 8/10/13. No more issues and ford verbally acknowledged that this was the issue. Own two 2009 escapes and both have had the same issue and both have replaced throttle body. Called ford consumer service and they stated they could not do anything to help the situation.

Filed Aug 12, 2013 · Transmission · 65,000 miles · IN

While driving at a set speed of 55 mile per hour I experienced a jerk in the power train. The engine caution light illuminated with a notable complete loss of the ability to maintain speed. The cruise control disengaged the accelerator pedal failed to provide any input. I had to immediately move the far right out of traffic. There was no shoulder to slow down on. I had to place the car in neutral in the rough and slowly apply break until I stopped the vehicle. I left the car running and applied axel keratin pedal. No response. I then placed the transmission park. Shut off the engine. On the first attempt the car started but the engine cranked for about 5 seconds before stating. I placed the transmission in drive and when it was safe to renter traffic heading toward my destination. A few miles later the same thing occurred this time the car had another light illuminate along with the engine light. An open ended wrench.

Filed Jul 24, 2013 · Transmission · 88,984 miles · IL

My wife was driving with the cruise control on. Then the cruise shut off, and the accelerator pedal was unresponsive. She pulled to the side of a busy highway, and waited for a tow. The repair shop diagnosed the problem to the throttle body, which was replaced for $183.95 plus labor.

Filed Jul 21, 2013 · Acceleration, Transmission · 46,000 miles · VA

I was driving down highway in morning traffic with cruise control set at 55-60mph when all acceleration cut off and I had to immediately pull over and put my 2009 ford escape into park, at which point the engine was shuddering violently and my wrench light (powertrain) appeared in the dash. Shut off engine, waited 1-2 mins and restart engine. Ran normally, pulled onto highway again and set cruise when the same happened a 2nd time. Happened 3-5 more times (with & without cruise) over the next day until I could get my car to the ford dealer for service. Ford dealer advised it was throttle body in addition to other sensors. (the throttle body was not covered under powertrain warranty and cost me $300 in parts & labor!!) the error codes were: p0012, p0341, p0346, p2111, & p2112.

Filed Jul 11, 2013 · Electrical · 71,930 miles · PA

On monday, july 8 at 8:45 am I was driving my 2009 ford escape from my home to my office...a distance of 17.3 miles. I had completed approximately 14 of those miles, traveling on a four lane divided highway at approximately 55 MPH and on cruise control. Without warning, the car shut down. The motor continued to run at significantly reduced power...enough to power the power steering and brakes and electrical system...but not the vehicle. Luckily I was able to steer off of the highway and access the situation. This failure had never occurred previously with this vehicle. A wrench light was now appearing on the control panel and the car was barely running. I put the car in neutral and shut it down. Then I turned the key and it restarted and seemed to run fine. I continued the journey hoping it was a one-time glitch. That same afternoon at approximately 4 pm, I started my return trip home. Within the first mile, while on the highway entrance ramp, the same shutdown occurred. This happened three more times as I made my way home. The approximate speed for each shutdown was as follows: #1 - 15 MPH, #2 - 50 MPH, #3 - 55 MPH, #4 - 15 MPH. That night, having read, on the internet, about the problems with the "throttle body control" part with ford escapes and have noted your case # pe13-003, I decided I would present the vehicle for repair at the ford dealership the next morning. That was, in fact, the problem and it was repaired on july 9, 2013 by tom masano auto group, 1600 lancaster ave., reading pa 19607 at a cost of $378.05. This failure presents a very dangerous situation since there is no way of predicting when it is going to happen. Luckily, even though I was in rush hour traffic, I was able to steer the car to safely without incident. I, and others, may not be so lucky the next time.

Filed Jun 8, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 72,000 miles · OK

Was driving cruise control down the highway when the gas pedal lost affect. The car would no longer accelerate. I stopped on the side of the highway and it was shaking. I shut the car off and restarted it. Worked fine the rest of the day. I know its something to do with the throttle body. It has done it maybe 200 times since then and almost caused a serious car crash the last time.