2009 Ford Escape: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Dec 2, 2020 · Electrical, Lights · 195,000 miles · OH

My vehicle is coming alive at night with headlights and radio coming on that I haven't be able to park it in my garage as o feel like it may end up catching fire. While driving it will shut down the turn signals, break lights, and climate controls and shut off the radio. I've narrowly avoided many collisions due to having no turn signals and break lights at night and throughout the day. I've talked to other owners of the model years in question and all seem to share similar experiences some ending in accidents and others paying thousands out of pocket for faulty PCM's or electrical wiring to the ignition. It happens randomly when driving or when the car is off and in park I feel as if this is an issue ford is aware of as I've talked to almost 1,000 people all sharing similar issues and upon taking them to the dealer it's costed $500-$2,000 depending what the dealers came up with some being the PCM others being the wiring to the ignition, some being a bad fuse box and the dealers just throw parts at it to just have the issue come back 6 months down the road and then try to say now it's something else and it's going to be another $500-$2,000 in parts or try and push the owner to a new vehicle. I contacted my local ford dealer and he said they aren't equipped to do this kind of work that I'll need to go to a hub dealership and it would be about $400 just to diagnose with having to pull the dash, steering column and check the PCM. Then it'd be parts and labor to fix the issue if the find anything wrong but I wouldn't be notified till after the repairs were completed.

Filed Feb 22, 2016 · Visibility · 78,000 miles · AR

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 ford escape. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH, the windshield was blurry and unable to view the road. The contact mentioned that he felt that the failure was due to the laminate being exposed and that the failure worsened with direct sunlight. In addition , the failure worsened when driving at night and the headlights of another vehicle encountered the windshield. The contact was a certified mechanic, who diagnosed that the laminate was coming loose from the windshield and that the windshield needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 78,000.

Filed Oct 20, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 100,003 miles · NY

I had just come off a highway exit ramp and drove about 100 yards at 40mph, when the car suddenly slowed down to a stop. The odometer dropped from 40mph to zero in about 4 seconds when I just coasted to the side of the road. A wrench light appeared on the dash. I place the car in park and the only power I had was the electric that powered the headlights. I shutoff the ignition and restarted the car after about 15 seconds. The start was sluggish and when I placed the car in drive, it jerked forward. The car acceleration was poor for about 10 seconds before it finally caught the proper gear. I drove the car another two miles at 30mph with a little bit of hesitation in the engine. At this point the wrench light on the dash shut off. I have had no further issues since.

Filed Oct 4, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 60,000 miles · WI

I was driving on a city road and the engine randomly died when I was traveling about 40mph. All the lights and radio/electronics remained on (never lost time or preset radio stations, headlights, dash, etc) but as I tried to give it some gas, it wouldn't respond. When I realized the engine was not running after a few seconds, the rpms were at 0 and the battery light and oil light was on. No codes thrown or check engine or wrench light. As I pulled over and put it in park, I attempted to start it, and it started right up like nothing was wrong. Didn't "cough" or crank and crank...fired just like it was brand new. I took the vehicle in to a local body shop and they checked normal issues that would cause the escape to randomly shut off and did not find anything. Then I did research and determined there was an investigation upon the throttle body. This same issue has happened a total of 3 times, of which the most recent was in july and september.

Filed Jun 20, 2012 · Electrical, Transmission · 58,000 miles · IL

Driving ford escape 2009 at consistent highway speed for approximately 20 minutes. Iphone plugged into USB port, head lights, air conditioning on and working. Sudden feeling of hesitation and then floating. Orange wrench light appeared. Sudden loss of RPM's and engine power. Semi-truck behind me weaved into other lane. I activated hazard lights and coasted/changed lanes over 3 lanes of highway traffic to shoulder of expressway. Stopped and parked car. Wrench light remained on. Air conditioning, music, and lights remained working. I looked up code in owner's manual and found "powertrain" "service immediately". I turned off car. I turned off air conditioning, unplugged iphone, music, and lights. I restarted car. Car immediately restarted with no warning light. With car in park, tested acceleration, no hesitation with rpms. I turned off car and waited 5 minutes. I turned car back on, again no wrench light, no hesitation with RPM/gas pedal tested. I turned off hazards and attempted to drive. No further problem driving that night or the next day. On monday I took car to ford dealership for inspection. I was called and told that battery needed replacement. I explained I was concerned because there was no loss of auxiliary power, rather engine power. The service representative stated they would replace battery at my agreement and continue testing. I was called later in day an notified that there was nothing wrong with my car. While waiting for call from dealer, I "googled" ford escape 2009 wrench light. I found multiple problems attributed to throttle body sticking, with inability of ford dealers able to identify this recurrent problem. My car remains at dealer. I called ford dealer again today and was told my car was fine to drive. I am concerned to drive this vehicle on any street/expressway with the potential for this to happen again, as reported by other drivers.