While traveling at 60 MPH on the highway I suddenly lost all power. I coasted the car across a lane of traffic to the right lane of the highway. I could not pull out of traffic because this part of the highway has no shoulder and is bordered by a concrete wall or fence. The right-lane traffic came to a stop while I restarted the car. After I restarted the car, I proceeded down the freeway, but before I arrived at the next exit, the car stalled again. I feared for my safety and for the safety of other drivers. I experienced a similar incident on 6/20/13 and reported it to at that time, I took my car to the local ford dealer who services my car. The dealer stated that the problem is related to the throttle body. The problem is so common to ford escapes that there is a 3 week backlog for ordering a replacement part. In the meantime, the dealer reprogrammed the PCM (power control module?) ' for $118 ' as a temporary fix. Apparently, the 'fix' was very temporary. My car is too dangerous to be driven until the throttle body is replaced. For the safety of myself and other drivers, I cannot risk driving the car to work. How many lives must be placed at risk before a recall is issued to correct this defect?
2009 Ford Escape transmission complaints
Page 8 of 11: complaints 191 to 220 of 301, newest first, as owners wrote them.
About a year to year and a half ago I lost all forward motion while driving, could not get the car to respond to the accelerator, and the "wrench" light came on. I made it to the side of the road and a few minutes later it started it right up. This happened several times over a couple of weeks period, I took it to our ford house but they could not find any issues. I then took it to my local mechanic and he said he thought it was a throttle issue but couldn't find the exact problem, so he suggested we take it back to the ford house and let them "put it on the computer" and look again. I did but they said although they unplugged and reconnected several things they still could not find anything wrong. I didn't have any problems for a few months and now it has started happening again, 5 times in the last 2 weeks. Now it sputters some when I restart it but so far it has started. I have a toddler and depend on my car to get us around and this is a very real safety concern. Getting rear-ended or run over while trying to get off the road is a huge fear. It sounds like when I take it back to the ford house, and I will, the wait on the part will still mean I'll be driving an unsafe vehicle for a while .ford needs to pay attention before there is a fatality and then the whole world will know how much they care about their customers.
I was driving and came to a stop sign, turned left and pressed the gas and my car wouldn't go, all lights and gauges were normal but the gas pedal all the way to the floor wouldn't make the car go so I coasted off to the shoulder and almost made it out of the road. I tried calling several tow truck company's for roadside assistance and didn't get an answer. After about 20 mins, I tried cranking the car. All parts ran normal, all gauges normal, so I drove it to work and then called the ford dealership where they told me that is was the throttle body.
While driving the vehicle on the freeway approx 55-65 mile per hour engine light came on, rpms went down to 1000 and would not rev back up until I pulled the car over on the shoulder put it in park and shut it off and back on. This has occurred about 5 times since and seems to be happening more often until I dropped it off at the dealer. Also occured leaving a stop.
Vehicle throttle stuck open at 45 MPH.
While driving approximately 40 MPH, the car stalled. I could not do anything except coast to the nearest parking lot. I turned the car off and the restarted it. Everything seemed to be fine but later that night, the same thing occurred. I took it to the dealer, they said it was the throttle body and the part is on back order.
I was leaving our local store and turned onto the access road to have my car start shaking and won't go faster than about 4 MPH. Right after, the powertrain symbol came on followed the engine light. With my hazard lights on I crept into the closest parking lot and turned off the car, waited a few minutes and then started it again. When turned back on the lights were all gone, so I assumed it was a fluke. Until I started driving and as soon as I turned everything turned back on and the shaking happened again. I had to have my vehicle towed to the dealership. The dealership told me the it was the throttle and that the part was on back order because of so many of the escapes breaking in the same part. Now its the sit and wait game for weeks!
I was on my way home from a camping trip yesterday and my vehicle suddenly stopped moving while I was on the freeway. I pulled over quickly. The engine was still running, but kept jerking forward with my foot on the brake. I turned off my vehicle and restarted it. I was able to drive for about a mile until I got up to 50 MPH and then it did the same thing. I had it towed to the dealership and they said the part is on back order. The cost to repair it is $325. The vehicle is only at 74,000 miles and I have had issues with the transmission since I bought the vehicle 2 years ago. The part needed is on back order which leads me to believe ford needs to do a recall. I do not feel safe in my vehicle and will never buy a ford vehicle again.
On sunday, june 16, 2013, I was driving near topeka, kansas, in a suburban area with my wife, 5 year old daughter & 6 month old son in our 2009 ford escape. While driving approximately 25 MPH the vehicle stalled while driving. Luckily we were not on a high traffic street so we were able to pull over to the side of the road, shut off the vehicle, and restart the car successfully. The escape continued on without issue back home to lawrence, kansas. The vehicle was driven around lawrence without any issue until friday, june 21, 2013. On this date my wife had to commute from lawrence to kansas city, kansas, for work-related training. On her trip to kansas city (kc) the vehicle stalled while driving at highway speed (60+ MPH). She was successful restarting the vehicle but it stalled once again while in kc. She drove the escape to shawnee mission ford to see if diagnostics could be run on the vehicle, but there was not enough time left in the day to perform the full diagnostics. A service technician test-drove the vehicle and while driving it stalled once again. Because carseats for our two children were located in the escape, my wife had to drive from kc back to lawrence so our family would have these items on hand. While driving from kc to lawrence the vehicle stalled once again at highway speed (60+ MPH). Once back in lawrence the vehicle was dropped off at laird noller ford, and on saturday, june 22, 2013, it was determined by their service staff that the throttle body was defective. This part is currently on national backorder, so we could be without our primary family vehicle for more than 3 weeks. This will result in hardship on the family and could result in major financial costs if a rental vehicle is needed for the entire period we are without our primary family vehicle and could have resulted in serious injury or death as a result of this defect.
I was driving home from work and had driven about 3.5 miles when I was turning left going about 10-15 MPH. My car suddenly lost acceleration and the wrench illuminated. I panic because I was on a street where there was no area to pull off the road. I looked in the rearview mirror to make sure that there were no other cars behind me and put on my hazard lights and turned off the engine. After about 30 seconds I turned the engine over and it sputtered to life, but then the wrench warning light illuminated again and I could not accelerate. Cars were coming behind me and I tried my best to give them room to drive by, which was hard as the right side of the street was bumper to bumper with parked cars. After the cars passed me, I turned off the engine again and waited about 30-45 seconds and the engine came to life and I was able to drive home without another incident.
Driving approx. 45 MPH the acceleration stops, no connection with pedal, engine is still running but no acceleration. Eventually had to cost to a stop, engine running rough. Wrench on dash is on. Stop car and shut engine off. Started engine, starts hard but does start, wrench on dash is off but service engine light is now on. This same thing happens several times within a few miles before I finally got home. This same thing happened several month ago but appeared to correct itself. This time I took it to a service garage and was told this could be the throttle body problem. This appears from looking on line that it is a ford problem that many other people have also and could be dangerous. It appears that this is going to happen more and more often and should not be driven in this condition.
While traveling at 60 MPH on the freeway I suddenly lost power. The car slowed to 40mph. There was no response to pushing on the accelerator, and the accelerator became spongy. The throttle/power-train warning light was activated. I had to pull over to the shoulder of the road to avoid being hit by other traffic. When I shut off the engine and restarted it, the warning light turned off. I felt endangered and immediately exited the freeway and drove 30 minutes to home at under 40mph. The next day the local ford dealer diagnosed the problem as a faulty throttle body. He stated that it was a common problem with ford escapes, and it is not covered by warranty. The cost of repair is $615. My car is well maintained with less than 32,000 miles. The poor quality of this part constitutes a dangerous hazard.
Approximately one month ago, while slowing to make a right-hand turn, the vehicle seemed to lose all power; no acceleration, etc. I managed to get on the side of the road, put the vehicle in park, and turned the engine off. When I restarted the engine, everything seemed fine. About 2 weeks later when pulling out onto a main highway, the same thing happened, except this time the "wrench" light came on, and the vehicle started lurching and shaking extremely hard. Again, I got to the side of the road (fortunately no volume of traffic), put vehicle in park, turned engine off, and restarted - wrench light gone and all seemed ok. Two days ago, same thing happened 4 times within a two mile trip, again fortunately no traffic volume. I had the vehicle towed to the local dealership, and no surprise it was the throttle body, which was replaced at my expense. I see this problem is widespread, and potentially very dangerous. Ford should be required to issue a recall before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.
Upon turning left through an intersection from a red light, I accelerated to reach about 30 miles per hour. Then the vehicle started slowing down slightly so I pressed on the gas slightly but nothing happened. I then noticed that the lights on the dash were lit (there is a light that looks like a wrench). I turned the radio off and it seemed that the engine was not running. I was able to pull over, place the vehicle in park, and start the engine. It seemed like I had full control over steering and braking to pull over, but perhaps that was just the slow rate of speed I was at. Now everything appears to be normal now, however I am concerned as I googled this issue and there seems to be many folks indicating the same problem, suspecting something to do with the throttle. This has happened twice to me. The first time about 6 months ago, with this time being the most recent.
I'm driving normally, at a constant speed (40), and all of a sudden, wrench light comes on, rpms do weird things, gas pedal doesn't do anything, putting it in neutral in a drift downspeed does nothing, park does nothing. Putting it in park and shutting the engine, and starting again makes the light go away and run fine again.
The vehicle suddenly lost power at approx 55 MPH while driving on an expressway. Although steering and braking was available, acceleration was not. The orange "wrench" warning light activated. I was able to drive to the shoulder, turn off the engine, and restart. This has recurred several times since this first incident. So far, I have been able to get to the shoulder each time and it has restarted. But this is a very dangerous defect that is fully discussed on the internet. A large volume of "throttle body" issues associated with this and other escape models is documented on various websites. There is never any advance warning of when this may occur, and it has occurred at a variety of speeds and road conditions. The potential danger associated with this obvious defect should warrant a recall from ford. It is just a matter of time before this defect leads to a serious accident if it already has not done so.
I have been having issues with the throttle body in my 2009 ford escape. When I drive my car, it randomly stops accelerating and my car stops running. This is a big safety hazard. My car has stopped in the middle of a busy roads. Cars could also easily hit me when my car randomly stops.this problem is resolved once I turn off my car and turn it back on, but it continues to happens many times. I have read many reports from other people with the same issue and something should be done about this as this problem puts people in serious danger.
I was stopped at a light. When the light turned green, I stepped on the accelerator and as the car got to about 5 MPH, it went into what is referred to as the "limp mode." when I stepped on the accelerator, nothing happened. The engine "wrench" light came on, the engine idled at about 800 RPM, and it took about a minute or more for the car to "limp" out of the intersection. I turned off the engine, and restarted it. It then worked fine. I took it to the dealer, which was less than a mile from where this happened. After several days, they said they could find nothing wrong. Now in june ( several months later), we had an instance where it happened again. I searched on the internet and saw you were investigating. I printed out the article, took it to the dealer and said this is exactly what happened. The dealer said it was a circuit problem, but the replacement part was on back order and it may take "weeks" for them to get the part. We drove the car once more and the same " limp mode" kicked in 3 times in a 3 mile trip. While turning off the engine and restarting the engine seems to clear the problem, this is extremely dangerous if the vehicle goes into the limp mode when it is necessary to accelerate the cross a road, etc. While my vehicle is under extended warranty, and hopefully it will be repaired satisfactorily, this is potentially an extremely dangerous malfunction and I am reporting it so that you can take it into consideration in your investigation. My vehicle was manufactured in july 2008, according to the sticker on the door.
My wife was driving along the highway when suddenly the throttle stopped working, the engine did not shut off but she could not give the car any gas and had to pull over. This has happened 4 times since then with the most recent being today. There is something wrong with the throttle body from what I've read from other 2009 ford escape owners. I also understand that an investigate was/is being done into this problem.
Multiple times my car is stalling while driving. The first incident I was driving 55mph. I took vehicle to ford and was told it was the electronic throttle body and that the part is on back order for at least 4 weeks. A 4 week part back order seems to me a strong indicator that several people are experiencing this very dangerous driving scenario.
At or about 2:30pm on sunday, june 9, 2013, the identified vehicle was being operated on a limited-access state highway at or around the posted speed limit of 70 MPH. The vehicle took an exit ramp onto the frontage road and decelerated to posted speed limit of 50 MPH. Without warning or any prior indication, the vehicle entered the ford-defined "limp home mode," which included a loss of engine power (governed to approximated 900 RPM in second gear), and the vehicle experienced rapid deceleration to approximately 10 MPH on the high-speed three-lane roadway with medium to medium-heavy traffic. Upon pulling the vehicle to safety in a parking lot, the vehicle experienced rough idling and the dashboard illuminated a "throttle control/power train fault" warning light. Upon cycling the engine off and on, engine ignition took longer than typical to start by several seconds, but appeared to otherwise function properly. Upon re-entering the roadway, an experience similar to that described above occurred after shifting to third gear. After-market diagnostic computer indicates the vehicle has a p2112, "throttle actuator control stuck closed," code. Engine was cycled and entry to roadway was attempted again; similar episode occurred when shifting to third gear. Vehicle was towed to a ford dealership for service, which is pending at the time of this report.
Car was fine, then all of a sudden I had nothing. I was only going about 25 and was able to coast to the side of the road. Engine was running fine but car would not accelerate at all. Wrench on the instrument panel was lit, indicating a powertrain problem. I turned the car off, waited a few minutes and restarted. I was able to get it home. This is a serious problem. I'm sure it will happen again after reading the posted complaints, left turns could be extremely dangerous. Ford needs to step up.
Update on complaint #10515406 - took car to dealer - the diagnosis is a throttle body failure. It is not covered under the power train warranty. And the part is on back order. They want $474 to fix it. Why hasn't there been a recall yet...upon doing some research, there are approximately 1.6 million ford escapes with this issue model years 2005-2012. This is absolutely crazy that I have to pay to fix a widely known failure.
When I slow down to almost a stop or when I am stopped and starting to accelerate again the car engine shuts off. I then have to turn off the car and restart it. This happens sporadically with no warning. I have been told by ford that it is the throttle body causing this issue.
The throttle control/powertrain warning light came. The escape wouldn't accelerate on 6/4. I was able to get to a spot out of the driving lane and turn it off. I restarted and didn't have any problems until this morning 6/6. It happened while my son was driving to school. He also was able to stop safely. Turn off the escape and restart it with no problems. Called the dealer. They want it in for service right away.
0630hr reversed car from garage reached road 30ft ,then placed in d accelerated to about 15mph then sudden lost of power and deceleration similar to applying brake drive went into 'limp' mode without warning.a wrench showed up as a fault warning on the dash. This is the first time this has happened.
As I was driving, the accelerator pedal suddenly stopped responding and the wrench and check engine lights came on. I was able to pull over and put on the hazard lights. After turning the engine off and restarting, the accelerator pedal responded again and I was able to drive for a short while before it failed again. This was very dangerous. I repeated this cycle until I was able to get the car to the dealership, where I was notified that the codes indicated a faulty throttle body. The dealership has advised the part is on backorder and won't be available for at least two weeks, which means I won't be able to drive the car (the extended warranty does not provide a rental due to backordered parts). This is now very inconvenient. Please note that the transmission was already completely replaced on this vehicle at around 30k miles, along with a failed power window motor, rear glass hatch seals, etc.
While driving at a different speeds, the starts to jerk, hesitate, slow down. At times I feel it's about to suddenly stall or turn off.
I was traveling on highway at approximately 65 MPH and accelerator stopped. The engine was still running but wouldn't accelerate. Pulled off to the side of the highway turned off the vehicle restarted and it ran fine for a few miles then repeated twice more. I took the vehicle to the local dealership they told me it was the throttle body that was bad.
While driving to a meeting 05/31/13 in wetumpka al. My 09 escape stall when exiting off the freeway. I place it in park and restarted it and it cut off again. So I restarted for the 3rd time and held my foot on the gas and brake at the same time , trying to put it in drive and pressing the gas fast. This is very unsafe after the meeting was over I made it to the ford dealership. The said I had to leave because it was busy they will check on it monday but they did call me sat. 06 01 13 and said it is the throttle body and don't know when the new part will be released. Iam very up set this part must be on recall list. Tell me something asap. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
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