2011 Ford Escape: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Sep 22, 2022 · Transmission · 44,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that after turning off the cruise control to reduce the speed from 65 MPH to 60 MPH, the contact depressed the brake pedal to adjust the speed and then depressed the accelerator pedal to readjust the cruise control however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact then coasted to the side of the road and shifted the vehicle into park(P) then to drive(D), reverse(R) and then neutral(N) while depressing the accelerator pedal however, the failure persisted. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called Roadside Assistance who was unable to identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The approximate failure mileage was 44,000.

Filed Jul 23, 2019 · Acceleration, Engine · 150,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford escape. While driving approximately 62 MPH with the cruise control engaged, the vehicle stalled. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact stopped, turned off, and restarted the vehicle for it to operate normally. The vehicle was repaired by an independent mechanic, but the failure recurred. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The cause of the failure was not determined. The failure mileage was 150,000.

Filed Jun 26, 2017 · Acceleration · 68,000 miles · OH

Driving on street and engine shut down. Restarted engine and could not accelerate to more than 20 MPH. I pulled off of street and shut engine off for about a minute. Restarted engine and every thing worked fine except check engine light was on and cruise control would not work.

Filed Feb 22, 2015 · Acceleration · 65,000 miles · VA

While traveling from virginia to michigan on pennsylvania turnpike at a speed of 75 MPH my cruise control switched off and the vehicle decelerated. I thought maybe it was because I hit a bump in the road so I tried to engage the cruise control again, it stayed on for a few minutes then disengaged again. This is not the first time this has happened, on a previous trip it did the same thing. I took my vehicle in to the dealer, they couldn't determine the cause. Obviously something isn't right, I've seen one other complaint about this.

Filed Feb 3, 2015 · Acceleration · 47,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford escape. The contact stated while driving with the vehicle on cruise control at 75 MPH, the vehicle decelerated. As a result, the vehicle stalled and the service engine soon warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician stated that the vehicle was operating as designed. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 47,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Sep 25, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 95,000 miles · PA

While driving at 71 MPH with the cruise control on, I noticed a slowing down feeling, the cruise control light went off, the wrench light illuminated. I pulled to the berm. I turned off the engine. According to the manual it was the throttle. It took 2 tries to restart car, the wrench light went off. A ford dealership was 5 min. From incident. According to invoice, they performed throttle body update. I was told if the light came on again, it might need a throttle body. I asked if they could perform the work, they stated without the light being on, they couldn't do the work under the warranty. Meanwhile I was over 200 miles from home, and needed to get home. It felt so unsafe for 5hours of driving. The car has surges of power, downshifts with jolts, and clunking sounds when it does shift. This is how it drove from the beginning, I began to think it was normal so never reported it. Also, since the work was done I noticed the rpms at idling are high, I can pull into the garage without putting my foot on the gas the rpms are at 2 at 30 miles an hour, same as at 70 miles an hour. I'm contacting ford about the rules of the warranty and how unsafe it feels to drive the vehicle. How many accidents, deaths will it take to get the real work done, not a patch up job.

Filed Jun 23, 2014 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 52,000 miles · TX

My ford 2011 escape just completely stalled out driving home. I was on the highway going about 65 MPH when it just sputtered and died. I think I even had it on cruise control. It was extremely dangerous and I had to pull over in the middle of traffic. I forced the car into park and turned it off when it kept sputtering. Once I restarted the engine it drove some more but did the same thing about 3 minutes from my house. Turning the truck off then back on seemed to work...I'm taking into the ford dealership today to have the look at it but I think it is the throttle body...

Filed Jul 22, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 44,000 miles · TX

I was driving on the highway, going about 70mph on cruise control. The cruise control suddenly disengaged and the car started slowing down, plus the wrench maintenance sign in the dashboard lit up. I hit the gas and nothing would happen, I basically put the gas pedal to the floor with no results. I pulled over to the side of the road, avoiding traffic, and parked the car. Once the car was in park, the car started vibrating heavily. I shut the car down and waited about 5-10 minutes and then started the car again, it took about 3 tries to get the car to start again. I took the car to the mechanic, they could not get the car repeat the fails at that time, so they could not determine what happened. About a week later, I'm on the highway headed to work and it happens again, same situation, except this time all the lights in the dashboard lit up and I was not using cruise control. I took the car back to the mechanic and he worked on it for a few days, came back and said that the throttle body was malfunctioning and it needed to be replaced. Before I did that, I called the ford dealership and explained the situation to the lead mechanic there and without even seeing the car, he agreed with my mechanic that it 100% sounded like a throttle body problem. So it has been replaced and I have had the car back with no problems since then.

Filed Jul 17, 2013 · Acceleration · 37,195 miles · IL

Traveling 70 MPH on interstate north west of atlanta, georgia at 5:00 in the morning using cruise control. Cruise control went off and car had a catastrophic loss of power. No response to the accelerator pedal. The open end wrench emblem came on the dash board. Car speed dropped to 2.5 MPH with occasional double surges up to 4.5 MPH. Had to drive on shoulder for 1 1/2 miles at 2.5 MPH in order to get to an exit and call for assistance. Was on my own and totally unfamiliar with the area. Called ford motor assist and they towed vehicle to dealership. This was a sunday so had to spend night in motel before could see service people. Diagnosis ended up being throttle control needing replaced. Had complained to local dealership about something being wrong with what I thought was the transmission as the care would surge or shift funny several times clear up to just prior to reaching 36,000 mile warranty. Since this occurred at 37,195 and 500 miles away from home it was considered an out of warranty repair and cost $478.00. I am thankful it was 5:00 in the morning on a sunday as had this occurred in rush hour in a further left hand lane, the sudden deceleration would likely have cause a bad accident. This is a very dangerous problem!!!!!

Filed Jul 1, 2013 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 45,565 miles · MO

Was driving down the highway at 60 MPH with the cruise control on. Vehicle lost power like you had kicked the cruise off. Pushed on the accelerator but nothing happened. Shut vehicle off and restarted and it worked fine. Went about a mile down the road and it did it again. Had it towed to a ford dealership and they said it was the throttle body which they said would cost $300 plus the cost for towing. This was dangerous because I could have been hit from behind when it suddenly decelerated.