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2011 Ford Escape transmission complaints

Page 6 of 10: complaints 131 to 160 of 268, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2011 Ford Escape transmission problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Sep 30, 2013 · Transmission · 60,400 miles · LA

As I was traveling on interstate 10 @ 70 MPH over lake pontchartrain near new orleans, my 2011 ford escape stalled; I lost all power. Accelerator was unresponsive. I managed to pull over and turned off the engine. I restarted and it started up, running normally again for about 2 miles, when the problem recurred. The wrench symbol appeared with the stall and then disappeared once I restarted, though the engine light came on and remained on when I restarted. I also noticed at times I had to really hold down the brake to prevent the vehicle from surging forward on its own. The problem kept occurring every few miles, and I repeated the same procedure. I elected to keep attempting travel; the problem was intermittent and I was in an unsavory section of eastern new orleans. Sometimes the car would go 5 miles, sometimes 5 blocks, sometimes 5 feet. I nervously managed to get home, and after researching online I found numerous complaints from others with ford escapes, as recently as 2 days ago (sep. 28, 2013), detailing the exact same problem. Some people who had these identical issues resolved said the ford service departments claimed it was the "throttle body." I have only ever taken this vehicle for all service, always on time, to the ford dealer where it was purchased in mandeville, la. Apparently this "throttle body" issue is common and currently under investigation by the federal safety agency. These vehicles should all immediately be recalled. It is only a matter of time until a fatal crash occurs because of this problem. The automatic surge problem is absolutely lethal. I'm going to a ford service center in the morning, but am prepared to be served with the $600-$1200 "throttle body" repair bill. I found the following website: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_escape.htm search "throttle body" & you'll find numerous complaints about this very same issue.

Filed Sep 27, 2013 · Transmission · 44,000 miles · PA

Wrench light came on while my wife was driving her 2011 escape in traffic on the highway and the car went into "limp mode". If you are not expecting the issue (and who would be) it is difficult to maneuver a failing vehicle to the shoulder while on the highway. After the car was turned off and restarted the issue cleared. Investigating this am I see that there are numerous complaints about the same issue with the throttle body. The car has not been taken to the repair shop to confirm the problem yet. If this is the same issue and ford is obviously aware, they should be ashamed of themselves. This is a major safety concern.

Filed Sep 23, 2013 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 40,200 miles · PA

While driving on the highway, my SUV jerked slightly and then just decelerated, and I could not maintain speed. I had to cross over 3 lanes to the side of the road and turned the SUV off. There was no warning, and I had not applied the break. I noticed the wrench light came on the dashboard. I waited a minute and turned the SUV on again. I was able to get to my destination, however, during this trip, the SUV jerked slightly again, but this time there was a slight acceleration. I was able to maintain a safe speed for the remainder of the trip, as it only lasted for a couple seconds. I contacted the service department of the dealership where I purchased the car and where I regularly take the car for maintenance. The serviceman knew exactly what the problem was when I described the problems I was having. He suggested I bring the car in for service as soon as possible. The car was towed to the dealership, and they replaced the electronic throttle. I was told it was not covered under warranty, but since I had an extended warranty, they would only charge me $100.00. When I picked up the car, I actually paid $106.00, and I was never informed that this was a recalled part. I should not have been charged anything, as ford was well aware that this part was defective and have been for many months now.

Filed Sep 21, 2013 · Transmission · 25,000 miles · TN

I was backing out of a parking place. The engine began to cut out. Pressing on the accelerator had no effect. Even though the engine was still on, the car would not move forward. I was able to get back into the parking space and turned the car off. In a few minutes, I tried to start it again and it started right up. I was very low on gas at the time so I assumed that was the problem. I filled up with gas and it ran okay for another 5 days. On 9/18, I was driving down a 4-lane street and it suddenly began to slow down and would not respond to acceleration. I was able to coast to the side of the road. Cut it off, restarted it and was able to drive back to my office parking lot. I had the car towed to the dealership and they replaced the throttle body which made all the difference in the way the car drives. I realized this problem had been affecting the performance of the car for awhile before it finally got bad enough to get my attention.

Filed Sep 16, 2013 · Acceleration, Transmission · 2,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford escape. The contact stated that while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle jerked and then accelerated rapidly. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer a few months later because the transmissions warning light had illuminated. The dealer stated that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 2,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Sep 12, 2013 · Transmission · 47,000 miles · NV

First time, driving vehicle no faster than 40mph when it suddenly stops working, wrench light on dash appears. No power to vehicle. Coast to pull over, restart vehicle. Happened on freeway two days later. Driving about 65mph, car stops working, all power lost. Wrench light appears. Coast to pull over, restart vehicle. No codes appear to be listed in vehicle "brain" that ford was able to retrieve. Dealer unable to replicate issue. Have seen many others having very same issue. Ford unable to fix.

Filed Sep 11, 2013 · Transmission · 42,525 miles · GA

While driving on the interstate to work, my 2011 ford just stopped on me without any warning. Thank god I was in the right lane, because I was able to maneuver my way into the emergency lane, and out of danger. Had I been in a middle lane, I probably wouldn't be making a complaint right now. It was really a scary feeling. After getting my composure back, I noticed that the throttle control/powertrain light was on, and when I started the car back up, the light went off.

Filed Sep 10, 2013 · Transmission · 54,955 miles · NY

Driving along and car quit running, no gas, no power. Had to pull over, waited 5 min and started engine and was able to get home safely. Car ran rough for a while afterward. The throttle body was defective and not covered under the extended warranty.

Filed Sep 9, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 35,000 miles · AR

Vehicle lost power. Would only idle. Wrench light illuminated. Had to shut vehicle off and restart.

Filed Sep 6, 2013 · Transmission · 49,500 miles · IN

My wife and I were travelling on an interstate highway approximately 3 hours from our home. With no notice, our vehicle lost power and a dashboard light illuminated which was the powertrain fault detection warning light. I pulled the vehicle over to the side of the interstate and turned the engine off. The vehicle re-started with no warning detection light and the vehicle running properly. After about 50 miles of additional driving, the vehicle repeated the same issue. After pulling the vehicle over to the emergency lane of the interstate and shutting the engine off, the engine re-started again with no light illuminated except a service engine light. I drove it to the nearest exit and fortunately found a ford dealer. The dealer replaced the throttle body of my vehicle and told me the throttle was sticking open and this was causing the vehicle's computer to shut down the power. When travelling on an interstate, I found this problem to be very dangerous. Fortunately, I did not have an accident due to this problem.

Filed Sep 5, 2013 · Acceleration, Transmission · 34,983 miles · FL

Upon entering a busy highway off of my neighborhood the vehicle lost acceleration power and went into a complete slow crawl as if coasting, almost causing me to get rear ended by 60 MPH approaching traffic. Fortunately, I was able to barley coast to the shoulder before anyone could hit me. I turned off the vehicle until my husband arrived to bail me out. He then was able to restart the vehicle and managed to drive it to the nearest ford dealership and left it there overnight. Upon diagnosing the vehicle with a dtc of p2111, they informed us that they ordered a replacement throttle body which would take approximately 3-4 weeks to obtain since they're on back order, leaving us without a reliable vehicle till the repair can be completed.

Filed Sep 4, 2013 · Transmission · 29,000 miles · IN

I was driving on the interstate at 65 MPH when my 2011 ford escape began to decelerate rapidly. I tried giving it gas but even with the gas petal pushed down all the way it still wouldn't accelerate at all. I had to pull over in the emergency lane so I wasn't hit by the car behind me. When I came to a stop the vehicle was shaking and I noticed that a flashing wrench light was displayed. I turned the vehicle off for a minute and then restarted it with no problems. I called the dealership because it's still under warranty and they told me to bring it in and they would take a look at it.

Filed Sep 3, 2013 · Electrical, Transmission · 54,000 miles · VA

At 55 MPH our 2011 ford escape lost all power with no warning at all. Had to push it out of the middle of the highway. Throttle control/powertrain light came on. Turned ignition completely off and restarted the engine, light went out and ran fine. Going in for service asap.

Filed Sep 3, 2013 · Acceleration, Transmission · 38,600 miles · FL

On 08/30/2013, my wife and I drove our 2011 ford escape which has the mileage of 38000 back home from a state park. When we were attempting accelerate the vehicle after a right turn from a stop light, the gas pedal suddenly stop working properly and would not accelerate, the wrench light was on. We stopped the car and restarted, it worked fine. Without thinking much about it, we drove on I-10 highway and luckily we get home safe. But it happened again on 09/01/2013 and 09/02/2013, respectively. This is definitely a safety issues which ford company should resolve and I can't believed I drove it on highway with such hidden danger!!!

Filed Sep 3, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 42,000 miles · IN

While driving on highway at 60 MPH 8/16/2013, my engine shut off. I pulled to side of road. The "wrench" light on dash was on. I called ford bloomington, they gave me roadside assist # and had me call them to send a tow truck to bring me and my vehicle to ford for check up. It was ready later that day, was told that they reprogrammed PCM and updated calibration, they changed air filter and told me I was "good to go" I paid $35.00 for that. The very next friday, I was driving home (at 60 MPH) and the engine died again and I pulled to side of road. Luckily the engine did restart and I was able to make it home. Saturday, I took my SUV to ford bloomington, engine sputtered on the way there. Ford called rental car for me( without me asking) and again looked at the engine, was told on monday that the throttle body was bad, needed replaced. They had the part, but it was their last one and that the part was on backorder until october. I had part replaced as it was not covered under warranty, for $500.00. Also I have a $110.00 bill from enterprise rentals.

Filed Sep 3, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · PA

I was driving 35-40 MPH when all of the sudden my car started to slow down. I did not know what was happening at the time and I kept pressing the gas pedal but the car continued to slow. Before the car stopped, I pulled over to the side of the road, placed the car in park, turned it off, and opened my car door. Then I turned my car on again and was able to drive to the place I was going in about 7 min. I stayed at that place for around 30 min and then got in my car again where 2 min after I started driving, the car stalled again. I pulled over, turned the car off, and opened the driver's door. Then I turned the car back on and preceded to drive home (about a ten minute car ride).

Filed Sep 2, 2013 · Transmission · 48,000 miles · PA

I was making a left off of a bridge and it just stopped going forward and the throttle wouldn't go. I could push gas pedal all the way down and nothing changed I shut it off and it was fine for a couple days then same thing. Sometimes it goes a week or more with out any problem.

Filed Aug 31, 2013 · Transmission · 40,277 miles · VA

Operator was traveling on 4 lane highway using the far left lane. Vehicle suddenly and without warning lost all power and would not respond to accelerator pedal. Operator had to pull over to far left with traffic behind nearly crashing into vehicle. "wrench" symbol appeared briefly on dash display. Operator turned vehicle ignition off and then on. Vehicle ran normally for 10 or so miles, then went into fault condition again while traveling over 40 MPH. Vehicle was returned to dealership for service and diagnosed with faulty throttle body. Repaired at owners expense for $514.00. Ford customer service would not repair vehicle or offer any assistance under powertrain warranty claiming that this condition was not covered. This is clearly a safety issue that has resulted in numerous complaints by owners of ford escape vehicles, as well as several reported accidents to include personal injury. Ford is and has been aware of this faulty part and has done nothing to correct it or respond to it's customers complaints. The federal safety agency should force an immediate recall before someone is seriously hurt or killed due to this defective part.

Filed Aug 30, 2013 · Engine, Fuel system · 57,900 miles · NC

I was traveling on interstate at 65-70 MPH, when my escape's RPM's all of a sudden dropped to 1 and would not react to the gas pedal, luckily I was in the slow lane and managed to coast off the interstate. There was an 18-wheeler behind me and I started to panic at the speed he was gaining on me. I finally managed to get my hazards on to notify him that I was having issues. If I had not have been in the slow lane I would not have been able to get off the interstate before the car stopped completely. This is very dangerous, if I had been in the far left lane or the middle lanes the car could have stopped in the middle of the interstate. I took the vehicle to the ford store and they informed me that it was the throttle body. I then googled the problem and found out that this is a real issue with a large majority of the vehicles not just a limited faulty part. I don't understand how ford cannot see that this is a safety issue if someone goes to make a left turn and this happens another car could crash into them. Anytime your car does not react properly it becomes a safety issue. When an 18-wheeler is behind a vehicle that responds the way mine did today it is a safety issue. As you know a fully loaded tractor trailer cannot stop as easily as a passenger vehicle and if the vehicle in front of them all of a sudden looses power and cannot get out of their way there is going to be an accident. Once I got stopped my car did restart but getting to that point was very scary.

Filed Aug 29, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 34,132 miles · VA

On august 29, 2013 driver of a 2011 ford escape was attempting to turn left and accelerate the vehicle from a stoplight when the car jerked forward and would not accelerate or go with flow of traffic, and with traffic moving behind the vehicle creating dangerous situation. The dashboard showed a wrench light, and driver found it hard to move car forward as it went into "limp home" mode, sputtering all the way. The car was finally moved to the side of the road, shut off, and restarted, and driven the 3 miles home. Owner will take car to the dealership (carmax). Driver assumes will find throttle body code. The part and service should be covered under extended warranty. However, driver/owner will be out of pocket for deductible $250. Family was in car and this is definitely a safety concern on this vehicle. When it goes into limp mode there is no warning and may cause an accident when the vehicle suddenly decelerates to snail speed. I believe ford must recall the faulty throttle body in the 2009-2011 models as they are safety issues for drivers in the car and other drivers on the road.

Filed Aug 29, 2013 · Acceleration, Transmission · 45,186 miles · FL

Wednesday august 28, 2013-I was going down my street headed to work-I had just pulled out of the driveway. Maybe going 15-20 miles per hour. Then the escape jolted forward like it was going to stall and shut off. It did not start back up right away like it is supposed to. Thursday august 29, 2013-jolted, stalled, and shut off 3 different times today. One of those times, the vehicle was on the highway and a semi truck was coming up behind me and almost hit me! Very scary!!! Unsafe!! As I have been researching this problem, I have noticed that this is a common problem with this make, model, and year. Is it going to take someone losing their life for someone to do something about this problem?! Ford needs to step up and right their wrong and quit ignoring it.

Filed Aug 29, 2013 · Transmission · 65,000 miles · MD

Stalling and surging without warning while I was in heavy traffic. Warning light came on looked like a wrench. This happened three times was able to get into parking lot and had car towed to ford dealer for repair. Dealer indicated was throttle auto body problem and parts will not be in for 10 days due to a national back order on the same part (s). I have taken great care of this car and was livid it could have such a serious problem at age 2 and 65,000 miles, obvious wide spread problem with same make/model throughout the nation due to national back order. My complaint is the dangerous position the stalling put me in during heavy traffic, due to national back order I must rent car to get to work at a cost of $300 and the resistance of ford to step up to the plate and do a recall. I am sure someone has been harmed by this fault and ford must rectify the problem, I was lucky.

Filed Aug 27, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 43,568 miles · FL

On august 21, 2013 driver of a 2011 ford escape was attempting to turn and accelerate the vehicle from a stoplight when the car jerked forward and would not accelerate with oncoming traffic, and with traffic moving behind the vehicle. The dashboard showed a wrench light, and drive found it hard to stop car as it was sputtering and jerking forward. The car was finally moved to the side of the road, shut off, and restarted, and drive the 10 miles home. Owner took car to the dealership where throttle body code was discovered. This part is not covered under powertrain warranty, thus owner fix cost is $600.00. This is a safety concern on the vehicle, when it goes into safe mode there is no warning and can cause an accident when the vehicle suddenly decelerates to under 1000 RPM. I believe ford should recall the faulty throttle body in the 2009-2011 models as they are safety issues for drivers in the car and other drivers on the road.

Filed Aug 27, 2013 · Transmission · 40,000 miles · KY

Since my first incident on 7/24/13 this has now happened multiple times. The vehicle loses power and the gas pedal does nothing. The small wrench icon comes on. I immediately thought power train and after some basic research see all of the documented issues concerning the throttle body. These issues exactly match mine. Today, the vehicle stalled and died in the middle of a very busy intersection while my wife was driving with our 9 month old baby. If there are this many issues this is unacceptable! After calling the ford dealership there is no recall on this item. I can't believe I am having a problem on a 40,000 mile vehicle and that thousands of others have the same issue.

Filed Aug 27, 2013 · Transmission · 58,000 miles · LA

I was driving down the interstate at 65 MPH and my escape just started decreasing in speed, and I tried to accelerate and it would not gain any speed at all. I tried to make it to the next exit, but that did not happen because the power was continuing to decrease. I was glad I was already in the far right lane and could pull over to avoid an accident! Once I pulled over the wrench light came on and the truck started to shake, I turned it off and let it sit for 15 min, it restarted and I had to have someone follow me to get home because it kept shutting off. I took it to the dealership only to find out it's not covered under warranty! Hopefully ford will find a solution to this problem and get it corrected asap!

Filed Aug 26, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 98,545 miles · MS

Was at the stop light, light turns green press the gas pedal car did not move I was almost rear ended by another vehicle. Wrench light was on dash board car start to putter would not accelerate. Coasted out of the middle of the street and then the transmission light was on dash board, had to get car towed home. Found out it was the throttle body and it is a defect from the manufacturer, but ford will not replace the consumer is responsible for replacing and it has an out of pocket fee of $548.00 to get the problem fixed.this is very dangerous, I was lucky I am afraid to drive the truck do not want this to happen to me again. Ford should at least try and come up with some type of solution to this problem.

Filed Aug 24, 2013 · Acceleration, Lights · 64,500 miles · TX

I was driving on the highway when all of a sudden I could not gas my car. Traffic was heavy and I nearly caused two accidents trying to maneuver to the emergency lane. I an not able to drive my car far from home nor on a highway as it chooses to repay this at random.

Filed Aug 24, 2013 · Transmission · 54,963 miles · OH

While driving on the interstate @ 70 MPH, I experienced a sudden loss of acceleration with a lack of throttle response and the illumination of a solid orange "wrench" symbol on the dash display. I was able to maneuver the vehicle to the break down lane and activate the emergency flashers. The vehicle was still running @ idle but still would not allow throttle response. I decided to shut off the engine since I was already stranded. Upon doing so, I restarted the vehicle and it performed the self-checks and seemed to be operating normally, so I resumed my journey. This occurred 7 more times within the remaining 40 miles I drove it (I was attempting to "nurse" the vehicle to my home, which was accomplished). During the last occurrence, I observed a solid yellow "engine" symbol in addition to the previously described "wrench" symbol. This is obviously an extremely dangerous issue which appears to be a wide spread problem and ford motor co. Should stand up and take responsibility if it wishes to build it's repeat customer base and avoid responsibility for injuries or deaths.

Filed Aug 23, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 39,100 miles · UT

At first, while driving, the car would shut down and not respond to throttle movement, a huge safety issue in traffic. After pulling over and restarting the car, the problem seemed to go away for a while. The problem seemed to be intermittent the first few times. Finally the car shut down to an idle and would not respond to throttle movement and the wrench and engine lights came on. The car would only run limp mode. The odb codes read a p2111 and p2112 (throttle actuator control stuck open, and throttle actuator stuck closed) respectively. We had to tow the vehicle to the dealer. We were told that the entire throttle body had to be replaced at a cost of $666. The problem is that the part is unavailable for 2 weeks and maybe up to a month. We have 39000 miles on the vehicle, the warranty ran out at 36000. This issue is also not covered under the power train warranty. This seems to be a widespread issue and I am disappointed that ford is unwilling to make this right and produce a recall.

Filed Aug 20, 2013 · Transmission · 65,000 miles · GA

While traveling along at 55 MPH, the engine suddenly lost all power and started running rough. The "wrench" warning light identified in my owner's manual as "powertrain" lit up and the vehicle just would not respond to accelerator whatsoever. I managed to coast to a side road and exit to the right. Once stopped, I put it in park and restarted the engine. It immediately restarted and I was able to continue with no further problems that day. I contacted the dealer, but they informed me since it was out of warranty, there was a $95 charge to just check the codes! I took it to my regular mechanic who scanned it and no codes appeared. It has since happened 5 more times, progressively getting more frequent. This past friday (16 aug) I had it back at my mechanic who cleaned the throttle body/system and changed the oil. Yesterday (19 aug) it again lost power and then again today - and today I narrowly avoided a collision due to the sudden drop in speed while driving in commuting traffic! I drive a significant amount daily to/from work and I am now extremely nervous about starting home after the incident this morning. This is most definitely a safety issue and ford needs to address it immediately! I researched the problem online and there's a huge amount of other people with the same issue!!!!

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