Vehicle shuts down or does not respond to accelerator. You turn it off wait a few minutes, start it again and it gets moving. Problem occurred twice in one day. 10 days later the problem re-emerged three times.
2011 Ford Escape transmission complaints
Page 7 of 10: complaints 161 to 190 of 268, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On four separate occasions, while accelerating the throttle gave out. The vehicle had no power to move forward, except what was left from the original speed. On one of theses occasions, I was on a major highway in the dc area when the throttle gave out. I turned on my hazards and pulled over. Thankfully the cars behind me had enough room not to crash into me. I then turned off the car. Once restarted, it seemed to stall a bit and then drove normally until the next incident. There have been 4 incidents within 5 days, all seeming to happen at random. The "wrench" flashes once the throttle goes out, but then doesn't appear once the car is back on and everything seems normal. Ford has given me problems, saying this falls outside my warranty and I may have to pay for the repair myself. They also wont see me for a week, when this merits immediate attention. I just bought this vehicle in march 2013, after this problem had already been reported by thousands of existing owners. Had I know about this problem, I would not have purchased this vehicle because it is so unsafe.
While driving at interstate speeds (65 MPH), the vehicle just seemed to stop, but the engine was still running. I had just gone over a bridge and was able to coast down and pull off the side of the road. A yellow wrench was displayed in the instrument panel. I turned the vehicle off and removed the key. After waiting for a minute, I was able to start the vehicle and return home. This has happened three times now. I called the dealership who informed me that this was not covered by warranty and they have had several repairs related to this. So much that the technician knew the part number by heart and was able to provide a quote without doing any paperwork or even looking at the vehicle. I live on the coast where there are several bridges and tunnels. Had I chose to drive through the tunnel instead of taking the bridge, I have no doubt that this issue would have caused a very bad accident. There needs to be a recall on this and ford needs to step up and fix the problem instead of making a killing off the unsuspecting consumer at the sum of over $400 a pop.
I was driving on an interstate at approximately 75 MPH, when the engine of my 2011 ford escape seemingly shut down. The gas pedal stopped working. A small golden wrench icon lit up to the left of the RPM gauge. I pulled over and as I slowed, the car jerked. I turned the car off; took out the keys and waited a few minutes. The engine had a little extra trouble to restart; but it did within 30 seconds. Two days later, a diagnostics test at my ford dealership showed the throttle body needed to be replaced; but I was told the part was on a national back order. The same incident repeatedly happened for a total of about 10 times, before the part was at the dealership and able to be replaced. The part was replaced more than two weeks after the diagnostics test and initial incident.
Throttle control failed driving on interstate. We could have been killed. Same thing happened two weeks prior and dealer claimed it was fixed.
While driving my 2011 ford escape suddenly lost all power (almost felt like a stall) and the wrench light on the dash was illuminated. I pulled to the side of the road, turned it off, and after turning the vehicle back on it operated as normal. This has happened three times over the past week.
Engine suddenly reduces to high idle - throttle totally unresponsive. Turning engine off and restarting temporarily restores performance. I endorse the ongoing the federal safety agency investigation of this well known problem which is a severe safety threat as the vehicle unpredictably looses all power in the middle of other traffic.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford edge. The contact stated while attempting to accelerate, the transmission slipped and the vehicle jerked. The vehicle was placed in park and the traction sensor warning light illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that after closing the driver's side door, the door ajar warning light remained illuminated. As a result, the overhead light stayed illuminated causing the battery to lose power. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 18,500. The current mileage was 19,000.
Was driving along to my firefighter job when I felt my car loose power and noticed a wrench light come up on my dash. I attempted to accelerate however couldn't. I safely was able to pull off to side of the road where once I came to a stop the car jerked. I shut down my engine, waited a few mins then restarted the car to which car was running fine. I continued to work and started to research what problem can be and noticed many people have had same issue.
Repeated incidents of two symptoms: 1) power surges when I'm hitting the gas to pull out or pass someone and car feels momentarily like it will jump forward. 2) power feels like it will stall and the car sort of just powers down. Until today that would just pass and the car would operate normally. Today (aug. 11) I had to pull over as it would not go above 20 MPH suddenly. It resumed normally after I turned the engine off and restarted in a few minutes.
After only owning the vehicle for 2 weeks (purchased used) vehicle began to stall/loose power, and immediately slows. It does start back up, but then repeats the behavior.
I was accelerating and the car then just stopped accelerating. It felt like the transmission had just let go, because the car would not speed up when I stepped on the gas pedal. When I tried to stop, the idle was very rough and the car wanted to jerk forward. Luckily, I was able to get the car stopped in a safe place. When I re-started the car, the ignition was turning over, but it took several seconds before it fired. I have since brought my car to the service shop, they told me it was a defective throttle body. They said that they have had to repair this on a number of occasions. The gentleman sitting next to me says that he had the same issue with a similar vehicle - same family of car.
While driving on an expressway around 35-40mph, vehicle experienced a sudden loss of power and went into limp mode (less than 1000rpm) with a wrench indicator illuminated on the dashboard. Pulled over, shut down vehicle and then restarted engine. Vehicle was driven home and taken to the dealership the next day. Ford diagnosed and is replacing the throttle body under powertrain warranty.
Throttle body stops to only idle upon accelerating or use of throttle from stop. Sometimes it will allow to accelerate up to 30 to 40 MPH before it quits working upon throttle input from driver. So, it will only idle after accelerating half or part way through an intersection and you are at the mercy of incline or decline of road to hopefully coast to safety. It has done this while turning left while having to yield to oncoming traffic. It caused oncoming traffic to have to stop while I got stranded in middle of turn. Safety issue for sure.
I was driving my 2011 ford escape on a crowded I-4 around orlando florida when I completely lost power on my vehicle. I was able to safely pull off to the side of the road. As I brought the car to a stop (braking), the car jerked forward before stopping. I shut off the car, and sat for a few moments, wondering what to do. The dash showed a wrench symbol, so I checked the manual to see what it meant. It said something about a fault and the powertrain. I checked to see if the car would restart and it did. I continued to drive, and approximately 10-15 minutes later it did it again. This time the check engine light came on as well. I made it to my destination and called my husband. He checked the internet to see if anyone else had this problem and was shocked to see all the complaints about this. Thankfully, he read that if I stayed under 60 MPH and didn't drive too long it shouldn't happen again. I took the back way home and although it was much longer I made it without a further problem. Why is this problem part(throttle valve) not recalled. And most importantly, and for safety reasons why aren't the owners of these 2011 escape's made immediately aware of this hazard. This was the closest I came to a fatal accident and not necessarily my own.
Was driving on highway at 55 MPH, the wrench light came on dashboard and the car started decelerating. Would not accelerate, had to pull over, turn car off, then back on, in order for car to accelerate again. Second incident seemed like car's power completely shut off and would not come back on again after a rough idling stop.
While driving my 2011 ford escape to work when all of the sudden it lost power. My first thought was that the engine had died, but when I looked down I saw that it was still bouncing between 500 and 1000 RPM. I also noticed that the red wrench light had come on. I was able to get the car pulled over into a parking lot. I was not sure what was going on so I shut the car off. A minute or two later I started the car and it started right up. I then continued on to work but after exciting the freeway I stopped at a red light when I went to accelerate from the light the car did the same thing. I was able to pull over and did the same as before. I made it to work with no further issues this time the check engine light came on and stayed on. That afternoon I took the car to the dealership to have it looked at and they asked me to bring it by the next morning. I drove the car home from there with no incident. The next morning I took the escape back to the dealership after waiting for about three hours the told me that there was a problem with the throttle body. I proceeded to drive the car home and I ended up having the same issue with the care going into what I guess the call safe mode. I was as before able to shut the car down and start it back up again. This happen going across a two lane bridge in traffic luckily the car behind me was far enough behind me that the did not run into me but came real close.
Driving approximately 40-45 MPH when engine jerked and shut down. Lost speed and noticed the now no speed / idling engine running very rough. The wrench symbol appeared on instrument cluster indicating throttle/powertrain issue. Restarted car and drove approximately 2 blocks when the engine shut down again, this time the check engine light appeared as well as the wrench symbol. Luckily we were able to limp home several blocks. Immediately began a search the internet for similar issues and discovered that many people had experienced the same issue with their escape models. Took it to the mechanic who did a computer check and indicated p-2011 and p-2012 codes. Also noted in my search where many folks think a recall is in order........I completely agree. The part is faulty and will cause an accident in the future if it is ignored. Was able to get the vehicle to the dealership for repairs. The mechanic at the dealership told me they had at least two occurrences a week with the escapes, fusion, and similar cars that used the throttle part. The internet search revealed the magnitude of the problem indicating a major problem with the throttle part. Recall? You bet before someone get hurt..
I was driving on the highway going about 55 MPH. The vehicle began to lunge forward and then stopped running. I was able to get off of the highway, but it was dark. I let the car sit for a moment. It then started up and I went back on the road. It then began to lunge and stopped again. The wrench light showed on the instrument panel both times. By the manual, it showed a throttle body issue. The car was towed to the ford dealership. They said that the throttle body was faulty, but that due to the mileage, it was not under warranty. I paid $426.00 to get it fixed. When I picked the vehicle up I asked them if this was a recall as I saw complaints on the internet. The technician said not yet, but to keep my paperwork as it probably would be a recall at some point.
While driving on the interstate on afternoon 31jul13, traveling approximately 60 MPH with foot on the accelerator when the car began to completely decelerate. Rpm went to zero and with foot on the gas pedal no acceleration was possible. Was able to get to the side of the road with emergency blinker lights on. Turned car off. When restarting car, car had issues restarting. Drove for another 7 miles with no warning light or issue. The next morning, 1aug13, while traveling on interstate at about 60mph again, after about 20 min of interstate driving the exact same thing happened again. Was able to then drive slowly to the dealership. Dealership indicated it was a faulty throttle valve that has been very common with these models.
Driving on major interstate in downtown houston at rush hour doing 65 mile an hour when car suddenly stalled causing me to come to almost a complete crawl and I kept seeing a flashing wrench in my dash area as the car tugged roughly when I attempted to accelerate. My car was almost hit by several cars as others slammed on brakes behind. I was in the middle of a 5 lane highway and I had to cross two lanes doing 10 miles per hour to get over to the right. I was a very scary ordeal, I was shook up and disoriented by the ordeal. I turned the car off and sat on the median for 10 mins and started the car back up and the flashing wrench was gone. I called ford about a similar incident that I had last fall of 2012 and they assured me that there were no issues reported like this for the vehicle. Please research the fact that my VIN is stated as invalid. My VIN is [xxx]. I gave this # to the ford company when I called last year and now it's showing as invalid?? The bigger issue is that I feel that my car is unsafe after this happening again today and knowing that I nearly caused several accidents on the interstate and put my own life in danger is causing me to reach out see what actions I can take against ford to fix this issue. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford escape. The contact stated that while being towed by a recreational vehicle, smoke emitted from the vehicle and there was a visible transmission leak. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was found that the transmission had seized. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 23,179. Updated 08/20/13
Receiving a p2111 code on diagnostics. Needs new throttle body. On national backorder. I am out a vehicle until this is repaired, and cannot afford a rental, or a new one. It is my understanding that this is a common problem on these vehicles, that ford has known about. They need to issue a recall.
I was driving at a speed of 45 mpg and my escape sounded like it went into neutral, I tried to give it gas and it wouldn't move, I pulled over and it was just running but still would not move, the wrench came up on the dash lights so I looked in the owners manual and it said it was throttle control/powertrain , I had to get it towed to my dealership.
I was traveling 55 MPH down the highway and suddenly, the vehicle lost power. I pushed on the gas and nothing. I coasted to the side of the road and noticed a yellow wrench. I looked it up in the manual and it stated something about a power train error or defect and to contact a ford dealership immediately. Well, considering I was over 60 miles from home, I turned if off, sat for a few minutes, and started it. No wrench so I began to drive. I drove another 15 miles or so and then the same thing happened. I was able to start it up and get it going again but once I parked it, I had it towed and it's been sitting ever since. I called ford and the mechanic gave me the impression it was covered under the manufacturers warranty as long as I'm under 50,000 miles but I'm started to read otherwise which has me concerned. To reiterate what others were saying, if I were in a busy highway, this "error" may have been fatal. No problems or anything prior to these occurrences so the malfunction comes suddenly and without warning.
I was about two blocks from home, driving the SUV and slowed down to turn the corner, when I tried to hit the gas to accelerate, the car wouldn't accelerate past 5mph. The wrench icon came on, and the RPM wouldn't go past 1. When I restarted it, it worked fine. I had the car towed to the dealership. This is the second time that this has happened. My car is only 2 years old. The first incident was when it was 6 months old.
Small surges just after stops. Total loss of power at highway speeds. July 2012 showed the check engine light, and had to coast to side of the road, gas pedal totally dead, engine and car still running. Turn off and restart and all check engine lights go away and car acts normally. Dealership found no codes. June 2013 again total loss of power at highway speeds, this time powertrain light comes on, and the car has to coast to the side of the road, gas pedal totally dead, engine and car still running. Turn off and restart and all powertrain lights go away and car acts normally. This loss of power has happened 15-20 times to date from july 2012 to july 2013.
When accelerating on the highway and reaching 60mph, suddenly the acceleration stopped and the car began to go into limp mode. With no acceleration, I veered off the highway and was unable to throttle the car forward. When in park, the engine seemed to be "kicking" and struggled to stay on. Wrench light went on. Turned car off. Turned car back on after a long hesitated start and the vehicle was able to move forward with acceleration. Wrench light came off. I took the car to the ford dealership and they told me I needed a new throttle body. I replaced the throttle body. Similar issue happened with a friend of mine, same year, make, and model. His was under warranty, mine not.
While driving in traffic the engine went idle immediately reducing the vehicle speed.
My ford escape has stalled 11 times in the past five days. It has happened at various speeds, ranging from 20 MPH to 65 MPH. The first 8 times the vehicle stalled (as if out of gear), the "wrench" light came on the dash, and I was able to coast to the side of the road. As I came to a final stop each time, the vehicle would jerk and then I was finally able to put the car in park. I turned the vehicle off and attempted to restart. The vehicle had trouble starting but finally came back on. Again, the same description above happened all 8 times. These incidents caused some very dangerous situations, one where the vehicle stalled as I was crossing the street to turn left and it stalled in the middle of the road and another time when it stalled going 65 MPH down the interstate with cars flying up behind me.I did not immediately take the vehicle in to be checked because I thought I just had a bad batch of gasoline. The last 3 times the incident happened (car stalled and the gas pedal would not work) but the "check engine" light came on and stayed on. I took the vehicle to the dealership this morning and was told that I need a new throttle body and it is not covered under warranty. I am terrified to drive this vehicle again and become anxious at every busy intersection wondering if it will stall out again. I have read many consumer complaints about this same issue and ask that ford do a recall on this part before a fatality occurs.
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