2014 Ford Escape: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Jun 24, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · CA

- Component/ System: (UNKNOWN). Possible Powertrain / Transmission . - YES available for inspection. - My Safety @RISK: mine and my child (passenger) - Problem Confirmed : YES at local mechanic shop and FORD dealer service shop. - Has the vehicle been inspected : YES - Any Warning Lights or Messages prior to Failure: Check Engine (appeared at time of incident) and “Engine Fault: Service now” - When Did the Warning Appear: after it failed (5/2026) NO warning prior to failure. - Vehicle attempts from start to find the proper gear (like a bicycle chain that has come off) - clunky - NO power from first gear up. NO city driving - DANGEROUS to OPERATE

Filed Mar 14, 2025 · Acceleration, Transmission · GA · crash · 1 injury

Driving along at 60 mph suddenly my car stops going in heavy traffic and won't move,, then it accelerated to high RPMS and was stuck, then it hard shifted into gear and it lundged forward fast and went about 5 feet then it wouldn't move. Almost got killed on a busy hwy. because of it accelerating on its on out into traffic while it was in park, then just came to a dead stop. The only way I can describe is it was not moving in park, then it was like it shifted by itself and lundged forward and stoped like it was slammed into park from a high speed but it did it this on it's own while the shifter was in park. It took off again and I drove it to the side of the hwy, and turned it off. Called and got a friend who has a trailer to come tow me. I Cranked my car to see if it would move to get it on the trailer. I Slowly drove it up on the ramps and got about half way up, then it stopped wouldn't move again, still in drive it rolled back down the ramps on its own, I was just sitting there and it was idling was like the rpms were higher than normal so I shut it off for a minute. Got back in it cranked it up put it in drive and it wouldn't move, put in in reverse it backed up but it was revved up and shifted hard, so I put it back in park and it spit and spuddered so I shifted to neutral an then car just shifted into drive and took off on it's on and drove up missing the ramps and ran into the back of his trailer, crushing my front end. Then it wouldn't move again. Winched it on the trailer, got home and it drove to get it off the trailer, but I'm terrified to drive it.

Filed Nov 21, 2023 · Transmission · NC

My entire automatic transmission system failed at 122,000 miles without warning as I was driving down the highway. I heard a whirring noise and as I accelerated and started jumping and making clunking noises as it shifted gears. Eventually I was unable to move at all and turned and rolled to the side of the road. This could easily cause an accident as there was never any warning signs my transmission would go out. The car never pulled up a code or flashed a warning system before I was left stranded. The car was checked out by a mechanic and the transmission is completely finished. After researching the problem cars of my same make and model have been experiencing this issues around 80,000-120,000 miles for years and ford has made no attempt to rectify the situation or solve the issue.

Filed Jul 21, 2023 · Engine · 95,500 miles · PA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle failed to exceed 4-5 MPH before the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was able to reverse but failed to move further. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that several days later there was a clunking sound coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was returned to the mechanic who stated that the sway bar had loosened. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the check engine warning then became illuminated. The vehicle was returned to the mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with cam shaft failure. The spark plugs were replaced; however, the vehicle continued to sputter while starting and was leaking coolant and oil onto the cam shaft causing the head gasket to be blown. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 95,500.

Filed Feb 22, 2023 · Transmission · 68,000 miles · IA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would not immediately accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was a clunking sound while shifting into gear. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 68,000.

Filed Sep 23, 2022 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · WV

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle started jerking and the transmission was slamming into gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The contact was informed that the gear ratio between the 5th and 6th gear was incorrect and needed to be corrected. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the VIN was not included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering) and advised the contact to file a complaint with the federal safety agency Hotline. The failure mileage was 110,000.

Filed Oct 26, 2021 · NC

Went to pull out from light and car would not go into gear then clunk it jammed into gear but then the light was red and it almost sent me into the intersection

Filed Apr 13, 2021 · Electrical · 59,850 miles · TX · fire

2014 ford escape titanium taken in for every recall, and maintained. While driving on a 3 lane road going 40 MPH the windshield wipers went on full speed (not raining) and would not/could not turn them off. After about 5 minutes they went down to slow speed. Then the car lost power, no steering or brakes. No way to stop or steer the car. It slowed and finally came to a clunky stop. Flames were coming out of the bottom of the car onto the road at that time. Within 1-2 minutes the flames were coming from the top of the engine, up and over the hood onto the top and over the car completely.

Filed Sep 9, 2020 · Transmission · 3,000 miles · AZ

Vehicle has had hard shifts but seemed to be ok. Had dealer check it out about a year after purchase. Took vehicle in on above date for routine maintenance and recall. Was notified by dealer there was a leak, possibly oil and they needed to check. Charged me $140 for diagnostic of leak. Was notified next business day, which was 4 days later due to holiday weekend that it was a transmission leak from a bad seal and they would have to remove transmission and "crack open the transmission to get to md replace the seal". Stated it was going to cost me $1750. I asked why the seal went bad as the vehicle only has 15,000 miles on it and has been serviced aat ford dealers only, in accordance with manufacturer reccommendations. They stated they didnt know but my vehicle is out of warranty. I went to ford's website customer service chat and they had no answer other than im out of warranty and would offer no help. I asked if I could speak to someone and they restated they wont help me as im out of warranty.

Filed Aug 12, 2020 · Transmission · 60,500 miles · NV

My vehicle began to exhibit signs of a failing transmission at 60,000 miles. Shifting was difficult, particularly between 1st and 2nd gear. A few times, it failed to shift from park to reverse at all. I had ford look at it, and they recommended replacing the transmission. When I took it in, I was around 60,500 miles, 500 miles over my power train warranty. They quoted a $7,000 fix. I had owned the vehicle for less than 2 years, and it was less than 4 years old. While I had records, including a claim number, for another ford customer with the same transmission (in the fusion) and same issues, they covered 2/3 of that customer's repair and refused to cover a dime of mine. After being dismissed, ignored, and ultimately placated several times by ford representatives, I finally was forced to take it to a third-party mechanic, who replaced my transmission at 61,000 miles for $4,000. Despite having a refurbished transmission in my vehicle now, I still experience transmission issues from time to time (difficulty shifting, hard shifting on freeway, etc.). In the end, this transmission is faulty at best, as ford's only transmission model without a recall *yet*. While ford indicates they have no official documented issues with the 6f35 transmission, a simple google search reveals that transmission failure is the #1 issue reported by consumers with the ford escape. As a young professional working in research, I recognize that internet searches can be misleading. To be thorough, I checked over 20 different ford consumer pages and of those pages, every single one showed a significantly higher report of transmission issues than any other issue, with the average mileage of these issues occurring around 50,000 ' 70,000 miles. It irresponsible and unacceptable for ford to have no official documented issues on file regarding the 6f35 transmission.

Filed Aug 4, 2020 · Transmission · 64,816 miles · PA

While traveling on a two lane state road at approx.45 MPH. At night. A clunking noise began near the front of the vehicle. Seconds after hearing the clunking noise, the vehicle stalled while still traveling around 35 MPH. When I tried to pull over to the side of the road I notice a loss of power steering and brakes. I was able to coast on to the breakdown lane. Having only seconds to remove the vehicle from the dark roadway and safely stop with out striking anything or body was terrifying. The vehicle did restart but when selecting drive it would not move. It also would not back up when selecting reverse. The vehicle had to be towed to a repair shop. I was told the next day by the repair shop the transmission failed, and had to be rebuilt or replaced. I called mfg. Customer service and explained what happened because there was a 60000 mile powertrain warranty . However the vehicle had 64,816 currently. Therefore I had to pay $ 2295 for the transmission rebuild.

Filed Jul 24, 2020 · Transmission · 26,120 miles · GA

When putting the car from reverse to drive the transmission is slamming into gear causing stress on the 'snap ring' which causes a catastrophe failure of the transmission. My vehicle has 26,120 miles on it and I read that this issue happens on a regular basis with the 6f35 transmission, and generally at 70k, and if rebuilt it may still re-occur.