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2005 Ford Freestyle engine complaints

Page 3 of 9: complaints 41 to 70 of 249, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2005 Ford Freestyle engine problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Dec 8, 2014 · Engine · 65,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestyle. The contact stated that there was a sudden increase in engine rpms while the brake pedal was depressed. While the vehicle was in cruise control mode between 60-65 MPH, the cruise control would deactivate independently and the engine would rev up without the contact accelerating. The dealer was notified, but the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,000.

Filed Nov 16, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 120,000 miles · NC

We were pulling out of a parking lot into traffic on a highway and the wrench light came on and we lost all power to the vehicle. The vehicle had to be shut off and then started back up in the middle of the road. Another incident happened on my way to work and there were cars behind me. I was able to make it to the side of the road to start it back up. The third incident happened again on my way to work and then the engine light illuminated and when I had it checked the codes p2104 and p2111 came up. The throttle body was stuck opened and in a bind. I was almost hit during the second incident and feel that this is a serious safety issue. I am glad that I wasn't on the interstate going 65 or 70 MPH. The car almost came to a complete stop on its own in the matter of a few yards.

Filed Oct 11, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 141,000 miles · PR

While driving on the highway the wrench light suddenly came on & my car was put in "safe mode" . This make my car stop. I almost slam another car. Had engine light that came on read & was told the throttle body was stuck open. Took it to local ford dealership where they changed the throttle body. When the wrench light comes on the car doesn't want to accelerate & goes into safe mode. I took the car to a ford dealer and was told the transmission has to be replaced but it was replaced few years ago.

Filed Sep 25, 2014 · Engine · 117,000 miles · MO

While driving on the highway with my four children the wrench light suddenly came on & my car was put in "safe mode" which caused my car to stop on the highway after losing all power. I was very close to be slammed into from behind. Had engine light that came on read & was told the throttle body was stuck open. Took it to local ford dealership where they cleaned the throttle body. Drove normal for a week & now repeated same issue. Car doesn't want to accelerate & goes into safe mode shutting down at random times. Also sitting in line at my children's school the car surged forward while foot on brake almost hitting car in front of me. Ford dealership says extended warranty only covered a cleaning & not replacement of a part they know is faulty.

Filed Aug 14, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 104,000 miles · MS

Car was financed and purchased used from authorized ford dealer in 2007 @ approx. 64k miles. Previous owner was registered as ford motor co., indiana. On 12 jun 2014, without warning, the continuously-variable transmission (CVT) first showed signs of a problem: failing to shift out of lower speed gear from a stop to higher gears during travel. Problem was remedied temporarily by shifting from d to r and back to d while stopped. The problem recurred sporadically, but within last week frequency of problem has increased while awaiting service appointment. This morning, 13-aug-2014, transmission slipped and failed to engage in any forward gear while stopped at intersection, resulting in a complete loss of forward propulsion. Problem remedied by shifting from d to r and back to d, with significant difficultly. Service technician states that CVT failures in this make and model are common and recommends replacement of transmission with rebuilt (as transmission is no longer manufactured by ford). Moreover, only ford can perform the repair/replacement. No warning lights were activated during any of these events. Cost of repair will exceed value of car. $5800 or more versus $3600 trade-in or instant-cash offer price $1500. Ac compressor failure and rebuild (including rear AC) in 2012 cost $875.

Filed Aug 2, 2014 · Engine, Fuel system · 170,000 miles · FL

The problem with this car and the throttle body has been going on for a while. I took the car to the ford dealer but they only cleaned the throttle body when it needed replacement. The last event was in august 1 when while I was driving the fail safe mode came up and the car suddenly lost the power and wouldn't run faster than probably 0.1 mile per hour. This was the second time this happened the first time I was with my kids in a major highway and the car suddenly stop running. Thank god I had a chance to steer to the emergency lane. Many people are having the same issue with the 2005-2007 freestyle, this is a super safety issue and nobody is doing anything about it. When my car stopped I could have been hit on the back with a worst outcome. I got a tow truck and they took the car to the ford dealer. Those people are not helpful at all and treated me with a bad attitude. Very expensive to change that's why ford is not getting involved and only offered to clean the part in the extended warranty, knowing that wouldn't fix the problem. Ford should have a recall for the throttle body part before somebody gets killed in a very serious accident that this problem could cause.

Filed Jul 23, 2014 · Engine · 104,902 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestyle. While accelerating from a complete stop, the vehicle experienced a three to four second lag. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 104,902.

Filed Jul 14, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 180,000 miles · OH

I was driving on the freeway roughly 65-70 MPH and the failsafe engine mode came on, which disabled my gas pedal. I could not accelerate. I was in the far left lane, and had to "coast" with my hazard lights on so I could turn the car off while in park on the shoulder. I restarted the car and it went away. Thankfully traffic was light! Earlier in the week this same thinghappened on my way to work I was on a 35 MPH rd, and it did this, lost all use of the gas. Had to kill the car and restart but that time the check engine codes p2106 and p061b were drawn.(not the first time I've had these codes I know they mean throttle body'sbad) I've kept my obdii scanner in the car cuz these codes come up once a week at least. I just keep erasing them, restarting the car, and drives fine till it randomly goes off again. Thus was the first time it has happened to me on the highway. It scared me to death that I would have been rear ended on a highway. These should be recalled. Ford claims there's no safety issue. I barely avoided a potential fatal crash!

Filed Jun 1, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 83,000 miles · IN

The very first time it occurred I was parking my vehicle and it just lunge forward on its own. My foot was on the brake and not on the accelerator. It happen multiple times that day to the point I started to put the car in neutral when I came to a stoplight to keep it from possibly hitting another vehicle. This went on and on that summer and it seemed to do it when it is hot and the A/C is running. It hasn't stop since!

Filed May 29, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 145,000 miles · MI

This vehicle looses complete power while driving. Runs sluggish and hesitates.. Took it to the dealership for possible recall (throttle body) dealer says not the issue need to replace alternator, and transmission, etc.. Called ford motor company customer service for assistance to see if this was a known issue.

Filed May 28, 2014 · Brakes, Engine · 20,000 miles · NY

It should have been a sign when the brakes wore out at less than a year and less than 9,000. The car would idle high and jump before stepping on the gas. The car would get a jump start before I wanted it to move. A noise could be heard while the car was in park. However, it did change noises as I change gears. Driving the car would sound like it was roaring. During the winter time, the car was not good with the gears/transmission as it felt like it was slipping in the transmission and not sticking in the gear. The car is presently in the service station of the place I purchased the car and I have been advised the vehicle needs a transmission and catalytic converter. The car has a little over 62,000 miles and has been maintained.

Filed Jan 23, 2014 · Engine, Fuel system · 170,000 miles · OH

Me and my wife carpool on third shift to our jobs. Upon backing out of the driveway in reverse, the wrench light came on, and an error reading" failsafe engine mode". I was able to make it to work, however I couldn't go fast at all no more than maybe 40. I'm seeing online many with this year and model need or have had new throttle body's put in with no luck coming from it. I'm hoping there's a recall because I have two children and a wife to get around in this one car.I wanna know what the recall is on it if one at all is available. Why haven't they corrected it yet after all these years of problems and so many complaints?

Filed Dec 17, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 132,000 miles · OH

When idle in drive the RPM's surge by itself and the vehicle jerks forward.

Filed Nov 16, 2013 · Engine · MI

The dash board info reads safe mode (engine failure) the lite and a wrench appear on the data on the dash. The vehicle motor still on goes down to 1 to 3 MPH while driving, on street or freeway, the car have to be shut off and restarted and proceeds to run for awhile and does the same thing and no one can seem to find out what the problem is.it have been worked on by license mechanics several times and the problem is still there.. Need a solution. It is a unsafe situations.

Filed Nov 5, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 76,000 miles · WI

In 2011 the throttle body failed on my 2005 ford freestyle. Ford recommended cleaning the throttle body and I had this done at a ford dealer. Ford later extended the warranty on this part and reimbursed me. Following this, I found that the car occasionally lunged and the rpms would race. On november 3, 2013 the vehicle went into fail safe mode while driving at 45 MPH. I was in heavy traffic and the entire engine stopped accelerating. I immediately hit my brakes and began to pull over. I restarted the vehicle and tried to make my way home at 15 MPH. On monday I made an appointment to have my car seen. I was told it was still covered by the extended warranty. On tuesday the car again went into fail safe mode and shut down while driving. I was almost rear ended. On inspection, the dealer found that the throttle body was at fault. The part was faulty, and could not be cleaned to fix. It would have to be replaced, but ford would not cover the cost (over $900) even though they know there is a problem with this part. When calling, I was told that they would only cover a one time cleaning. The cleaning did not fix the problem, and this is a massive safety issue. The car shuts down in traffic, leaving you vulnerable.

Filed Oct 23, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 118,223 miles · OH

Had a previous recall done to clean throttle body for cold start stall it ran fin for a couple of weeks when one sunday we were on the interstate my wife was driving at the time when suddenly it was like some one shut the engine off, we were in very heavy traffic with traffic moving fast my wife become very scared she had no power steering or brakes cars were locking their brakes blowing horns and passing around us I shifted the car to neutral for we were still rolling about 50 by then and had her try and restart car which it did and we resumed speed to the next pull over, I contacted the dealer and someone in ford quality and was told I would have to pay check out fees and it was not a warranty nor goodwill item. Since we reluctantly take the ford we use our older chevy instead, I have used the ford several times since the incident and it acts up every time, I am on disability and cannot afford the cost for check . Out fees after reading dozens of blogs there seems to be a problem in the throttle body, and this is a big safety issue, I am a retired ford technician forced to due to cancer, we need help with our car and for you to be aware of the dangerous problem these cars are having, had I not been with my wife the first time this occurred there could have been a serious accident, I have been on line and talked with many other people with the same problem, some not as lucky as us. I think ford needs to first ck the recall they did and then find out why I am having this dilemma, after 24 years. As a ford tech I have never come across something as scary and dangerous as this. A word of feedback would be greatly appreciated thank [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Oct 3, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 79,661 miles · WA

We purchased a used 2005 ford freestyle on april 4, 2013. It had 74,590 miles on it. On october 1, 2013 the ctv transmission began to fail. Check engine and check transmission warnings came on, the car would not accelerate past 10mph, it lurched and crunched at 3500-4000rpms. We made it less than one block before it just stopped in the road. Turning the engine off and back one, I was able to get back to ten MPH and limp it back home. Later that day after disconnecting the battery for ten minutes, the car fired up no problem and was drivable until the october 3, 2013 where this action repeated but it didn't even make it a block before stopping. Again, by turning the engine off and back on I was able to limp it home. My husband was able to get it started one more time and took it to the mechanic. After an afternoon of full diagnoses, we were told it needed a new refurbed (so not even new) transmission for $6400.00! We were able to limp it home from the mechanics while we consider our options. After researching online this appears to be a well known problem with the ctv transmissions that ford is fully aware of and has no plans to correct. We would like to know what our options are with this lemon! We haven't even had it for 6 months and it has low mileage. Thank you.

Filed Aug 27, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 198,000 miles · MI

2005 freestyle sat parked at idle (in parking lot) for approximately 7 minutes. Brake pedal was then pressed and gear shift put into "drive". Vehicle RPM's immediately went up out of control without foot on accelerator. Vehicle quickly lurched forward about 10 feet before brake pedal was depressed far enough to cease the movement. Speed estimated at 8mph. Rpm's continued to increase and vehicle lurched again and traveled about a foot before brake pedal was further depressed enough to cease movement. For about one-half second after brake pedal was depressed, rpms stayed high and then vehicle shook violently and stalled. Dash readout said, "engine failsafe mode". Fortunately, no persons were in front of vehicle during incident. One hour later, same day, vehicle would not properly accelerate during passing attempt. Unknown if this issue was related. The next morning, vehicle would not start and hasn't started since. Vehicle currently in auto repair shop (we've been afraid to drive vehicle and will not drive it until situation is rectified).

Filed Aug 13, 2013 · Body, Engine · 117,000 miles · NY · crash

My freestyle surges and lunges forward and backwards. I hit a car while trying to back up and park because the car surged and accelerated into reverse. This is the second time that I have had this problem in 2 years and needed to replace the throttle body. I almost hit people in a parking lot because of the sudden surge and acceleration. This is extremely unsafe and unpredictable. Needs to be recalled! Engine mount was also cracked and needed to be repaired as in many of the other cases in the class action lawsuit.

Filed Jul 29, 2013 · Driver assistance, Engine · 117,000 miles · CT

Bought it 7/23/2013, day one fine. Day 2, spouse in car, with 3 children, check transmission light, track control light, check engine light, wrench light all came on. .on the highway. Car lost significant power, almost resulting in accident, car bucking and using significant rpms to accelerate . Restarted the car after 3-4 times, lights gone car running smoothly. Day 3, same thing. I've owned it for 6 days! Terrified for my family and other drivers with this vehicle. Too many safety complaints on the vehicle/transmission for ford not to recall. An american company putting americans at risk for harm.

Filed Jul 24, 2013 · Engine · 132,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestyle. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle stalled as the check engine warning light illuminated. Also, the contact mentioned that the wrench warning icon would illuminate intermittently. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the electronic throttle body needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 132,000.

Filed Jul 16, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 65,200 miles · PA

When I was reversing out of a parking space my car lunged backwards and then shut off and on my dash board it read "failed safe mode". Then 2 weeks later this same thing happened to me when I pulled out onto a street. I was at a busy intersection and my car shut off again stating "fail safety mode" after 2 attempts to restart my car the vehicle finally started again. When I go into drive or reverse my car takes a few seconds to shift and will always lunge forwards or backwards while going around 2mph-5mph. This vehicle is becoming more and more unsafe to drive. The cost of a new CVT transmission will run me $5500. I contacted ford about this issue and they made it clear to me that they have not heard anything about this, although there is currently a class action lawsuit pending against ford for this matter. I also contacted the dealer who I purchased from less than a year and half ago and they are willing to give me $3000 for my vehicle which I purchased for $12,000 and still owe $9,000 for. There is no way I can afford to pay for this repair, especially because my vehicle is worth roughly $5,000 now.

Filed Jul 15, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 47,000 miles · CA

Sudden, sporadic lunging/surging occurs while at low speeds, I.e. Parking. Seems to them, especially on hot days when running A/C. Last year I got the "safe mode" and wrench display, bit of course when I took it to ford they told me I had to bring it in when the message was still showing. It occurred again this year, but I didn't bother going to ford. But today, as I was trying to park, the car did it again and this time I almost rammed the car in front of me. What can I do?

Filed Jul 3, 2013 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 130,450 miles · GA

I took my car in to be serviced for maintenance (power steering service and transmission service) to the ford dealership in thomasville, ga. After a few days my 2005 ford freestyle started to display transmission data error, check track control, and check engine lights. I called the company and was advised to bring it in and I did. The alerts were not on at the time but the service man jerry and josh told me they would check my vehicle and let me know what - if anything was wrong. They kept it all day and when I returned to pick it up I was informed that it was fine and they re-serviced my transmission. About two weeks later my car started the same thing all over again while in traffic it seemed not to want to pull off normally with all these alerts lighting up after church one sunday. I called ford of course they were closed but the next day was monday I called and was asked to bring the car back in. This time once it started to do the same things jumping in gear and knocking hard this time the service man who answered my call says they are looking for a transmission and advised me that ford would pay for half the work and parts. I asked if they didn't cause it why would you offer to pay half. The last time they got my ford freestyle they gave me a borrowed vehicle and told my husband 4 days later that the car has electrical problems that they will pay none of the repair. I was told twice my car was fine now my husband just got a new job and no way to get to it because I believe ford damaged my vehicle and refuses to right their wrong. What can I do now?

Filed Jun 2, 2013 · Body, Engine · 40,760 miles · PA

I went in to my local mechanic for tire rotation and we discovered that the motor cradle was rusting out with a big hole in the cradle frame.

Filed Apr 10, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 72,000 miles · MD

In 2010, my car would go into "engine failsafe mode" and I would have to shut it off and restart it. After a few times, is started lurching forward when it was idling. At that time, I had an extended warranty and the throttle body was replaced. Today, april 10, 2013, I was driving to work and the "engine failsafe mode" kicked on twice and the second time, the "check engine" light went on and stayed on. I was able to make it safely to work and decided to take it to a shop across the street from my office to have a diagnostic run. It cost $75 and they told me that the throttle body needs to be replaced! I called ford and was told that all that they can do is clean and reset the computer under a customer satisfaction recall. I plan to drop it off today at a dealership on my way home. Unfortunately, the car now has over 109,000 miles and is not covered under warranty. My complaint is that I replaced the throttle body in 2010 and it is malfunctioning again. I was told by ford that if this doesn't work, it will need to be replaced at my expense. This appears to be a common issue with this car and I want to see if there is anything that can be done to make sure that this is fixed correctly and the cost is taken on by ford for the faulty part!

Filed Apr 3, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 120,000 miles · IN

Cvt transmission has issues many lawsuits over this our transmission stop yesterday. Reading the cost of replace and this looks like something ford needs to address please help!

Filed Mar 30, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 116,000 miles · PA

For several years, my car had an unexpected lurching/lunging problem whenever I was pulling in & out of parking spaces. This was very dangerous, since I had to immediately slam on my brakes to avoid hitting something or someone. I noticed on several forums that the suggested fix was to have the throttle body cleaned, so on 9/17/12, I had my regular mechanic perform this repair. In dec 2012, I received a recall letter from ford stating that they would repair the throttle body or reimburse me if I had already had it done. This letter was apparently a result of complaints like this with the federal safety agency and a class-action lawsuit filed over 2 years ago. No sooner had I applied for the refund when the second issue (that the forums all describe) starting occurring - I.e. A loud whine whenever I have the car in park or neutral. The sound goes away once in drive, but I've had 3 garages tell me this is a sign that the CVT transmission is failing. The repair costs anywhere from $4,000 to $7,000. Numerous documentation exists that these CVT transmissions are failing around 100,000 miles and that the manufacturer of the part no longer makes it, so only rebuilt transmissions can be used. Apparently ford has the market cornered on those and there is a huge back-order problem to even get the work none. All this indicates a problem on ford's part, but a lack of response until another class action is thrown at them which is already in the works. Needless to say, I have not been driving my car, since it seems inevitable that the transmission is about to die. I do not want to cause an accident, but I do want the federal safety agency to put pressure on ford to correct this problem since most of these vehicles are reaching the mileage point where the failure is bound to occur and an accident will happen. The throttle-body problem is apparently related to the CVT problem so please have them fix it.

Filed Mar 25, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 82,000 miles · FL

The vehicle 's engine just shut off. After pulling off the road I tried several times to start the vehicle, to no avail. I waited approximately 20 minutes before trying again. The engine started, but would not go in gear. After several attempts of trying to put it in gear, it suddenly worked! Knowing I had a 250 mile trip back home, I was very leery about taking a chance with it. Fortunately, I made it. I contacted my mechanic and made an appointment to get the vehicle in the shop the next day. The diagnostic machine was used and it "threw" several different codes, rendering it undiagnosable? The mechanic called ford motor corp. And they said they would get back with him. After 2 weeks of waiting, I called ford myself and was treated extremely rude and also was told my mechanic was not qualified to diagnose this problem! Two months later, I get a letter saying the 'throttle body" needed to be "cleaned out"...at their expense. This procedure was done and I am continuously having problems with the transmission, especially when it gets cold (around 32 degrees). The vehicle will run after warming the engine (shutting it down/restarting repeatedly) before it decides to finally run "normal". I was told this resets the code??? I will never buy another ford, they do not back their product or their name! Ford has been made aware of these problems with this CVT transmission and they need to correct the problem there are numerous complaints and we, the consumer, need help with this on going issue. Most can not afford to handle this repair and those who did, had not resolved this issue after spending thousands of dollars! I believe, when I purchased this vehicle (used) in 2007, ford knew of this issue, but gave no knowledge to me. I did ask about this CVT transmission because I had never heard of it before. They informed me that it was the greatest transmission ever...really!!!!

Filed Mar 18, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 116,000 miles · MI

The transmission of this vehicle is bad. Ford knows it and they it but did not do anything about it. As we are driving down the freeway going 75 / 80 miles an hour the transmission will go to what they call a safe mode or something like that. When this happens it goes down to 40 miles an hour. If you are on the freeway when this happens it could create a problem, crash and thus is a safety concern.

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