We have an 2005 freestyle. My wife was picking up our grandson from vacation bible school on 7/19/2011. The car lunged forward and almost ran over some other kids crossing over the road in front of her. The crossing guard frantically waved his arms for my wife to stop which she was trying to do. By luck the engine died. Someone is going to die from this yet and then ford will have a big lawsuit on there hands with thousands of people on the side of the plaintiff. I can't understand ford's position on this issue since they are rated highly for quality. They had the publics support when they didn't take a bailout. Why damage a good reputation?
2005 Ford Freestyle engine complaints
Page 8 of 9: complaints 191 to 220 of 249, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have a 2005 ford freestyle that has been surging forward when I am at a complete stop & the engine fail safe mode with a wrench has shown up. I have 4 kids & this has happened on the highway with them in the car on the highway & it is very scary to lose power on the highway & try to get to the shoulder without getting hit by another car.
My 2005 ford freestyle lunges when placed in drive or reverse, it happens before the accelerator is pressed and I must stomp the brake to stop it. I have had many close calls in the past two weeks. Today a "fail safe engine mode" message came on.
I own a 2005 ford freestyle sel. I am experiencing engine surges (sudden acceleration) on a daily basis. The vehicle was taken to a ford dealer where they didn't find any problems and blamed it on engine load from the AC systems. While I have not had any accidents yet I have on several occasions been forced to stand on the brake to avoid hitting other vehicles and in one case a pedestrian. Ford won't do anything because they say that they can't find anything wrong and there are not recalls.
When go to back it lunges back and if you are sitting in traffic it will lunges forward and then stall out or die and the rpms go up real high.
Vehicle's engine surges at low speeds when backing up or going forwards. The problem is most noticeable when the air conditioner is running. It does not happen consistently which makes it difficult for dealership to diagnose, and it is unpredictable and dangerous. Pressing the brakes will stop the surge. It has been happening off and on for a year but has increased in frequency to where it occurs nearly every day.
1- the engine cradle totally rusted out replacement est. 3,000.00 . Dealer says not covered 2-the hood is pitted dealer says not covered est.1000.00 3- radiator coolant tube made from steel rusted out and coolant leaked . Est 250.00 4-door latches fail in cold weather door will not stay closed .dealer says its been fixed under recall .its still a problem .
When parking the vehicle or reversing out of a parking spot the engine will "rev" and the vehicle will lunge forward as if I had pushed the accelerator but my foot was applying pressure to the brake. This has occurred since I bought the vehicle in 2005 at approximately 11,000 miles but the latest incident happened yesterday, july 4, 2011. Up until recently I could not reproduce it on a regular basis so I did not take it to the dealership. After reading an article on reuters website that this is being investigated by the federal safety agency I decided to report it here. As the article states, it appears more often when I have the air conditioning on high. I spoke to the service department at the ford dealership in flat rock michigan and they said they were unaware of this problem and that there is probably nothing they can do to correct it. To date, this has caused no injuries or accidents but it is only because I take extra precautions (e.g. Turn off the air conditioning or be prepared to apply extra pressure to the brake when parking) to ensure the car does not lunge forward and hit anything.
Our freestyle has experienced mild but worsening unintended acceleration for two years now, but it was always "mild" and did not cause the car to lurch forward even when the driver's foot was hard on the brake pedal. Then we had a new problem: no cold air from the AC at idle. We responded (6/11) to a mailed promotion from hertrich ford (easton md) for an AC "tune up." they did nothing but add dye to our refrigerant and "clean" our air ducts with disinfectant. So we turned to the owners' forum, myfordfreestyle.com, and quickly diagnosed the problem: a seized-up pressure control valve. Apparently ford dealers refuse to perform this simple repair (part cost $40) and will only replace the entire AC compressor ($800 + labor). So we ordered the valve online and had a competent local mechanic replace the valve (1-hour labor plus cost of refrigerant). The AC is "good as new", but the unintended acceleration is now much worse. The incidents always occur at very low to no speed and when maneuvering the car (I.e. Parking, k-turning, etc.). In all of these situations, both the AC and the power steering pump are demanding/drawing near-maximum power from an essentially idling engine, nearly stalling the engine; the electronic engine/idle control then kicks-in and hugely "over-reacts" by revving the engine to 2,000+ RPM. Even with your foot on the brake, an automatic in drive is going to surge quite far at 2000+ RPM. Please look at the myfordfreestyle.com website: note that almost all of the complaints about unintended acceleration come during hot weather months and a few also note the problem is much worse with the AC on. It took us less than 30 minutes on the website to diagnose both the AC problem and unintended acceleration problem. It is inconceivable that ford has not been aware of both of these problems for years. (surely ford's customer relations staff monitor owner forums).
Our 2005 ford freestyle is lunging forward at low speeds. We need to firmly press on the brakes to stop it which is very dangerous! At this point, the engine stalls. It seems clear this is a very common issue in this vehicle due to a malfunctioning throttle body. This is not safe and there needs to be a recall to permanently fix the issue!
The vehicle on a very hot day 95 degrees out with the A/C on high was put into reverse with foot on the brake and the car surged backwards and went into safety mode. Had to drive the car home in safety mode. My wife says it happened a few times to her also. The upper motor mount on the engine has totally fell apart, the rubber bushing dried out and is gone. Called ford and they told me the part is $230.00.
My wife drives a 2005 ford freestyle and it has a tendency to lunge forward when put into drive, without her foot on the gas pedal. She keeps her foot on the brake, but it still lunges. This also happens when she puts the car in reverse. I drove the car saturday and experienced it for myself. I feel that this is unsafe and am debating parking the vehicle until something is done.
When shifting from park to drive or reverse the engine will rev and the car lunges forward or backward. It is much worse with the AC on, but does it at any time. It has recently starting doing this after coming to a stop while driving. The car will then shut off and go into engine fail safe mode and has has limited power. Luckily no one was directly behind us when the incident occurred.
2005 ford freestyle sel exhibited unintended acceleration when pulling into parking space. Vehicle surged forward about 2 feet while moving foot from accelerator to brake. Engine speed returned to idle once brake was applied.
Vehicle lunging into reverse 1. Events to make it happen: put the vehicle into reverse with foot on brake and sometimes the vehicle will accelerate rapidly 2. Occurs whether or not the engine is hot, but usually the weather is warm. 3. When first noticed the problem in 2008, was told the part to replace was the throttle body position sensor assembly and the part would be unavailable for 12 months. Never replaced the parts. Learned to keep foot on brake.
At random times when the car is idling or at low speeds with no contact with the gas pedal, the engine surges. This occurs in forward or reverse, with or without the brake being applied. At times, the surging is severe and requires a lot of pressure on the brake to hold the car in place. Last year, it seemed to occur more often with the AC on. The compressor died, so we had it replaced, but that did not fix the issue. We have not crashed into anything but have come very close. It is troubling since it occurs at low speeds, meaning we're in close proximity to cars, people, and buildings when the engine surges.
Ford freestyle stalls and shuts down while driving, disabling the powered steering among other things and causes very unsafe situations. This will usually start with some hesitations of the engine and then it dies. Often it stalls while taking off from standstill as well either forward or going in reverse. Sometimes there is surging of the engine as well, especially while using AC or turning the steering wheel. This has caused many dangerous situations on the road where all of the sudden we stall in middle of traffic. The car has been to the dealer about three times for these issues, last time for fuel system cleaning but this has not solved the problems.
I noticed on yesterday's news that my vehicle and problem is under investigation, so I want to add my voice to the number who have had a similar problem. My 2005 ford freestyle lurches unexpectedly. It will only occur for a few seconds. I have owned the car for 1.5 years, and it has happened on 2 separate occasions. Both times I was traveling very slowly preparing to enter a parking stall. Fortunately I already had my foot on the brake, so not damage or injuries occurred.
Vehicle surges forward and in reverse, even when foot is applied to the brake. This happens on a daily basis nearly every time the vehicle is driven and is very dangerous, especially when in traffic and while maneuvering in parking lots. The surges are unpredictable and occur mainly when the vehicle is initially placed into drive or reverse, but can happen randomly while just sitting with it in gear. It has been happening for over two years now. The engine safe light has come on two occasions in the past two months as well, but has cleared itself after switching the car off, then back on.
2005 ford freestyle-the AC compressor and drier was replaced at about 93,000 miles through the extended warranty. It only cost me 75.00 . No big deal right. The total bill was nearly 1600.00 for the warranty company. Now at 125,000 miles, it has gone out again. No warranty. I've to pay. It is going to cost about 1600.00. Now they can't find a compressor and are back ordered until april of 2011. I have never had a compressor go out on any other car I have owned. Approximately 20 cars in thirty five years of driving. Several with over 250,000 miles. If AC compr. Are on back order, many must be having the same problem. I need help. This is a rip off.
Throttle body replaced after car did not start - 2005 ford freestyle. Prior to replacement, jerking/lurching of the vehicle once started and foot off the gas pedal. Hesitated to start on many occasions if car is parked on an incline as if no gasoline in vehicle. Also, on occasions, car stalled in the middle of the street, but started up after several tries. During replacement, ford representative indicated that the part just went out - nothing could have prevented it. Cost $600+ to fix which also caused additional parts (spark plugs, fuel sensor) required. Diagnosis indicated, throttlebody plates stuck, fuel sensor injector pressure replaced). Dealership kept old parts except spark plugs.
I bought a used 2005 ford freestyle and it has been a good car up until the past 6 months. Within those months I have had the engine mounting bracket break and the car, during stop and go driving, will randomly lunge forward or backward. When the car decides to lunge, even with your foot on the break, it is not stopped completely. I have contacted ford about this issue and have done numerous hours of research myself. All of the research that I have done points to the throttle body going bad, however, ford denies that there is any kind of a safety issue and that there is no recall. Ford will however, gladly charge me 600.00 to replace it. When there is a safety problem with a vehicle, and random, uncontrollable lunges are a safety problem, the dealer should take responsibility and fix the defective part. With the hundreds of posts that I have read by other freestyle owners with the same problems, most of which have been in the past 2 years, the part should defintely be recalled and fixed by ford.
I own a 2005 ford freestyle. Almost immediately after purchase off new car lot began having trouble with engine surging while A/C was running. Have had it to ford dealership multiple times and nothing has been resolved and the year 2010 is now ending. On many occasions while stopped in traffic, the engine has surged and the car lurched forward so forcefully that I had to hold the brake to the floor to avoid a collision. Repeated visits to ford dealer has resulted in nothing but a $50-$100 labor bill and no repair. I am afraid that it is going to happen and someone is going to get hurt. Please look into this safety issue.
2005 ford freestyle 53,000 miles experiencing loss of power with wrench light on instrument panel illuminating while driving. First trip to dealer, the service department replaced air filter indicating that the filter had slipped out of the housing and was blocking air flow. Within 2 weeks we have dropped the car off for a second visit for same power failure issue. When will ford issue a recall for this widespread mechanical problem? How many crashes, or deaths have resulted from this issue?
Have a 2005 ford freestyle- with a throttle body issue. The part is on back order- no rental given by company. "fail safe engine mode" and check engine light is one because of it- they insist that it is safe to drive (I drive 75 miles back and forth to work everyday). I am sorry- but driving that many miles- with my children in the car as well- while the engine is failing- is never safe. Because of the jolting forward and backwards while in this mode- I can't even count how many times I have almost hit another car, or a pedestrian! What happens when the engine does fail- is ford going to replace that?
When sitting idle with A/C on, engine revs on it's own and has gone into failsafe mode. When going from park to reverse, car lunges while in reverse causing a significant safety issue if the brake is not applied quick enough. The car also lunges forward when going from park to drive. The car has a tendency to lunge at a stoplight and then shut off and go into failsafe mode forcing a restart of the car once it has been taken out of drive and back into park. This has been going on for a few months, but we can't afford to fix it until next month. Even when we do go to order a new throttle body through ford, which is what was recommended to fix the problem, it's apparently on a horrendous backorder until further notice.
I have a 2005 ford freestyle with a CVT transmission. The car did not show any previous signs of problems or engine indicator lights. In may of 2009 the car had approximately 42,000 miles on it. I was driving approximately 30 MPH when the transmission "slipped a rod" causing the transmission to explode leaving pieces of the transmission on the road way. During the explosion, pieces from the transmission damaged other parts of the engine. A new transmission was required.
My 2005 ford freestyle with 58,000 miles suddenly looses all the instrument panel indications and the engine then dies. Restart is possible and instruments then return to normal. This usually occurs within a few minutes of starting the car but has happened at speed on the highway. The dealer claims this is a common freestyle problem and the entire instrument cluster has to be replaced at a cost of $700.00. Why has this obvious safety issue not been subject to a recall?
2005 ford freestyle - I am having problems with the car randomly lurching it has happened while backing up and moving forward - after the lurch it may be fine other times it shuts off or the car goes into fail safe mode. Particular worries me while backing up in parking lots and such worried it would cause me to hit someone/ something. It has done this on quite a few occasions over several months and seems to have become worse during the hotter months.
2005 ford freestyle limited awd. The vehicle, when A/C unit is on and outside temperature is between 80 and 90 degree f, surges forward violently, approx. 1 to 2 feet, while trying to slow down or stop. Then engine goes into safe mode and stalls. When researching this problem on the website myfordfreestyle.com there was information about the possible cause of the surge. The ford service dept. Recommends replacing the throttle body due to excess sludge build up inside the unit. $700.00 plus fix. I took my car into the ford service dept. In my area, gave the description of the problem, they said it was probably the throttle body and that I would have to get this replaced and that the car was unsafe to drive due to the surging. Ford says the throttle body is on back order.
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