During hotter weather if the car idles at a stop light or in traffic, it starts surging uncontrollably unless the brake pedal is depressed very firmly. Usually the check engine light and the fail safe mode engage. The engine speed surges up and down and tries to move the car. If the brake is not depressed very firmly car has hit curb and tried to climb onto the sidewalk.
2005 Ford Freestyle fuel system complaints
Page 3 of 6: complaints 41 to 70 of 153, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Car was parked with out side air temperature 100+, started car and put it into reverse to back out of angle parking stall, car accelerated without throttle pedal not yet being pressed and I applied rapid brake stopping car. Engine wrench icon appeared on dash display with engine failsafe message showing. Shut off key, restarted and icons did not reappear. Same thing occurred two more times and I got car to dealer with throttle control (body) found to be defective and replaced by dealer for $938.32. Problem came back on 07/24/2011 with mileage at 121216, air temperature 104 and engine shut down while attempting to park on city street with failsafe message showing. Shut off key and restarted car with no message reappearing. Took car to dealer and code for defective throttle body found with a replacement cost of $623.05 suggested. Called ford customer service with concern that fix was short lived and problem is dangerous and could come back anytime. Ford advised they have no recall in effect and engineering would be advised and my request for a call back could happen or not.
While stopped or at low speeds the car lunges forward suddenly. Only a quick application of the brake prevented an accident. We have had this problem several times last summer also as it seems to be aggravated by very hot weather and the use of the air conditioner. We got a check engine light and the dealer recommended a "throttle body update" and wants $945 but acknowledged they didn't know if this would fix the problem or not. I see this as a serious problem that has significant risk potential. Please investigate if other freestyle owners are having the same issue. Thank you.
I was in the drive threw of a fast food restaurant when the car suddenly plunged forward ,I had to put both feet on the brake to keep from hitting the car in front of me,and then the wrench light came on and the engine went into a failsafe mode. The mechanic I took it to informed me that most of these models were doing that but ford wouldn't do a recall because a lawsuit was cheaper. Just the parts to temporarily fix the problem is over 450 dollars and then there is the labor to pay for.
Vehicle unexpectedly and with great speed lurches in both forward and reverse. I notice the issue most often when pulling into or out of a parking spot or just after using the brake. The car suddenly accelerates without warning forcing me to slam on the brakes so that I do not hit other vehicles or unintentionally enter traffic. The issue is very dangerous because there is no forewarning and has appeared to be happening more often and with greater force.
My car started lunging when moving at slow speeds, and I'd have to jam on brakes to keep it from hitting another car, building, etc. Happens primarily when A/C is on also. Loses power on acceleration, but lunges when applying slight gas in both reverse and forward. Scary beyond belief. I have a heart condition, and nearly fainted when it happened last time, at an intersection with wild traffic, and I had to jam the brakes to keep the car from going into traffic. Seen enough similar reports online that my next stop will be news media. Please help us!
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle would abnormally lunge forward when the brake pedal was released. The contact depressed the brake pedal and stopped the vehicle from accelerating further but the failure recurred as soon as her foot was removed from the brake pedal. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that there were no recalls for the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000. The VIN was not available. Updated 7/19/12 *cn the consumer stated a mechanic cleaned the throttle and fuel injection system at a cost of $168. It is working better now. Updated 07/23/12
Started car and was leaving restaurant parking space. Engine revved up several hundred RPM and car was lurching forward as I tried to hold it back with the brake pedal. People were walking in front of car heading toward restaurant. Car was lurching forward toward them and it was difficult to keep car from moving forward. The RPM's would go high enough to make the front tires spin a little bit on the paved parking lot. I killed the ignition to make car stop. The people thought I had been trying to assault them with the car because I didn't want to wait on them to walk across the parking lot in front of me. Mechanic checked car out and couldn't find anything. This happens pretty frequently. It is worse when air conditioner is on and is most common when in parking lots or driveway when not even using the accelerator.
When parking, driving very slow (under 10mph) or backing up my car lunges forward with surge of power and foot on brake not gas. Sometimes it dies and gave error code engine failsafe mode. Worse when acon, don't remember it being an issue in the winter. Took to dobbs and was told it was my throttle body and my computer would need reset. Cleaned throttle body to see if that would correct issue. Improved, but did not correct. Very scary and dangerous in traffic, approaching stop signs, especially if pedestrians nearby. Fear could lunge at them.
Idling at traffic light with brakes pressed, engine starting revving up to over 2000 RPM. Vehicle started to surge and had to press brake pedal harder to stop. Vehicle moved approx 10 ft before it stopped. Issue happened repeatedly, but was not taken in to shop for diagnosis as it would not happen for quite a while. Has happened around 30 times since february. Today, 6/18/2012 while driving through town in stop-go traffic, vehicle started surging again. Wrench light came on as well as error wording of engine fail safe mode. Had to slowly maneuver into a parking lot and turn car off. Once restarted, lights went off and was able to make it home. Took it to local mechanic and they state this is common problem and the throttle body needs to be replaced (they just did on 05 freestyle last thursday with same symptoms). $758.00 to replace. Really need some action on this investigation!
After quickly crossing traffic and entering my driveway (which is on a downward slope) I released the gas on entering my driveway and applied the brake. Just before applying the brake the vehicle lurched. It didn't lurch far, but enough for me to rapidly depress the brake pedal in surprise. One item of note--the low fuel indicator was on and my next stop was to get gas.
2005 ford freestyle lunging forward, stalling out, and check engine light wrench icon light coming on. It was dangerous to be on the road because of the sudden stopping, and very pore acceleration. After several tries at reading codes discovered it was a bad throttle body. I noticed all of the complaints that were posted on line about this same vehicle and discovered your investigation opened in 2011. Repairs were made by myself at the cost of $608.00. Also, I noticed the new replacement part had an engineering change that eliminated the anti freeze heater section. I feel something should be done about this problem by recalling the throttle body system used in this ford vehicle. I also was informed by the service center at the ford dealership, where I purchased the throttle body ,that this part was common to be replaced. Thank you for looking into this issue.
Throttle body failure vehicle began lurching forward while in drive with brake applied this was on numerous occasions especially at drive through food establishments. I replaced the throttle body for $653.00 at my local mechanic.
Car would "surge" when shifted into reverse. Had to break to stop. Also, would stall out when shifted back from reverse into drive. This happened repeatedly over the course of a year. Ultimately had to have entire throttle body assembly replaced to correct problem.
I began having a problem with my freestyle surging with my foot on the brake or idling when backing out of a parking place, while stopped at a traffic light and while waiting on pedestrians to cross in front of me. It's very scary when the car starts lunging and you're afraid you're going to hurt someone. This problem first started happening in 2010. After reading about the problems with the throttle body on the internet, I took it to the shop and had them clean it. That fixed the problem until the past couple of weeks (september 2011) and now it is starting to do it again. Last year I also had a problem with it bogging down on the interstate not knowing if we were going to get rear ended or not. I hope you finish your investigation soon. Ford should be responsible for this problem and correct it before someone gets hurt.
The vehicle started surging without foot on the gas pedal. This occurs at low speeds or when stopping. Have had to rapidly press the brake pedal and hold it to avoid accidents. When the surging occurs, many times the vehicle goes into fail-safe engine mode which does not allow one to shift into higher gears. This caused a problem on the interstate when caught in stop and go traffic. Could not accelerate after surge-engine dying-failsafe engine mode. Check engine light stays on after occurrence and failsafe engine mode was solved by pulling over, killing the motor, waiting, and then restarting. Surging is causing a stress on the transmission which now appears to have slack in it.
Car at a complete stop with foot off gas pedals moves forward unexpectedly and rpms jump to 2000.
Sometimes when I put the car in reverse or drive and I take my foot off the brake and the car will lunge forward or backwards without even touching the gas. This has happened on several occasions. It is uncontrollable and someone can get hurt. I took it to the ford dealership the first time it happened and they said they didn't find any problems. This problem has been going on for years. Now, in addition to the original problem, the car will just lose power while I am driving down the road and I have to hope to find a safe place to get off the road. I have to turn the truck off and then try restarting a few times to get it going again. These are continuing problems for myself and many other owners of this vehicle and ford is doing nothing about it.
My 2005 ford freestyle lunges forward when putting it in drive or reverse. It started a couple of months ago and would only happen once in a while. Now it happens almost every day. If your not careful you will hit something. Even with your foot on the brake the vehicle will still lunge forward or backward. The problem is worse if the air conditioner is running. I have been told the throttle body is causing the problem but it will cost over $800.00 to fix. I cannot afford this repair and think ford should fix it under a recall due to this being a serious safety problem.
While backing out of a parking space, the engine surged as if I had hit the accelerator. I immediately hit the brakes and the same thing happened several more times before I had a new throttle body installed at the ford dealership and was told that it was becoming a common problem with the freestyle. My son who has a 2007 freestyle had the same thing happen several months ago and had the same repair done to his.
My vehicle surges from time to time and when the air condition is on the car will cut of and go into fail safe mode I've cleaned the throttle body and the problem still occurs.
Intially noted the vehicles rpms jump and a quick surge in the engine while traveling approximately 65mphs. This continued to occur radomly at different speeds on several occasions. A service light came on. They replaced an egr valve. Put in an fuel treatment. One day later the the light is back on and condition has gotten worse.now the car lunges forward,still randomly,but frequently! Have been very fortunate that there has not been any major incidents or accidents,yet!(just ran up a curb) read this is a common condition and is being investigated. I hope something comes of the investigation and soon. This is very alarming and dangerous! Today I had the most precious cargo with me....my daughter(who was driving and is currently outraged) and my grandchildren!!!!!
2005 ford freestyle unexpected surge at stoplight, controlled by applying brakes harder, and thenvechicle stalled. The event would have forcesd us into the intersection, possibiley causing body and property damage. This occurance also happened 1 week prior as we were pulling into a parking space. Both occurences happened after the ignition was turned off for 15-30 minutes and then restarted. This occurance has happened at leat 5 other times. On some of the occurences the engine light came on and the engine went to safe mode operation. Safe mode operation would cease if the ignition was turned off and the vechicle was allowed to sit for a time. First and second occurance happened after using an 10% etanahol mix from one particular company. The most recent occurances happened with a 10%etanol mix from two different suppliers.. Fuel system and air filter cleaned prior to the last two evnts.
My ford freestyle has engine surges, at idle it lunges forward and sometimes dies afterwards.
Normal driving. Lunges forward and in reverse. Replaced throttle body at my expense ($800.00).
I first noticed a surge in the car just as it was out of warranty. The problem has gotten progressively worse with time. Whenever the car comes to a stop (e.g. In a parking spot) the car surges in the direction the transmission is selected. Additional brake pressure is immediately required to keep the vehicle from moving forward. Likewise... When first selecting reverse from a stopped position the vehicle surges drastically which also requires prompt additional braking to keep the vehicle under control. The vehicle has always been well maintained by the dealer. The surging may be coming from an issue within the function of the throttle body, but not 100% sure of that. The addition of fuel cleaners seems to help, but only a little... And then only temporarily. Symptoms occur year round, but seem to be worsened by high ambient temperatures. The vehicle is a threat to safety in it's design and should be recalled.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked with the engine running when the vehicle exhibited a small explosion. Immediately, gasoline fuel fumes entered into the vehicle cabin. The contact exited the vehicle and found that fuel was leaking from the front passenger side. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the contact was advised that the fuel clip had fractured. The entire fuel line had to be replaced. The failure mileage was 135,336 and the current mileage was 135,400.
The first time this happened was september 2010. I was in a parking lot with in nashville tn. It was hot and AC was running. The transmission was in reverse, I took my foot off brake and the car accelerated backward without pressing the accelerator. On the date I reported above same situation, in a parking lot, temp outside was over 90 and AC was running. The transmission was in drive and when I took my foot off the brake it accelerated forward. My wife had several incidents similar but she was only aware that the AC was running when the car accelerated with pressing the gas pedal. We were fortunate each time there was enough space to press the brake and stop the vehicle.
The vehicle periodically lurches forward or backward unexpectedly. This happens most often when shifting from park to reverse, from park to drive, reverse to drive or drive to reverse. When this unexpected acceleration occurs the car lunges forward without warning. This issue occurs on almost a daily basis.
My 2005 ford freestyle is surging after I put it in reverse as to back up in the parking lot. It lunges very fast and forcibly so that if I do not have a strong hold on the brake it will move. It also happens in forward position if I am not moving or moving very slowly say in a parking lot or drive thru. The air conditioning and or turning seems to make it worse. It does not happen everytime but happened very forcibly the other day. I am very concerned that it will lunge out of control and hit something or somebody. I have children in my car often including my infant. It seems to me to be some sort of safety defect which needs to be looked into.
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