Engine / speed surging especially noticeable when parking. Whether in drive or reverse engine moderates only slightly but car lurches. This has happened to three different drivers of the same car, same day, similar experiences. Extra pressure was needed on brake to prevent car from hitting other cars in parking lot. . . . Circumstances: hot day ( 90+ f), air conditioning on, engine at idle speed while maneuvering into / out from parking, turning wheel or holding wheel turned during maneuver.
2005 Ford Freestyle transmission complaints
Page 10 of 16: complaints 251 to 280 of 447, newest first, as owners wrote them.
-component- throttle body!!!!! The car move up half a foot forward with out me doing anything and back as well?
2005 ford freestyle surges and accelerates from a stop or low speed. It is particularly evident when shifting the transmission from drive to reverse or reverse to drive. The acceleration can last for maximum 5 seconds but you better have your foot firmly planted on the brake or the vehicle could lunge forward or backward into oncoming or parked cars and pedestrians. It doesn't happen al the time, often after the car has been run and parked for a 15-30 minute period.
Update on odi 10419757: took car to ford dealer because engine light came on after car lunged (while backing up). Said it was the throttle control actuator sticking was replaced at a cost of $895.00. Two other customers with ford freestyle have had the same problem.
Normal driving conditions-when backing out the car lunges and goes dead. Fail safe engine mode is displayed. Have had it lunge forward when foot is on brake and engine dies. Happens more often when air conditioner is on. Check engine light comes on. Ford dealer said air compressor was no good. Did not replace because we saw complaint about ford freestyle.
I have a 2005 ford freestyle that surges, especially when it is hot and I have the A/C on. This surging occurs several times a day. It happens while I am driving very slowly, backing out of a parking space or waiting in line at the drive-thru. I have almost rear-ended people several times. After researching it on the internet, I have found this to be a common problem with these cars. The issue is with the throttle body but apparently ford will not recognize that a problem exists.
Vehicle intermittently seems to surge either in forward and reverse when taking foot off brake before you even hit the gas pedal. On or about aug 1st, 2011 when backing out of a parking space it surged in reverse and then quit. It did that twice. Once I restarted after the second time it seemed to stabilize almost like the computer adjusted. This problem seems to occur more in the warm to hot weather. At this point with my vehicle I feel very uncomfortable and would not let anyone else drive it as I am aware of it and am I know that I need a firm foot on the brake pedal. My reviews of multiple people with this problem point to the throttle body and I would also think maybe a possible computer control.
2005 ford freestyle will accelerate and usually stall. The car hit the garage hitting a person and breaking the side mirror.
2005 ford freestyle unexpectedly accelerates when car is put into gear (forward or reverse), this seems to be aligned with other complaints associated with the federal safety agency investigation pe11018. The engine will rev when putting the car into gear and will lurch in the direction of the gear that it was placed in. This is not due to the driver inadvertently pressing on the gas pedal at the same time as the brake. The driver has to firmly press on the brakes to prevent the car from moving. If the brake is only pressed just enough to put the car in gear the vehicle will actually move 3-4 feet. The happens sporadically but does occur at least 4-5 times a week.
Have a 2005 ford freestyle . In the last month, the car has been surging and taking off without my touching the gas. It surged violently backward while I was parallel parking and ran up on the curb . I stood on the brake and the engine quit and went into a fault mode. It did this three times after re-starting the car each time. It also about two weeks ago surged forward into the community. It is now surging at a third of my stops. I don't try and back it up if at all possible. I am convinced this is a serious safety problem. I am afraid to allow anyone in my family to drive it.I feel this should be re-called and fixed.
I have had this problem only a few times the last 2 years we have owned the car, but recently, since it has been extremely hot in oklahoma, the ford freestyle that we have lunges forward just as you press the brake or let off. I have almost hit several cars, lunged into traffic at a red light, and have reversed into my garage with the brake on. It seems that problem occurs more than 5 times a day. It is to the point where it frightens me and threatens my family when driving in highly populated areas. I phoned a ford dealership in my home town of muskogee,ok and they said it could be the throttle body but the cost of this is several hundred dollars (that I would not like to spend on a car with only 56,000 miles on it). I have done research and there are hundreds of posts about people with the same problem. This needs to be fixed pronto.
Random lunging when, generally, car is placed in reverse. It does it randomly, increasing in frequency. However, today, we got a warning light and the vehicle went into "engine failsafe mode" and was jerking and just not driving appropriately. We went to ford, and were told to turn the car off and back on to reset that particular sensor, but that generally these problems can be attributed to a throttle body issue - and that said issues may continue or worsen until replacement of this part.
While sitting in a parking lot on a hot day (A/C running), my 2005 ford freestyle suddenly lunged forward. When the brake was applied, it stopped the engine. A message appeared reading "engine in fail-safe mode." approximately 2 weeks later, this same condition was repeated with the same result. In between these events the car seems to perform as expected. As of now we have taken no action however next wednesday the dealer can look at the vehicle and hopefully have some good news on the repairs. I had the local autozone technician run a diagnostic check and two codes came up he said were unique to ford so a ford service technician would be required to interpret. He lead me to believe these codes read "tac" and something referring to the torque control module. Codes may have been "p061b" and a p1202" (?).
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.
2005 ford freestyle transmission surging when placed in reverse. Had been minor up to this point but while my wife was driving it last night, engine revved higher than before and stalled . Check transmission light came on and 'system failure" message appeared. After doing some research, it seems to be the throttle body problem that is prevalent with this vehicle. Of course, my extended warranty expired 2 weeks ago.
My 2005 ford freestyle is surging/lurching when I am going slowly, I.e. When I am pulling into or out of my garage, when I am parking, when I am approaching a stop sign or stoplight. I've taken it to the local ford dealer service department, for them to look at this issue as well as an "awd malfunction" indicator that comes on periodically while I am driving. The service techs could not identify the source of the lurching/surging, but thought it might be associated with the "awd malfunction", which in turn they thought might be a result of a bad oil pressure pump (however it would have been a multi-thousand dollar repair for them to even investigate further, so I didn't have them do anything). The surging/lurching is getting worse, and I no longer feel safe driving my car. I fear for the safety of my children, myself, and those who might happen to be in front of me when my car surges.
I have a 2005 ford freestyle sel. In the last month, the car has been surging and taking off without my touching the gas. Last friday, it surged violently backward while I was parallel parking and ran up on the curb nearly hitting people. I stood on the brake and the engine quit and went into a fault mode. It did this three times after re-starting the car each time. It also about two weeks ago surged forward into the gate of my gated community. It is now surging at a third of my stops. I don't try and back it up if at all possible. I am convinced this is a serious safety problem. I am afraid to allow anyone in my family to drive it. I feel this should be re-called and fixed.
We started noticing the engine surge a few months ago whenever we shifted out of park or neutral. The RPM's jumped around 400-600 above idle and now are over 700-800 with the A/C on. So far, we have not experienced any damage to the vehicle. I took the vehicle to my local ford dealer, blackwell ford in plymouth, mi and was told I needed the throttle body needed replacement at a cost of over $800.00. The vehicle has 94000 miles on it and aside from that problem, we have been pleased with it.
Many occurrences of unexpected surge/vehicle movement over the past 4 months. Recently, the car unexpectedly jumped forward resulting in a very unsafe condition when stopped at an intersection with a pedestrian crosswalk. I was very fortunate that no pedestrians were in front of my vehicle at the time that it lunged forward.
When idling, car would surge briefly as if accelerator were pushed. After several inquires at ford service about recalls, check engine light came on. Problem diagnosed as defective throttle body. Part replaced at a cost of $706.85. Understand there have been several like instances reported. Surge could easily cause a collision either front or back.
Bought a ford freestyle in july 2008 took it to the shop july 2009 because it was lunging and stalling. Ford kept it on their lot until november. When I got it back I had to replace the tire because they had flat spots they did not move the car. They replaced the throttle body and now july of 2011 it is doing the same problem. I was told that this car engine gets to hot and the alternator can't work correctly. My warranty expired july 27th 2011 and I can't afford to fix this car. Something needs to be done about all the problems this car has.
My 2005 ford freestyle unexpectedly lunges forward in drive and reverse. This usually happens in high heat after using A/C for a while. Thankfully I've had my foot over the brake during these occurrences, but this issue concerns me. I have also been told by a local ford dealership that my AC compressor is leaking, and wonder if the two are linked somehow.
We own a 2005 ford freestyle. For the past four years, we have had a vehicle speed control problem. It first started in 2007 when the car started to lunge backwards when shifted into reverse by simply shifting the car into gear, without releasing the brake pedal. The car was taken to ford in 2008 (under warranty) where we were told the "problem" was fixed and so we took the car home. The problem only appeared to become worse than before. Ford was once again contacted and they said that they would take the car and take care of it. They said that the problem was how the computer was not reset/recalibrated. Eventually, the lunging problem continued and so we went back ford, where we were told the guarantee had expired. Corporate ford was contacted and they stated how they agreed with the dealer. The lunging happened only several times a month until it slowly started occurring on a daily basis where we (the drivers) knew to never remove the break pedal completely in order not to crash into other cars or people. The problem is now occurring both when it goes backward and forward. Now, the car not only lunges but it stalls and the car goes into failure engine mode. The wrench light also comes on and does not turn off. When the car is turned off for several hours and turned back on the wrench light does not light up and nothing seems to be wrong again. Because of this, mechanics tell us that nothing is wrong, after spending several hundreds of dollars for every diagnostic. After reading numerous other complaints on the same exact issue with this model car, we understand that it is a throttle body issue but we refuse to replace it as it is, not only, a costly repair (+$800) but it was already "fixed" or "replaced" by ford when the car was under warranty.
When idling with your foot on the brake the car will suddenly experience an increase in the rpms and "lunge" either forward or backward depending on which gear is selected: drive or reverse. This behavior happens intermediately, but does not seem to occur when the engine is cold.
While driving in traffic at 40mph car lurched forward and went into fail safe mode and stalled out. Car restarted and at next intersection lurched forward again and went into fail safe mode.
I own a 2005 ford freestyle sel awd. The car lunges out of park. Happened about three times in the last 30~ 60 days the car comes to a failsafe engine mode. I have to shut off the engine and restart it to clear the failsafe mode. This is not the first time this has happened. It has happened in the past few years.
For 4 years the car has surged when placing the care in reverse, but I always thought it was the transmission. Two days ago the car surged forward 3 times and I was inches from hitting the vehicle in front of me I turned the car off and back on and it was fine. Yesterday I placed the car in reverse and it surged back wards so forcefully I could almost not contain it with the breaks. Today the car surged back again but I was ready or it and the car stalled stating "failsafe engine mode" I again I turned the car off and on and it worked with out a problem. All 3 times the car was idle in 90+ degree weather for >5 min.
Our 2005 ford freestyle began moving in reserve quickly as soon as the car was placed in reverse and my foot was still on the brake. This happened last night and then the wrench(transmission) light came on. The engine previously had began revving very high like it was possessed while driving on the highway and when I exited the road the car acted as if it was not going to stop and I had to practically stomp on the brake to get the car to stop. The engine sounded as if it was going to explode from revving so high. It was frightening. The vehicle has about 90,000 miles on it.
Our 2005 ford freestyle lunges (car jumps forward and gas pedal drops with no driver action) in first gear and low to no RPM in forward and reverse. This most often occurs at stop lights, parking, and easing out of parking. All of these times have the propensity to cause minor accidents. If it does cause an accident, I will have my lawyers contact yours. This is a well documented issue.
When turning my car on and switching from different gears, the rpms jump up and down and cause the car to lunge even while holding down the brake pedal. It has been happening off and on for 2 years, but has more recently been happening daily. I did not take it to get repaired yet, but will have no choice.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2005 Ford Freestyle?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history