At a very low speed the throttle body stuck open, and the car lunged backwards. I had to slam on the breaks hard to not zoom out into the parking lot into a passing car. The check engine, "wrench" light came on and the lunging kept continuing both in forward and reverse for several seconds. Finally, it appeared to stop once I put the car in neutral, and I was able to back out of the parking space. After that, there was something definitely wrong with the throttle itself. I was unable to accelerate into traffic at the necessary rate. This is a reoccurring problem as there are hundreds if not thousands of reports and complaints about 2005-2006 freestyles and 500s. I would hope that ford would do the right thing and recall this part for the safety of their customers and everyone on the roadway.
2006 Ford Freestyle fuel system complaints
Page 3 of 6: complaints 41 to 70 of 151, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My 2006 ford freestyle limited has major electrical problems. I have had the car lunge on me, at 0mph it would lunge forward, and in reverse. Fortunately I had my foot on the brake every time. I don't think it is the transmission. I have a feeling that it is all electrical. I have had the lunging problem since last year. (2011) and the car has been deteriorating since. Yesterday I got "check charging system" and now it kills all of the lights and gauges... Yet it still kind of ran.(not very good up hill, and no indicator lights, no speedometer nothing.)another recent problem I have is the center engine (shock?)mount is busted.
My complaint mirrors verbatim others related to the may 2011 investigation opened into the "lunging" at slow speeds for the 05-07 ford freestyle. The AC, hot temps, & lunging. One occurrence traveling 60mph & began to "stall out" & slow on major highway with three children in car. Any pressure on fuel pedal no result. Busy traffic, could only travel max 35-40mph. Put flashers on & struggled to make it to repair shop. Turned off AC in 100 degree heat to get any kind of response from engine. I was worried & feared for mine & my children's safety. Vehicle would barely accelerate thru intersection after stopping for red light. Finally made it to shop. Vehicle was placed on machine. Codes appeared: p061b alter fuel control module error, p2106 throttle actuator forced limited. Took vehicle to ford house & explained issues as well as codes from previous shop. Was told would be $100 for ford to hook up for a dx. If the codes I had were same,would cost est $800 to repair. As mom of 3 & who drives great distances for work, this repair asap. Have had many occasions if not had foot firmly on brake the vehicle would've caused a wreck at stop light, pulling into, out of parking lots, etc. Car literally drives itself in d/r at 10mph with no acceleration at all after placing in d/r. On 8-12-12 was in drive thru line & car lunged at high rate of speed forward after barely lifting foot off brake. Came mm from slamming into vehicle in front. Put car in p & the vehicle died. Wrench/engine light came on. Turned engine off, turned AC off & restarted the car. I can only imagine what would've happened if this had occurred at a stop light in a busy intersection? This issue is a fatality waiting to happen. This cannot be a fluke random issue if you have rec'd 238 prior complaints regarding the exact same issue. I urge the federal safety agency to place a recall, if for the only reason to save lives. *tr updated 08-03-12 *bf updated 09/07/2012
Backing from driveway into the street, car surged but was able to stop it when brake applied. At that point the vehicle stalled. Able to restart and continue without incident but warning "wrench" light was on indicating throttle / transmission fault was detected and service required. After restarting later that day no problems noticed and no warning light. This was the most severe case so far but had noticed some small surging in prior weeks both in reverse and drive when starting out both from cold start and from restart conditions. Further research suggests this is a well know throttle body problem for ford freestyle / 500 / montego models from 2005 / 2006 timeframe. Safety risk is significant, cannot let other family members or any less experienced operators drive this vehicle until the problem is addressed. Replacement or at least maintenance for this known faulty system should be provided at no charge by the manufacturer.
I was stopped and in a line of vehicles in a parking lot with my foot on the brake and the engine surged. Fortunately, I had my foot on the brake with sufficient pressure to keep the car from lunging forward. This occurred several times while in the parking lot with the engine going into (limp mode) forced limited power mode. I drove the car directly to the ford dealer where the car was purchased. The mechanics did not detect any diagnostic trouble codes and sent me on my way. Since then there have been probably six (6) more events without the engine going into forced limited power mode. In all events the engines surges to approximately between 1500rpm and 1800rpm with the car in drive and the foot securely on the brake. The event generally lasts less than 5 seconds. All events occurred during summer months. Last event was this past wednesday when my son was driving the car. I witnessed the event as a passenger. The two codes that came up are p2106 and p061b. I purchased a tester to read the codes. Current mileage is 77995. Researching the potential cause of this problem LED me to your site and prompted me to file a complaint.
First time it happened car lunged forward at shut down, died completely. 30 minutes later was able to turn it over. Mechanic said it needed throttle body but it was on national backorder until august 2009. So had to drive it home. Happened quite a bit throughout that time until I realized that it had a lot to do with having the A/C on. It happens even without the A/C on sometimes at lights, stop signs, and in parking lots, and also when in reverse it lunges in that direction as well; sometimes at very high rate which is scary. Have 3 children and cannot fathom why this car has not been recalled. I still owe money on it and now it is sitting in my mechanics garage because the CVT transmission went out.. 5 weeks now and I do not have transportation because I cannot afford to fix the CVT transmission that alot of other people are having the same problem with.
My 2006 ford freestyle surges mainly in reverse, but also does it in drive at times. The first time it surged I thought maybe my foot had hit the accelerator and dismissed it. I started driving this car in october of 2010 and had not experienced the problem until then, but now it happens frequently. I have no idea about previous owners or the car's history so I only know how it has been maintained since I have owned it. Also there are 2 technical service bulletins that are also wrong with my car. Tsb 07-1-8 and 06-11-4 I think that since ford knows there are problems with this CVT transmission that they ought to recall the vehicles and repair them.
While traveling home from holiday, my wrench light came on in the car and we could smell the engine beginning to overheat. My engine was trying to lunge forward even though I had the cruise control on. My vehicle then started to decelerate and I barely made it off from the highway via an exit ramp. Pulled over, turned off the car and opened the hood to let the engine cool off. I thought the problem may be gear or transmission related or perhaps bad gas. I tried a trick told to me by mechanic friend to back up the car and go forward approximately 40-50 feet, stop the vehicle and repeat the movement again to reset the transmission controls. I also added fuel injection cleaner and filled the tank again. After fuel injection and letting the car sit, it was okay for the rest of the trip. Had another incident just recently (july 2012). The same wrench light came on and my car once again lunged and decelerated and I had to pull off. Luckily, there was a gas station at exit again. And, luckily, I was able to maneuver through traffic when decelerating without harm to my family. I bought more fuel injection cleaner and filled the tank. I then let the car sit again. That seemed to help. We made it home after another rest stop for the car. Shortly after, my husband used throttle body cleaner to clean out my fuel injection pathway. He removed air connection and found the throttle body to be clogged with gunky material and sprayed a good dose of the cleaner into it while I gunned the engine to clear it out. I am now using fuel injection cleaner with every gas fillup to mitigate the problem. I know I probably need to replace the whole throttle body, but I am leary from what I've read on internet with others having same problem, replacing throttle body and then it having to do it again a year later. I am going to fix car and then probably sell it. Not safe anymore.
The throttle will race up especially while coming up to a stop. I belong to a couple of forums that people have tried many of times to get this serious repair recalled. One person even pinned their child against the garage wall. I have not fixed mine yet as ford garage says it is about $750 repair. My wife almost took a guys door off. As she pulled into a parking spot a guy was getting out of the car and as she pressed the brake harder it made the throttle increase. The guy then though she was deliberately trying to run him over. We had to demonstrate the issue of this and then he understood. I just cant believe that ford can get away with this throttle issue.
Car lunges forward and backward even with foot on the brake. Used to only do it with the air conditioning on but now will do it at any time. When speaking with ford they claim they know nothing about this despite me reading them the 23 page letter between ford and [xxx] (office of defect investigation). Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Our '06 freestyle lurched forward while attempting to allow a pedestrian to pass in a parking lot. The engine speed increased and more brake pressure had to be applied to stop the car. Slight engine revving was first noticed at a mileage of ~60,000 miles and grew over the next 10,000 to the point of the car actually lurching forward unless heavy pressure was applied on the breaks. Eventually, I learned that if I had the A/C on max, vehicle stopped and idling, light pressure on the brakes, a turn of the steering wheel would make the car lurch every time. The lurching made parking, especially parallel parking, which requires the steering wheel to be turned right and left, a risk to nearby pedestrians. On-line posts and forums LED me to clean the throttle body and the problem has been fixed for the past few hundred miles.
Throttle surge upon backing up. Foot on brake, thank god, while backing when vehicle surged backwards.
98 degrees (103 with heat index), sat in parking lot with AC on high for 3 - 5 minutes. Backed out of parking stall, and approached stop sign. When hit brakes the car lunged forward. Pulled out of lot and 'wrench' light came on and car wouldn't run right. Tonight tested the car again and it runs fine. After reading online it sounds like this may be a common occurrence related to a throttle body failure/malfunction.
Experiencing engine surging while maneuvering in a parking garage. Most noticeable while in reverse.
Air temperature was 100 and my 2006 freestyle was idling. Then, when stopped in city traffic, car surged unexpectedly requiring me to press hard on the brakes, then stalled. This happened twice. After sitting and cooling for 2+ hours, the car ran fine. However, check engine light remained on. Because I am on vacation, I took the car to a dealer. The service department determined the problem was related to the throttle assembly, which he said was pretty common. Replaced the assembly for $1300 for fear the problem could happen again on the highway.
While foot on the brake the car lurched forward like the gas went by itself. Then at a stop light the light turned green and applied the gas. The car would not go. The gas peddle was all the way to the floor. Later I put the car in reverse and the car stalled and died. My wife is scared to death and is afraid it is going to crash into another car. I took the car to my trusted auto repair place. They stated this is a know problem with the freestyles and surprised it was not recalled yet.
After filing a complaint on or about 6/28/12 (odi number 10463545) in regard to another 2006 ford freestyle I own and operate, I now have to report the identical defect with my other 2006 freestyle. After parking my first freestyle until repairs can be made, this freestyle (now being reported) has become the major transportation vehicle of the household. Now this vehicle has begun surging in rpms and 'lunging' whenever the brake is released. This occurrence was in 95 degree weather with the air conditioner running. I don't know if the outside temperature plays a role in the defect occurring but both vehicles were at maximum operating temperatures, had been running for a length of time whereas a higher 'cold engine' idle would have no bearing on the occurrences. Since I haven't an extended warranty on the first vehicle I reported on 6/28/12 (a recent purchase), I have ordered an electronic throttle body w/tps (non-heated which is obviously a ford supercession) and will attempt to replace it myself as a cost savings measure. Since filing my issue I've found via the internet that others with the same problem have paid upward of $1,200.00 to have this work performed. After ordering my parts I have discovered that this particular throttle body was installed on 2005-2007 ford freestyles as well as their ford five hundred (of which I also own a 2007 model year of with approx 20k miles). Is there any truth to the rumor that bad luck always comes in three's? I certainly hope not!! As of earlier this morning (7/01/12), with a cool temperature of 75 degrees f., this defect did not re-occur, but my other vehicle also began to 'act up' as an intermittent problem that eventually wouldn't go away.
After purchasing (as a used car) for my daughter, vehicle began rapid acceleration and 'lurching' unexpectedly when shifting into forward or reverse. After several days, this was compounded by occurring when starting and stopping in traffic during brake application. I had the filters replaced (air and gas) and the problem seemed to have gone away. I asked my dealership, during my first inspection after it's purchase, wether there was a tsb in regard to this issue and would they please check it out. They alleged that they had no record of any defect regarding this issue and no tsb had been issued. They did however refuse to complete the inspection until I allowed them to overhaul the rear brakes w/new rotors for quite a kingly sum! (so much for a promotional 'free inspection'.) last night I had to venture out and retrieve the vehicle from my little girl after the car kept 'lurching' everytime she used the brake. While she was waiting in an intersection attempting to make a left turn, the car 'lurched' and stalled in front of oncoming traffic. After restarting the car an engine light and a 'wrench' was now visible on the dash, and the car had absolutely no accelerator! Due to our flat terrain I was able to bring the car home on an idle at a speed no greater than 10 m.p.h. Once safely home I tried a trick that used to work on the fleet busses I once worked on. That was rapidly turning the ignition switch on-off, on-off repeatedly about 10 (ten) times, then leave switch on and start it. This seemed to have cleared the 'wrench' and the accelerator was restored. The engine light did not clear. I've put tires, struts, strut mounts etc. Into this car to make it safe for my daughter to drive, yet I can't allow her to use it. 4 of 5 cars I own are fords, 2 being 2006 freestyles, and this is the only one that I have had a problem with. What recourse do I have now?
While driving the ford revs up and down, while it is doing this it lurches forward and I lose all dashboard instruments, I cannot use the air conditioning because it makes the problem worse.the scary part is I have my family in the car when all this happens. On thursday june 21 I was driving down the highway at 50miles an hour when suddenly the car RPM revved up and down on its own the speedometer went out, the lights all flashed. The car was lurching forward, and it was worse when I was attempting to slow down. My daughter stated"I am scared" I cannot believe that this has not been recalled, when we were at the ford dealership we bought the car from we told them what was happening, they didn't even offer to look at the car or seem to care. The problem is very unpredictable, one day it runs good then all of the sudden it freaks out.
My ford freestyle has had engine surging issues for approximately a year know. Today 6/21/2012 my car started surging at every stop light so severely if we weren't holding down the brake we would of hit the car in front of us. The problem became so severe we had to put the car in neutral at every intersection to keep car from trying to jump into the intersection and stall. Today's temp was in the high nineties and we were using the air conditioning. Today's incident was the worst its been. Went on line and search the symptoms and found that a lot of freestyle owners are having the same issue. With the safety of the car owner and pedestrians that could be near the car in jeopardy. Ford should be recalling these cars and trying to find a permanent solution to fix this rather then charging the owners high dollars to replace a defective designed part with the same defective part.
Car was sitting, parked in a lot, idling for about 10 minutes with the air conditioner running. When I put it in drive and let my foot off the brake, the car lunged forward as the RPM's first revved and then dropped. The car did this a few times, but once I got turned around toward the exit of the lot, it stopped doing it. About 20 minutes later, in a grocery store parking space, it did the same thing as I was backing out to leave. The car had sat running for another 10 minutes or so with the air on. This time however, the car idled up and then down, lunged in reverse, and then idled so low it died. Once I restarted it and finished backing out of the space, I turned the air down to low fan speed and the car was fine the rest of the trip back home.
Car surges when idling. Seems more in hot weather but am told it is the throttle body that has to be replaced and is a known problem with all of them for 6-7 years now.
While at a stop light waiting to make a left turn with the air conditioner on, the RPM shot up and the the car started to lunge forward. I almost hit someone in the cross walk before the car killed in the middle of the intersection. This has happen many times according to my wife this is her car and I never drive it. After reading all the complaints about the throttle body I decided to post my story. Please help before someone gets hurt or worse killed. Also it was hard to restart and very slugish till we shut off the air. My wife has told me that this has been going on for almost a year but that I really didn't know how bad it was till it happened to me. There really needs to be a recall on this before it is to late.
In the summer when the A/C is running when I'm backing up or pulling forward it many times will unexpectedly lunge. I've almost hit people and kids, cars, curbs, buildings, etc. Many of the times that it lunges it will stall or begin to run very rough. We have to put the car in park and cut off the car and restart. Many of those times it will begin to run normal but have a indicator light that it needs mechanical attention. Once the car is parked and sits for a while when it is started the mechanical attention light will discontinue. Yet every time the A/C is running especially on high it will lunge almost every time. It is very dangerous in that if my foot would not be on the brake hard enough when it lunges and a kid or person would be in the line of the lunging car. Dangerous!
I purchased my 2006 ford freestyle in december 2009. As soon as the weather got warmer I noticed that when parking, backing up, or trying to stop, the vehicle would surge as if I still had my foot on the accelerator. Soon it also started surging/sputtering when I first started out and would occasionally stall, twice in heavy traffic. I took the vehicle to the ford dealership to discover that the throttle body position sensor doesn't work properly & that all freestyles were having the same problem. I was shocked to find that a new unit could be put in but was not covered as a recall and was going to cost $1000. As a single mom, that was just impossible. Luckily my disabled father was previously a mechanic and was able to use carb cleaner to clean the sensor and temporarily stop the problem. Since then, every spring the problem comes back and I have to have the throttle body unit cleaned several times before winter. Another problem I have with this vehicle is that the brakes wear out unusually quickly. I don't know if it's because of having to fight the throttle position sensor to stop the car, or if it's a flaw in the design of the brake system. I do know that when it starts to feel like they are wearing out I have to replace them asap because the more they get worn the faster they wear out, if that makes sense. Something I've just recently noticed is that the lights (interior, exterior, display, all of them) have been almost blinking...getting brighter/dimmer and at the same time my A/C blows harder/softer, like they are surging as well. Upon further examination I found that the top and bottom driver's side motor mounts have cracked/rotted bushings. Ford should absolutely replace these throttle bodies without question; my children ride in my freestyle every day and one close call is one too many. I want this fixed once and for all.
I was in myrtle beach summer of 2010 when I was backing my vehicle out of a parking space it lunged back almost causing a wreck. Then when I went forward did the same stalled. Changed fuel filter and everything. About 1 month later did it again. I seems to do it when the temperature outside is warm. This is very scary and not sure what has to happen for ford to recall. I guess someone has to die and they have to be sued.
My car began having problems lunging forward while I was stopped at a school zone cross-walk waiting for children to cross. It lunged forward and stopped just inches from hitting 4 children. It terrified me!!!! It happened several times that day and the next day until I could get it in the shop. I was told it needed the throttle body replaced by the ford mechanics but luckily I got by with just a throttle body cleaning. The car no longer lunges forward. About the same time, the car had problems feeling like it wouldn't get past 2nd gear and it wouldn't accelerate. I still don't know what caused this. A few months later the car started making a strange clicking noise that would get faster when I would accelerate then slower when I would brake. It quit making the noise by the time I could take it to get it looked at a few days later. The air conditioner won't get cold unless the car is in motion. The heater does the same thing. It only seems to happen on extreme temperature days. Then spontaneously, both these problems seemed to fix themselves. Just this week, my car backfired 2 times, then the next morning when I started it, it smelled horrible! I turned it off immediately, then the next day, it wouldn't start. Took it to my ford mechanic, and he said everything checked out ok. He now thinks there is something wrong with the computer system. Everything I have read on the internet suggests that these have been huge problems for many ford freestyle owners. And yet no recall? Come on ford!! You have lost many loyal customers over this!! Please help all of us to get a recall issued for this car!! I am a single mother of three children, and if I get stranded, I, like many people, have nobody to call and no way to pay if I get stranded. Please help before someone gets seriously injured or even killed. Many other probs but no room to list.
Vehicle will not start. Dealership claimed that the throttle body needs to be replace along with a computer update to a tune of $800+. Various posts have been found on the internet regarding a known defect with this model year's throttle body including a "lunging issue" caused by this failed component. I would like this issue to be investigated and ford to be responsible for the replacement and remedy of this defective component.
I drive a 2006 freestyle. Just weeks after buying it from used dealer the vehicle started lunging when I would attempt to stop or be at a slow pace. Example being in parking lot and trying to park it would lung from about 1000 RPM to 4000-5000 rpms. This would throw my car forward. I did tap a car that day but no body damage. Also the car will be driving down the road and the wrench comes on and motor shuts down. There is no warning and has been very scary when merging into 75mph traffic with no where to go. On the 6th of june 2011 the throttle body was replaced. However within the 30 days all symptoms were occurring again. I had the compressor go out which cost $1000 to replace. On 12/02/11 I took the vehicle back to the shop, they ran codes and found it was the transmission. I have many accounts of the lunging and the wrench shut down issue. It has become very regular and makes my car very unreliable.
On several occasions while I was driving in route to work or the grocery store, my 06 ford freestyle seemed slow and sluggish to respond as I would be waiting at a red light for the green. When the light did turn green and I would press the gas pedal to go, the car would shut off. A few times there were close calls as the car behind me would be unaware I was having trouble and almost rear-end me. When the car would cut off, I would proceed to restart the car and then press the gas to go. The car seemed to respond extremely slow like I would have the gas pedal pressed to the floor and would only be able to go 20 - 25 MPH. On other occasions, the car would seem to lurch forward or backward (depending on if I had the car in drive or reverse) the throttle body failure on my 2006 ford freestyle creates a very dangerous situation because the engine will accelerate without applying the gas pedaland will no accelerate at times when the gas pedal is pressed. After a little research I found this to be arecurring problem on 2006, and 2007 ford freestyle vehicles. Ford is or should be well aware the proble exist and has for some time and has done nothing about it , to add insult to injury my car has been at the ford dealership for over a month because the parts needed to repair it [ throttlebody ] is not availiable and no one can tell me for sure when it will be people at ford tell me that the company making the part went out of bussiness without notice, well needless to say this does not help my situation, I have notified my state and federal highway safety commishners of the problem and I would like to ask everyone with a similar problem to do the same.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2006 Ford Freestyle?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history