2006 Ford Freestyle: hesitation when accelerating

Filed Mar 21, 2016 · Engine · 52,342 miles · VT

Engine lost power while driving on the garden state pkwy. No engine lights came on it hesitated to accelerate after leaving a toll booth and kicked off. I was told the car had a cylinder that was not firing and I needed a new engine. Upon the dealership pulling the engine they verified the engine was well maintained by me and the cause of the cylinder blow out was due to the timing chain blowing apart. My son could have been killed . Their was no engine light warning no transmission light and he had to cross over 4 lanes of high speed traffic to get to the shoulder of the garden state pkwy. I had the engine replaced and 6 weeks later upon picking up the vehicle it now has a transmission problem the day I picked up the car it would not accelerate over 60mph for me to enter traffic. It still does not climb steep hills. The car revs in rpms to 5 and feels like it it now getting air or fuel. When driving on flat surfaces transmission shifts fine. Help

Filed Jul 1, 2015 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · TX

Car jerked and hesitated trying to put in reverse. Engine light came one. Had more issues with transmission while driving with hesitation and jerking. 3 mechanics unable to identify codes issued caused by engine light or identify cause of problems. Took car back 2nd time to transmission shop and did an indepth inspection which found little metal shavings in the fluid in the transmission. The mechanic researched and found that was an inherent issue with the CVT transmission which is why they stopped making it. Difficult/expensive to repair due to parts not available. From 2nd mechanic that is a master ford mechanic, this car is not repairable. 1 of the mechanics said that these cars should not be sold and are, or should be, on a list of unsaleable cars by dealerships. We bought ours from a dealership just 9 months ago and not our money is down the drain. Did not check reliability before bought vehicle and found that this transmission has many complaints. If this was such a bad transmission that it is no longer made, why is it not recalled and the vehicles that have it. This is deceptive practices for dealers to sell these vehicles with such a known issue for a part that will eventually fail in all vehicles at some point. Especially when the transmissions are not able to make it to 100k miles. That is a bad transmission and these should be recalled before more consumers spend their money foolishly or someone is injured when the transmission causes issues while driving. We have been advised by the mechanics not to drive it on the freeway so as to prevent crashes due to the transmission failure.

Filed Apr 27, 2015 · Transmission · 112,000 miles · IN

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that the transmission slipped and hesitated. The vehicle emitted an abnormal noise and made a jarring movement when changing gears. The vehicle was not inspected by a dealer or mechanic. The failure mileage was 112,000.

Filed Apr 6, 2015 · Electrical · 137,000 miles · TN

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to accelerate and stalled without warning. After several attempts, the vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to the dealer more than five times, but the failure was unable to be replicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 137,000.

Filed Mar 20, 2014 · Transmission · 85,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle would sporadically accelerate with the illumination of the wrench warning icon. Additionally, the engine rpms would fluctuate and the vehicle would lose power. The contact would turn the engine off and on to stop the failure. Also, the contact stated that the transmission was failing and would cause the vehicle to hesitate when the contact was attempting to accelerate. The accelerator would be depressed with force in order for the vehicle to respond. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the throttle body was replaced however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who advised that the throttle body and the accelerator sensor would need replacing. The accelerator sensor was not repaired because the part was not available however, the throttle body was replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000.

Filed Mar 17, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 95,429 miles · NC

I filed a complaint about 2 years ago regarding my vehicle lunging forward. I received a notice to bring my car the ford dealership for throttle body repair. Since taking my vehicle into the dealership for repairs I have noticed that my vehicle is hesitating. When you press on the accelerator the vehicle does not increase speed more than 8 to 10 miles when you push the accelerator to the floor. I have taken this vehicle to 2 different dealership that specialize in ford product but not the ford dealership. I have been told that my transmission needs to be rebuilt and I was told at another dealership that it was in desperate need of replacing or rebuilding. I feel as though ford knows the problems that the owners are facing and need to step their game up. I have another year and a half before this vehicle will be paid in full. I feel at this point that ford assembled all of these vehicles and should be held accountable for selling these lemons. When you start looking at complaint after complaint from different customers all over the world then you know there is a bigger problem. I feel all the money that I have invested and still investing to save my credit has turned me away from ford vehicles of any kind at this point.

Filed Nov 5, 2013 · Acceleration · 143,000 miles · ME

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The technicians stated that the throttle body would have to be cleaned under a voluntary recall. After the repair, the contact experienced hesitation while accelerating. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 143,000. Mah

Filed Jun 3, 2013 · Transmission · 62,000 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate and failed to shift gears. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who stated that the medtronics main control needed replacing. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure was reported to the manufacturer. The failure and current mileage was 62,000. ...updated 07-10-13

Filed Jun 4, 2011 · Acceleration · 60,000 miles · SC

We own a 2006 ford freestyle and have had problems with sudden acceleration at low speeds and idling in general. The car was viewed by jeremy at classic ford in columbia, sc, and quoted a bit too quickly for me too feel comfortable. When I mentioned an 06 freestyle, it took no time to diagnose over the phone as a throttle body problem. The repair was quoted in the $850 range. I purchased a throttle body from another 2006 freestyle from a junkyard and made the repair. Less than 7000 miles later we are seeing the beginning of the problem again. The initial surges/revving occurred few and far between, usually in hot temperatures with the air running. The idle RPM usually sits at about 500 RPM, and when we stop, still in drive, it surges, which causes the car to lunge forward. When it progressed, it was impossible to sit at a stop sign without idling from 500 to 750 RPM every second, back and forth. After I made the repair, the car ran great. But as I said, we are less than 7000 miles out of the repair, and the initial stages are happening again. I can purchase a part from the ford dealer for $600+, or an aftermarket part for $500+. My hesitation in yet another repair is a faulty part from the manufacturer, or a part that is not oem, but made per their specs by an aftermarket manufacturer that will fail in a similar manner. I believe the best case in this situation will be to take the $4000 hit I will incur due to kelly blue book differences from what the car is actually worth, now that other dealers know what's up.

Filed May 21, 2011 · Seat belts, Transmission · 13,480 miles · FL

In april 2007, driver's side seat belt became jammed. Had seatbelt buckle replaced. It was covered under warranty and there was not charge. On june 8, 2010 the check throttle body light and wrench warning light came on and we noticed a vibration in the engine. Took vehicle in. The throttle body and motor mount were both replaced. Cost of repair was $1023.24 the mileage at the time of repair was 55,234. A couple of weeks later, the vehicle began to surge unexpectedly at times in both drive and reverse. At other times, vehicle would hesitates / had little or no pick-up when starting from a stop. Check engine light came on, took vehicle in on june 22, 2010. An engine sensor was replaced and the PCM was reprogrammed. Repairs totaled $642.61 the mileage at time of repairs was 55,613. Was told at that time the fuel filter needed to be replaced and a transmission flush was necessary. Replaced fuel filter and had transmission flush done july 1, 2010. Cost was $200.65. Mileage was 55,695. I read an article in the newspapers and learned that others were having similar problems. I wanted to be on record with problems that we have had with this car. Ford manufactured cars with issues. They should have to address those issues and compensate for the repairs that people had to pay for. The repairs that have had to be done on this car are ridiculous. Between the seat belt issue and the transmission issues, I would say we have had some serious safety issues with this vehicle and we most certainly regret buying it.

Filed Apr 25, 2011 · Acceleration · 63,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that when accelerating, the vehicle would hesitate abnormally. Also, when attempting to accelerate, the vehicle would decelerate independently to a complete stop without stalling. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the throttle body would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was not contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 63,000. Update 05/24/11

Filed Jul 30, 2010 · Acceleration · 37,200 miles · NJ

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact drove the vehicle in reverse and it started shaking and hesitating. When she shifted in drive, the vehicle jerked forward. She was able to drive two miles to her residence approximately 25 MPH since it continued to hesitate. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who advised her to replace the throttle body. The vehicle was in the dealers possession when the complaint was filed. The failure and current mileages were 37,200.