A lack of clearance between the engine cover and the speed control cable connector meant the throttle could get stick open when the accelerator was fully depressed. Following a petition from the Center for Auto Safety, NHTSA opened an investigation and eventually issued a recall to fix the sticky throttles in the 2001–2004 model years.
Even with the throttles fixed, the 2001 model year could still have trouble stopping due to multiple problems with leaking brakes.
9.2
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
1,833 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Car continues to stall when going approximately 40 mph. All systems fail. Car has been to dealership 3 times for same problem. Air intake valve and relay have been replaced. Dealership taking car again tomorrow for repair.
I was driving about 40mph, and the engine turned off, I had no steering, no brakes, almost wrecked my truck with my smallchild in the car, had to pull emergency brake to get truck stopped, I fear for my life now, dealership said it was a bad relay system
At highway speed vehicles suddenly died. Driver lost brakes and steering control. Driver coasted to side of road. Took vehicle to dealer, and they replaced relay system. One month later, problem reoccurred. Dealer stated it was the processer.
- Dacula, GA, USA
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Traveling at approximately 35mph -car did not shut off, but lost steering and brakes. From time to time time there is a gas odor coming from air vents. Also, in the morning vehicle hesitates when pulling out from a stop sign. Car was towed to local Ford dealership and they were unable to determine problem.
Poor gas mileage. Averaging 16 mpg. Dealer tested and found that under perfect conditions (no wind, no hills, no acceration, no stopping, etc) at 65 mph it got only 19. The vehicle doesn't get anywhere near the epa of 19 city and 24 highway. Told me this is normal for Ford vehicles.
There is a problem with the O rings, which leaks fuel into the interior of these cars. Ford says they do not have a fix and people should just continue to drive the Escapes and Mazda tributes with the gasoline fumes, even though they are highly toxic.
Fuel smell after restarting vehicle when engine is warm. Fuel odor very strong! this has been shown to be a problem on numerous Escapes and tributes, as seen on the yahoo fordescapeclub and in the edmunds.com discussion thread for the Ford Escape. If I turn the vent off for a few minutes after starting the vehicle, the smell goes away. Note that my dealership and several others have claimed not to be able to find the cause, but several people on the fordescapeclub site have been able to tighten the bolts on the left side of the intake manifold (as facing engine) to limit the smell. My dealer eventually reported that this was caused by a "weeping" intake manifold gasket. I am concerned that under certain conditions the fuel seeping from the gasket could ignite and cause an under-hood fire.
Cabin fills with smell of raw fuel when climate control system on..also smell of raw fuel under hood. Mfg inspected vehicle and does not know where problem originates.vehicle is now out of service 36 days while engineering looks for solution to problem.various parts have been changed with no resolution to date.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Savannah, GA, USA