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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
67,503 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.

2009 Ford Escape drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2009 Ford Escape Owner Comments (Page 5 of 14)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #196

Dec 022013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 60,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I own a 2009 Ford Escape. While traveling at various speeds, the vehicle loses power and the wrench light comes on. Accelerator pedal pushed, but no response. Shut down vehicle and restarted car driven without incident, until it happened again 2 days later.

- Loganville, GA, USA

problem #195

Nov 282013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 86,803 miles
Driving along, engine loses power, car is jerking, wrench light comes on, idles quickly. Coasted off side of road. Turn car off, turned back on - wrench light off - drive away as if nothing happened. Drive for another couple hours, same thing. This has happened quite a few times in the past 2 weeks.

- Alburtis, PA, USA

problem #194

Nov 282013

Escape

  • 84,165 miles
This is my second time that happened to me first was on 11/27/2013 and today 11/28/2013 I was driving on heavy traffic make a stop then I start to accelerating and my car lose the throttle and the wrench light became on the engine start to shake was very scary the traffic behind me almost hit me so I turn off my car and restart again and the problem was over but today the same happened when I trying to enter to the expressway and was very dangerous I have to restart my car again and drive to home I make a research about this problem and I find that this problem is very regular with Ford Escape and some other model from Ford.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #193

Aug 172013

Escape

  • 69,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving down the street and the wrench light came on all of a sudden. Then my car dies. Put it in park then started it and as I tried to accelerate the car started to jerk then died. I repeated this till I got to the nearest repair shop and after $600 later found out it was the throttle body sensor. Ford won't sell the plastic sensor by itself, you have to buy the whole aluminum unit at $400! plus labor! I will never do business with Ford again! horrible quality parts. The worst part is I had my 11 year old son in the car when this happened.

- Carrollton , TX, USA

problem #192

Nov 252013

Escape

  • 72,200 miles
While driving steady at 50+ mph on an interstate, there was slight on again/off again hesitation while keeping constant pressure on the gas pedal. Without warning, the engine seemed to lose all power, and forced me to coast to the side of the road. A 'wrench' warning light appeared on my dashboard system, and while the engine had not stalled, it was running very low and rough. I again tried to apply pressure to the gas pedal and it was completely unresponsive. I turned the vehicle off, waited a few seconds and restarted it. It ran as if there was nothing wrong, and there were no more warning icons showing on the dashboard. It ran without issue for another 15 minutes on the highway, until it again lost all engine power, and this time the engine warning light came on instead of the wrench icon. Restarting it let me drive a few more miles to reach my home.

- Wesley Chapel, FL, USA

problem #191

Nov 202013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 30,268 miles
Traveling at approx 5-10 miles an hour. Pulling out of stop sign. Vehicle without warning felt like it stalled. Could not accelerate. I coasted to curb and put in park. A warning light on dashboard showed a yellow wrench. I turned car off. Waited 30 seconds. Started and light was off, car normal. Took to dealer. Diagnostic code said electronic throttle. Did not have fixed immediately. Next day did it two times in less than five miles. Now engine light on second time of occurrence. I am afraid to drive. Could be on highway. Could pull out in front of on coming cars and it stalls. Get broadsided.

- Bethlehem, PA, USA

problem #190

Nov 212013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 87,210 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving on Monday 11/18/13 my wife was stopping then went to accelerate and the vehicle stalled. Upon turning it off it restarted just fine. This happen 3 more times from then to Tuesday evening. I drove it to work Wednesday 11/20/13 and while accelerating on to hwy 94 the vehicle stalled. It did hesitate upon restarting but started and ran. Wednesday evening on our way home doing approx 30mph the vehicle stalled and again hesitated to start but did and ran ok. Thursday morning 11/21/13 while on my way to work I was at cruising speed doing approx 60mph on hwy 94 the vehicle stalled. It hesitated to restart again but started after leaving the vehicle off for a few seconds.

- St.Paul, MN, USA

problem #189

Nov 142013

Escape 4-cyl

  • 60,280 miles
Vehicle suddenly lost power and slowed down. Symptoms match what others report to be a bad throttle body which Ford has changed design of. Has happened twice now. Ford says we have to pay for this repair but it sounds like it should be a recall.

- Aiken, SC, USA

problem #188

Nov 132013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 59,000 miles
I was making a left hand turn and as I was turning my car slowed down to 1-2 mph I drove it just long enough to get to a safe place (less then 100 feet) and as I drove the car jerked. When I put it in park the car shook so I turned it off. The light that came on was the throttle/powertrain.

- Chesapeake Beach, MD, USA

problem #187

Nov 112013

Escape

  • 71,000 miles
While driving at approximately 15 mph while making a left hand turn my 2009 Ford Escape stalled without any warning signs. Engine restarted immediately. About 20 minutes later while coming to a stop to put the vehicle in reverse the engine stalled again. Engine restarted immediately again.

- Thornton, CO, USA

problem #186

Oct 312013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 74,238 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was traveling at approximately 65 mph when my vehicle slightly lunged forward then I lost all speed control. My speed dropped rapidly and I was unable to use my gas pedal. I was able to roll to a safe place to call and wait for a tow truck. My owner's manual indicated the warning light (wrench) meant there was a throttle control/powertrain failure and to contact a dealership right away. I had my vehicle towed to the nearest dealership. I was contacted the following day that the diagnosis was the throttle body had to be replaced and that my extended warranty plan, millennium, which I purchased through Ford Motor Company, was not covering the repair because they categorized that part under "emissions." That is ridiculous. After additional research I have found numerous websites indicating this throttle body issue has been brought to Ford's attention and they have yet to issue a recall. I also found that there was a recall for this part on the 2010 Ford freestyle....why aren't they taking care of this problem for the rest of us? it's a real problem! this repair and subsequent need for a rental car has cost me almost $600 and I'm sure I am not alone, based on what I've read in the past few days.

- Azle, TX, USA

problem #185

Nov 012013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 50,000 miles
Vehicle lost power up steep hill almost resulting in rolling backwards down hill. Car had previously and intermittently lost power surge when accelerating onto highway into a merge situation.

- Wakefield, MA, USA

problem #184

Nov 042013

Escape

  • 29,000 miles
On Friday, November 1, I was driving to work when suddenly the Escape failed to accelerate. The wrench light appeared. I coasted to the right turn lane then stopped. Turned the Escape off, waited a few seconds and then tried starting it. It started but the entire vehicle shook. I was able to get the Escape to crawl to a parking lot. I turned it back off and waited a few minutes longer. After about ten minutes, I tried starting it and it seemed to run just fine. On Monday, November 4, I had a repeat of this. We had the repair shop tow it in, fearing that it would die in traffic and cause an accident. The car dealer says it was the throttle body.

- West Des Moines, IA, USA

problem #183

Oct 252013

Escape

  • 86,432 miles
This has happened twice now. I have been driving my car and all of a sudden I loose gas power, but my brakes and steering still works fine. I have to pull over to the side of the road and come to a complete stop. While at a complete stop I can feel my car/ engine making a jerking "thudding" noise/ motion. I then turn my car off and take my key out of the ignition for the a couple of minutes. After letting the car sit I out my key back in and try to start it. But the car hesitates to start, it cranks for a while and then eventually turns over and starts. When I begin driving again after the incident I can feel that my car is not driving the same. Both times it has occurred I was driving two completely different speeds.

- Worth, IL, USA

problem #182

Oct 242013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 65,000 miles
Initially driving down the road at approximately 55 mph and the check engine light came on and the vehicle went into a stall. I lost all power even though the engine was sputtering. I pulled over and turned the vehicle off and restarted it. I lost power about 2 more times on a 20 mile trip. This has since happened during every drive on various distances. Sometimes at highway speeds and sometimes from a standstill.

- Penix City, AL, USA

problem #181

Oct 242013

Escape 4-cyl

  • 110,030 miles
Vehicle enters limp mode and all power is lost, engine starts to stutter and tachometer jumps, wrench light (power-train) comes on. 3 times in 1 week. Mph = 60, 45, 30. Avoided accident and pulled over. Restarted vehicle and back to normal. No check engine light or codes stored. Dealer states they cannot diagnose unless they can recreate the problem. Danger of rear ending, T-bones upon left turns, and intersection pileups.

- Hope Mills, NC, USA

problem #180

Oct 042013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 65,324 miles
While driving at highway speed I lost acceleration. SUV shook then lost speed quickly. Was able to pull onto off road. Wrench lite on dash. I turned off SUV then restarted and lite went away. Drove to next turn off so I could turn around to head home. Samething happened on way home but after restarting SUV the wrench lite changed to engine service lite. Was able to get home from there. Took for service which concluded electronic throttle body was dirty so it cleaned. Was able to drive for about 20 days when issues accrued again. Throttle body needed replaced.

- Hudson, OH, USA

problem #179

Oct 222013

Escape

  • 75,000 miles
During a basic oil change, we were informed the oil pan needed to be replaced because the threads for the plug were stripped. The service manager, I am basing this on what we were told by trained Ford technicians, stated "the oil pan is made of aluminum and it has stripped out." When asked what the plug was made of he said, " steal.". so now we have a car that has an oil plug that could come open at any time because it has become unsafe due to steal on aluminum creating a hole larger than was designed. We have a piece of the pan that has been stripped by the plug. So, I am going 75 mph down the highway and the plug comes out because it no longer fits correctly. Suddenly my engines freezes up. I'll be lucky to keep it on the road. We are very concerned that we will have an engine issue due to the engineering of the oil pan/plug. As of now they want us to pay $485 for anew oil pan that was poorly engineered. A steal plug on an aluminum pan is asking for trouble. We request Ford be required to replace the pans with steal ones.

- Canon City, CO, USA

problem #178

Oct 182013

Escape

  • 100,003 miles
I had just come off a highway exit ramp and drove about 100 yards at 40mph, when the car suddenly slowed down to a stop. The odometer dropped from 40mph to zero in about 4 seconds when I just coasted to the side of the road. A wrench light appeared on the dash. I place the car in park and the only power I had was the electric that powered the headlights. I shutoff the ignition and restarted the car after about 15 seconds. The start was sluggish and when I placed the car in drive, it jerked forward. The car acceleration was poor for about 10 seconds before it finally caught the proper gear. I drove the car another two miles at 30mph with a little bit of hesitation in the engine. At this point the wrench light on the dash shut off. I have had no further issues since.

- Carmel, NY, USA

problem #177

Oct 172013

Escape 4-cyl

  • 51,500 miles
While driving the vehicle at around 50 mph it lost all reaction to the accelerator and coasted to a stop while in heavy traffic. I turned the car off and waited 5 minutes, then started it again and began to drive. Within seconds the vehicle repeated the incident. I managed to get it into my driveway after repeated stops and restarts of the engine.

- Trenton, MI, USA

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