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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
7 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
70,571 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 engine problems

engine problem

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2009 Ford Escape Owner Comments (Page 3 of 14)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #237

Jul 212011

Escape

  • 50,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2009 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the brakes were applied, the vehicle accelerated independently without warning. The failure recurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but the vehicle was unable to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.

- Howell , MI, USA

problem #236

May 082014

Escape

  • 90,000 miles
My family were returning from vacation when the car decelerated with no warning. We were on the interstate and we were inches from being rear ended by the upcoming traffic. I have been told the issue is with the throttle body and that it is not being recalled because you can still drive it. How about you tell that to my terrified girls (ages 6 and under) that it is safe to have cars and trucks flying past you at 70 mph and you can't accelerate to move out of the way quick enough. A month later, the same thing happened to my wife returning from work. That's twice in 2 months. We have only the one car and have not been on vacation for fear of the car decelerating. I guess instead of being in the business of preventing accidents, people have to die first before anything will be done to protect consumers.

- Greenville, NC, USA

problem #235

Jun 142014

Escape 4-cyl

  • 92,000 miles
While driving down the road at 45 mph the car lost power and began to coast to a stop even with the gas peddle to the floor.

- Frederick , MD, USA

problem #234

Aug 242013

Escape

  • 45,000 miles

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

Was accelerating when the vehicle seemed to shut off. Vehicle restarted and about a month later did it again pulling away from an intersection. Dealer confirmed it was a faulty throttle body and charged 100 dollars to fix.

- Palm Harbor, FL, USA

problem #233

Jun 012013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 60,100 miles
Was driving then felt "back fire" then the wrench light and check engine light came on and I couldn't accelerate at all. Never lost control just hit brakes to turn on road and pull over. Turned off car and restarted it and revved the engine. Went another mile and it did the same thing again. Took it to a local mechanic to have it checked out because I thought maybe I had gotten bad gas but was told it was the throttle body. Taking it too dealership Friday June 6th.

- Hutchinson, KS, USA

problem #232

May 222014

Escape 6-cyl

  • miles
Seems to accelerate unpredictably when turning. No incidents yet, but concerning. Also, my mechanic says the steering motor is leaking. My Ford was made in Missouri. I do not know if this related to the recall of Escapes made in Kansas.

- Ludington, MI, USA

problem #231

May 202014

Escape

  • 58,000 miles

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

Had car set on cruise control, felt a pop or a snap under car, looked down and cruise went off and I was coasting, I had my foot in the gas and the RPM's were at 1000, gas was not revving and the RPM's didn't move, coasted to side of road. The engine sputtered as if it was going to shut off, but it didn't. I shut the car off and restarted it and it was fine, until 3 days later when it happened again. Have taken it to a Ford dealer 3 times and they claim that it is not tripping a code and that they can't replace the throttle body until they have a code. I don't know what else to do, I have been driving a loaner car since last Friday and they still haven't been able to recreate the incident.

- Murray, KY, USA

problem #230

Aug 202013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 120,000 miles
1st time driving down street wrench light came on, truck lost power. Had truck towed through research new it was throttle body. Two days later truck started, while driving on highway wrench light came on lost power again.truck stopped working in a construction zone. Took truck directly to Ford service. They were closed. They looked at truck next day. I had a complete tune up at a different repair shop at $100,000. Had all fluids changed and spark plugs. Ford service called, and told me it needed all that done, that it was not throttle body. After I told them I already had all that done, they stuttered and said they would call me back. They called back said it probably was throttle body and gave me a large estimate. I chose to pick up truck. Paid $128. Received letter you wrote about from Ford regarding throttle body. Called Ford. They said they will only replace it if the code shows up when I bring it in, if it doesn't I will have to pay out of pocket. I am upset because I already brought it in with that exact problem. Please advise what I should do now. Thank you.

- Seville, OH, USA

problem #229

May 112014

Escape 6-cyl

  • 66,000 miles
The throttle body became stuck during travel on a busy highway. My car lost all power to accelerate until car could be stopped and the ignition killed.

- Shreveport, LA, USA

problem #228

Apr 232014

Escape 6-cyl

  • 123,250 miles
For the past 2 months my 2009 Ford Escape XLT has been jumping and shifting roughly, I thought it was transmission related despite that I flushed my transmission a little over 1 year ago. On 04/24/14 I was driving 60 mph cruise control on the highway and the cruise control cut off and my 2009 Ford Escape XLT began to lose speed, I notice when the 18-wheeler behind me was approaching my bumper rapidly, nearly rear ended me - had to coast 2 lanes over to get to on coming exit to avoid rear ending due to heavy traffic. My SUV would not re-start until the throttle control/powertrain light cut off however the engine light remains on. I had to coast lanes of a busy highway with 8 am traffic to the exit ramp and stopped in the middle of the street and was stranded until my SUV started again.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #227

Mar 012014

Escape 4-cyl

  • 69,500 miles

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

While coming to a stop at a major intersection with a car in front of me, my 2009 Ford Escape suddenly accelerated and would not stop, despite my frantic efforts to brake the car; I swerved to my right, went through 6 inches of snow on grass curb and then went up a 5 ft. Ice bank, where my wheels jammed in the ice and I stopped, sitting at nearly a 45 degree angle, 5 ft. Above the road. My front bumper was mangled in the ice bank and my passenger-side mirror was broken off by a stop sign. If not for the snow bank, I would have continued into the very busy intersection, where I and other drivers would have undoubtedly been injured or killed. I want to emphasize that despite hitting the brake, the car with unintended acceleration problem, did not stop, it kept going until hitting the snow-ice bank.

- Wayne, PA, USA

problem #226

Sep 302011

Escape 6-cyl

  • 18,000 miles
I first purchased this vehicle in Sep 2010. The problem was when I was stopped or made a turn coasting slowly, when I attempted to accelerate the engine did not kick in for a second or two. When it did it jerked hard and felt like it slammed into gear. The dealer could never id the problem and put it off as normal. Then very recently I have had the vehicle not respond to the gas pedal. It keeps the RPM's at an idling level but does not respond to the accelerator pedal-like you put it in neutral. This has happened twice now. When I shut the engine off and restart it appears to self correct. This happens while I'm driving slowly once and again when I was at a stop and tried to accelerate. I have not yet taken to a dealer yet.

- Ojai, CA, USA

problem #225

Mar 042014

Escape 4-cyl

  • 62,000 miles
Car lost power. Pulled off to side of road, engine would idle only. Throttle body had gone bad.

- Winstonsalem, NC, USA

problem #224

Jan 302014

Escape

  • 43,000 miles
Accelerating from a traffic stop. Taking a right turn, car rumbled and could not accelerate. Car went from 5mph and drop down to 3mph, the wrench light went on. Stopped at side of road and engine still running. Drove a little more and engine still rumbling and would not accelerate.

- Honolulu, HI, USA

problem #223

Dec 242013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 71,000 miles
As I tried to accelerate the vehicle went into a limp mode. I had no response from the accelerator pedal. The vehicle would move forward at a idle speed. Yellow wrench light came on. After engine was turned off and restarted vehicle ran as normal for a few days and it happened again.

- Glenview, IL, USA

problem #222

Sep 272013

Escape

  • 59,000 miles
Headed to work on the interstate driving 70mph and the vehicle goes limp gas peddle does nothing lose all power. Had to get over and avoid 18-wheelers and shift off the vehicle. Turned it off and it's fine for 5 miles or 5 days.

- Madison , TN, USA

problem #221

Dec 182013

Escape

  • 56,000 miles
I was driving on a 4 line highway in the passing lane. My car lost power and the gas pedal would not work. I had to pull into the turning lane because a car behind me almost rearended me. Had to have car towed. This is the second time this has happened in a year. Last time the garage had my car for 5 days and could not find anything. My car was towed to a local Ford dealership. I had to get a loaner car for the second time in two years. Thank god that I was not in a wreck and could get pulled over onto the brim of a 4 lane dangerous highway. After looking O line last eve and today I found that other people have had the same problem some not as lucky as iam. The garage told me today that it is the electronic throttle body and will cost me 300$ or more. I am hoping that something can be down to prevent other serious accidents or even deaths due to this malfunction.

- Winfleld , PA, USA

problem #220

Sep 232013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 60,637 miles
I was driving down a small highway at about 45mph when suddenly the engine lost its power. I put my foot on the accelerator and absolutely nothing happened (rpms did not increase, speed did not increase) except that the car continued to decelerate. I pulled over to the side of the road and the car started to shake violently. Also the yellow wrench indicator light signaling that there is a power train issue came on. I put the car in park and shut it off for five minutes. When I turned the car back on, the indicator light was off, the car was not shaking, and the accelerator worked fine. I took it straight home, then straight to the Ford dealer the next day and was told that I needed to replace my throttle body. Further, I was told that although the throttle body was not normal wear and tear, it was still not covered under my warranty. So I had to pay $500 to fix an issue that I now see is quite common in Ford Escapes; I am unclear what it will take for a recall to be issued on this potentially very serious problem. I am very grateful that on this particular day I was not on a 4-lane highway as I usually am when traveling.

- Winthrop, MA, USA

problem #219

Nov 212013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 77,000 miles
While driving on highway at a speed of around 60mph my truck beeped and signaled a wrench light on the dashboard and my vehicle just stopped and lost speed and I couldn't accelerate to continue to move to a safe area. My vehicle just completed stopped in the middle of the highway while vehicles are coming at the same speed behind me. This has happened several times once entering a ramp on to highway accelerating on to the highway the vehicle just turned off. Also once driving heavy traffic the vehicle just stopped and a vehicle has to brake and swerve to avoid hitting me from behind. Just to know the highway incident was the most horrifying experience for me and my family. We were so shaken up from it thinking a car was going to hit us since they were coming up from behind us at the same rate of speed 60mph when my vehicle just turned off. Please look into this as it can cause a serious an accident resulting in someone or family being critically injured or loss of life. I have been reading all over the internet of the same problems and situation that occur because of this vehicle failure. Please make this a recall from the throttle body I've been reading about on these vehicles. Under affected parts didn't know what to put but have read its the throttle body.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #218

Nov 232013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 59,000 miles
I was stopped waiting at a red light at the top of a very steep hill. The light changed to green and I let my foot off the brake and went to push the gas and my Ford Escape lost all power and stalled. The battery light and oil light came on as it stalled and I started rolling backwards down the steep hill. I had no ability to steer the car and I also didn't have any brakes, I tried to slam the brakes as we were accelerating more quickly downhill but I had no control. In a matter of seconds my SUV veered off the road and hit a brake wall and at that impact my entire vehicle flies over onto the drivers side and stopped. The side airbags deployed and I was unable to open any doors. A passing car stopped and helped my son and I out of the back hatch.

- Montville, OH, USA

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