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CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2013 Ford Escape has been in the news quite a bit and for all the wrong reasons. Within a few months of its release the SUV was recalled three times, twice because of engine fires.

In July 2012, due to a fuel line that could split and leak, Ford told owners to park their cars because even driving to the dealership for repairs was deemed too dangerous. Instead, in a somewhat unprecedented move, Ford sent tow trucks to pick up the affected vehicles and handed out rental cars while the owners waited for repairs.

A few months later the Escape was recalled again because antifreeze could leak out onto the engine due to a freeze plug becoming dislodged. As the coolant hit the hot engine there was, once again, a threat for fire.

The 2013 is the first model year of the Escape's 3rd generation and proves once again that you want to avoid the first model year when at all possible.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
9 / 60
Injuries / Deaths:
14 / 0
Average Mileage:
56,186 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.

2013 Ford Escape engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Ford Escape Owner Comments (Page 5 of 59)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #1081

Jan 012019

Escape

  • miles

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

I am really uncertain due to the fact that when I was experiencing problems with this car, ford and other licensed mechanic shops were not able diagnose what was wrong with my car. I was denied service by ford on 2 occasions and by time the car was past a simple fix I was unable to use my extended warranty.

- Decatur, AL, USA

problem #1080

Oct 012021

Escape

  • miles
Cylinder 3 misfire - cylinder allowed engine coolant to get into engine which should not happen - engine failed in light of this defect - engine replacement required - many Ford Dealerships will confirm the 1.6 L Turbo eco boost engine in the 2013 model year Escape are plagued with issues - Full Engine replacement required on my 2013 Ford Escape that only had 73,000 miles - Ford will not reimbursement for the new engine installed - costs for new engine just under $6900 - rental expense accumulated as well while we were down a vehicle - Ford told me to log my complaint with the NHTSA - I am doing this now - Can the NHTSA help" What can I expect from the NHTSA" Engines that fail as this one can be very dangerous - main concern is obviously and engine fire - any help would be appreciated

- Country Club, MO, USA

problem #1079

Sep 142022

Escape

  • miles
More times than not, the car is stalling when started. It will stall or near stall when driving. No warning lights come on when this is happening. I have noticed that when the car started doing this, that the controls for the dashboard are now not working properly. For example; when you try to reset the trip milage, it will go through all settings on board and you are not able to reset anything. This has been on going since the odometer has hit 58,000 miles. The stalling of the engine is happening more and more frequently. I have had it to several repair shops, and no one can tell me why, even though they have witnessed it stalling.

- Niles, MI, USA

problem #1078

Sep 262022

Escape

  • 61,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 25-30 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive to her residence where she parked the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine wiring harness needed to be replaced. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.

- Crockett, CA, USA

problem #1077

Oct 042022

Escape

  • 59,600 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the head gasket was blown and that coolant fluid was leaking into the engine due to four cracks in the engine block. The mechanic informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained with the mechanic. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 59,600.

- Southington, CT, USA

problem #1076

Sep 092021

Escape

  • miles
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, there was an abnormal carbon monoxide odor detected. The contacted stated she felt weak and sleepy. On another occasion, the contact had to pull over on the side of the road due to the carbon monoxide odor inside the vehicle. The contact sought medical attention and was informed that she had 8 level of carbon monoxide in her blood. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the mechanic confirmed that carbon monoxide was leaking into the vehicle and that there was also an oil leak. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Falcon, MO, USA

problem #1075

Aug 182022

Escape

  • miles

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

I believe my car has the same issue noted on Ford Recall 12S39 (NHTSA Campaign #12V431000). My car's mfg date is 09/12 and my independent mechanic says that my vehicle has the same coolant issues noted in the recall, but the recall date only applied to vehicle with mfg date of 08/12. I would like to see how my mfg date can be included in the recall.

- Mpls, MN, USA

problem #1074

Sep 022022

Escape

  • miles
I bought my 2013 Ford Escape used in 2020 with 76,000 miles from a local Chevrolet dealer. They did not offer me a warranty on the vehicle and told me that they would not assume responsibility for it should anything break. At the time of incident, it only had 82,000 and I kept up with regular oil changes. On the day of the incident, I had been driving at about 45mph and came to a stop at a red light. When I went to accelerate as the light turned green I heard a strange noise and then the car stalled out with no other warning; no lights were lit up on the dash prior or during the stall out. I could not get the car to turn over at that point and I was stuck in the middle lane on a major highway. I had cars going all around me, with a large truck headed towards me, which had to swerve to keep from hitting my car. My mother was in the car with me and we were afraid we would be hit by oncoming traffic. Finally someone stopped to help and pushed me into a parking lot. I had the car towed to a mechanic where he has diagnosed it as engine failure.

- Melville, NY, USA

problem #1073

Jun 282022

Escape

  • miles
I got recall fixed back in june2022. Still haven-€™t been refunded.

- Fairlawn , OH, USA

problem #1072

Jul 042022

Escape

  • miles
Coolant leaked into engine. Need new engine. Ford won-€™t pay for it even though they knew about this ongoing problem

- Fairlawn , OH, USA

problem #1071

Sep 072022

Escape

  • 100,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle almost stalled. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated with a warning light flashing, indicating for the driver to pull over and stop. The contact stated that she was able to coast to into a parking lot with the engine was running; however, the vehicle would not exceed 15 MPH. The contact stated that the engine temperature gauge was in the RED. The contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer, where it was diagnosed and recommended that a valve in the A/C and radiator hose be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle failure had reoccurred. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

- Williamsport, PA, USA

problem #1070

Feb 012022

Escape 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 115,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle had experienced vibration, hesitation, and jumping on several occasions. The vehicle also stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the failure was caused by engine coolant intruding into cylinder #2 causing damages to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 115,000. The contact stated that the motor was replaced with a Ford factory motor by an authorized Ford dealer. The contact paid out of pocket for these repairs, but they have concerns that they were sold the same exact model that caused the vehicle to have issues.

- Hickory, NC, USA

problem #1069

Aug 202022

Escape

  • miles
I would like to report this extremely dangerous incident I had with my 2013 Ford Escape with the 2.0 engine. I parked my car and went shopping. The car was running fine. I returned about a half hour later. When I started the car the engine revved up to 5000RPM all by itself and stayed at that RPM even though I didn-€™t have my foot on the gas pedal. I had to tap the gas pedal to get the engine RPM down to the correct idle speed. I was glad the car was in park and not drive. I could have gotten in a terrible accident and maybe have killed someone. I contacted Ford customer service to see if they had a recall for this problem. My case number is 37993624. They told me there wasn-€™t any recall. They told me that I should take the car immediately to a Ford service center to get it checked out. The agent tried to make an appointment for me at the closest service center near me, Premier Ford located at 1072 East 49 Street Brooklyn NY 11234, but the lines were busy. I told her I would take the car there the next morning. The Ford center did a diagnostic check on the engine and told me they couldn-€™t find the problem or reproduce it and there were no codes in the system. They suggest I change the Throttle Body and the gas pedal assembly. They said it was only a guess but that could have been the problem. I did as they suggested and had the Throttle Body and gas pedal assembly replaced. Since they didn-€™t actually find the problem every time I drive my car I wonder in the back of my mind if it-€™s suddenly going to shoot out into traffic all by itself. 1-The vehicle is available for inspection on request. 2-The engine has not been inspected by the Ford Company. 3-There was no warning of the problem before it happened. service adviser at Ford wrote the problem wrong. He wrote that I shut the engine and restarted it. That-€™s not correct. I just tapped the gas pedal and it went down to the correct idle RPM.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #1068

Nov 152021

Escape

  • miles
I bought this car two years ago from rodeo Kia in Avondale Arizona and have had some issues with this car which all have been resolved but last year the car has had a major issue that still hasn-€™t been fixed I called numerous mechanics that have a identified the same problem over and over. I was told by repair smith that my car overheated and leaked Freon because of engine block crack that this cars are known for. So my car needs an engine block swap and I was told by the mechanic that this are one of fords cars that have this major problems down the line. So I did my research online and there is a lot of people with this problem with this 2013 ford escapes but when I put my vin number it says no recall for that but other escapes of the same year have that recall why is mine not showing that recall if it does have that diffract and problem and it-€™s the same year but it does not show the recall I think this is extremely unfair to me as a consumer.10

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #1067

Aug 192022

Escape

  • miles
The engine has a coolant leak which is causing smoke to emit from the muffler pipes when started. The vehicle always seemed to burn off coolant in a way that was normal. I purchased the car in 2016. But I never had warning lights. Despite that, we (myself and my mechanics - I have gone to two) have tried to find the leak for several years, including changing hoses & seals. However, now the check engine light is on, and within the same day of the warning light, there is now smoke coming out of the muffler when engine is started. It disperses quickly but I am afraid this is some kind of fire hazard. I do not smell anything burning but this is a hazard I need to report.

- N. Chelmsford, MA, USA

problem #1066

May 232022

Escape

  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle emitted abnormal sounds and surged continuously upon depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving. The vehicle was taken to a local Pep Boys who retrieve a code for the check engine warning light. The contact then added additives in the fuel tank and the check engine warning light disappeared. However, the failure reoccurred increasingly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the cause of the failure was not yet determined. However, the dealer informed the contact that the failure could be associated with the engine or the transmission. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was overheating while driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 12V551000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

- Mohave Valley, AZ, USA

problem #1065

Aug 182022

Escape

  • 200,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle was unable to accelerate to exceed 25 MPH. There was also a knocking sound coming from the engine. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact drove the vehicle safely to her residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

- Tulsa, OK, USA

problem #1064

Aug 142022

Escape

  • miles
We have had to replace vacuum pump 4xs, had multiple engine repairs done, turbo replaced, jumped time 3xs, replace ABS sensor 2xs, wheel bearings 2xs, CV axels 2xs, since day 1 has been blowing lights in turn signals and brake lights, wiring issue, have replaced control arms, tie rods, tie rod ends, and so much more, have had transmissions since day one, needs evap system repaired again, transmission replaced a second time, having power reductions, and this vechiile has costed us over 12,000, Have been informed of 2 recalls Time frame 12/2015 to current date.

- Tallmadge, OH, USA

problem #1063

Jul 222022

Escape

  • miles
ford escape 2013 recall #14S17-S1 problem with electrical signal connections that causes car to stall when coming to stop, ford says not applicable with my car

- Taunton, MA, USA

problem #1062

Jun 212022

Escape

  • miles
On 06/21/2022 I took my 2013 Ford Escape to a Ford dealer because my check engine light was on. I was informed that a Evap Tube was needed and the part was ordered. A few weeks later I checked with the dealer and was told the part was on back order. 08/01 I checked again and was told that there were 3,000 people waiting for the part and there was no estimate on when it would arrive. Whenever I start the engine after getting gas the engine does not start right away. It takes several times to start. I am always worried that the engine will not start or there could be a fire.

- Lockport, NY, USA

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