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CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2005 Escape has problems where the engine shuts down while driving. Ford finally issued a September 2014 recall. Time will tell if the recall fix really solves the problem.

However the 2005 Escape also has a defect where the PCM (Power Control Module) fries at around 100k miles. Ford extended the PCM warranty to 80,000 miles, but only after most owners were past the mileage limit. Now owners are on the hook for the average repair cost of over $2,000 (!!)

2.0

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
81,336 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.

2005 Ford Escape brakes problems

brakes problem

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2005 Ford Escape Owner Comments

problem #16

Jul 242018

Escape

  • miles

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

My vehicle alarm will just start going off nobody is near the keys or vehicle, it will just go off and you have to hit the button on the key and shut it off today at work I was sitting at my desk and in a matter of 10 minutes it went off 4 times. I am not sure why it is doing this, but it is concerning.

- Cherokee Village, AR, USA

problem #15

Feb 162018

Escape

  • 5 miles
While driving the car on the freeway the car jolted. After 3-5 more miles the car kepped jolting as if it wanted to die then lost all power, even the emergency lights wouldnt come on. Once I turned the car off it turned back on fine then continued the process. The car for no apparent reason died on the freeway and I could have been in an accident to where my life was almost lost. I made it to my mechanic shop they ran the care for codes and no codes came up at all. My mechanic has done research and found that some 2005-2008 fored Escapes have recalls. He feels as my car is one because my car has the exact same symptoms as the recall. In this article I have had all of these issues.the 2005 Escape has problems where the engine shuts down while driving. Ford finally issued a September 2014 recall. Time will tell if the recall fix really solves the problem. However the 2005 Escape also has a defect where the PCM (power control module) fries at around 100K miles. Ford extended the PCM warranty to 80,000 miles, but only after most owners were past the mileage limit. Now owners are on the hook for the average repair cost of over $2,000 (!!)

- San Jose, CA, USA

problem #14

Jan 012016

Escape

  • miles
Car alarm always going off causes interior lights to run battery down. Alarm will not reset lock doors. Sensor light comes on with door ajar and alarm refuses to set. Has been going on for a year or more. Complaints on internet from other people with the same problem but there is no recall. Others are saying it is the latch that needs to be replace but Ford company can't tell us this. It doesn't matter if the vehicle is moving or not for the door to be ajar.

- Lexington, AL, USA

problem #13

Nov 112017

Escape

  • 173,000 miles

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

While driving and the car is in motion the gas pedal has locked in an idle position. This happens intermittently. Although the car is in motion suddenly there is no longer any forward momentum since the car is no longer moving forward. My only option is to coast to the side of the road. Sometimes I can turn the car off and on which seems to reset the gas pedal and then I can continue on my way. This is extremely dangerous since any one can hit me. This has happened several times

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #12

Aug 262017

Escape

  • 156,000 miles
My car has been stalling at red lights or whenever I am stopped stopped. It feels like my car has died and sometimes doesn't start back up for a while. I have to press hard and long on clutch. My gas peddle had been sticking in the past.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #11

May 172017

Escape

  • 116,000 miles
When the vehicle stops, engine shuts down. If I start it again it turns on just fine but everytime I stop at a light or at traffic, the engine stalls. Went to the Ford dealer and they cant tell what is happening because there is no check engine light turned on. They checked it and everything was fine, battery, oils. They say there is a recall for the throttle position sensor but the deadline for this was on January 2015. Now Ford wont repair my vehicle because it has more than 10 years old (it has less than 116,000 miles).

- San Juan, PR, USA

problem #10

Apr 252017

Escape

  • miles

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

Today while driving my 05 Ford Escape I was making a right hand turn when all of a sudden I lost all power, my brakes locked up, power steering was gone, causing me to almost wreck into another vehicle. I was able to safely move to the side of the busy main road and stop the vehicle. No warning light came on, nothing informing me of an issue. It was very scary for me & could have been a lot worse if I hadn't of been able to get control of the vehicle.

- Elizabethtown, KY, USA

problem #9

Jun 212016

Escape

  • miles
Hi I have a 2005 Ford Escape & up into about and year I started had having engine failure, my vehicle would start & stop, to sum this up, im affaid to drive when this accures praying that know 1 runs into the back of me...ive tooken it to the auto place to get a reading & ive replaced everything that it read ignition coils (twice), fuel filters, tune A/C compressor, wouldnt come on etc....I can go on & on..& im still having the same problems & finally ive decided to google these accurances, to find that there's other vic..that has occurred theses same incidents....this is a serious matter, that Ford needs to address / resolved before someone doesn't make it. Vic. Just shutting down in the middle of traffic....& it also accures while stationary & while turning, this has been going on since Oct. Of 2015 & in between replaceing parts it stalled for a while of the killing & now it has started back up full force about a week ago. 6/13/2016 & today is the 6/21/2016

- Kenner, LA, USA

problem #8

Dec 292015

Escape

  • 127,144 miles
Was driving my car to work - at first if didn't want to start but cranked fine. Let it sit idle and headed to work - 1/2 to work stopped at a light where it started to shudder like it was going to stall (never had any issues before and still no warning lights). Got thru the intersection and loss all power on the busiest street in bowling green. I didn't even have enough power for my emergency blinkers. Stuck where I was was a hazard of me being hit - had it towed to mechanic thinking it was the alternator. Alternator and starter both good - once put on the diagnostic machine - the car started smoking and sparking. End result - I have at least 3 coils, potential fried wire harness and PCM failure (a logged complaint but never a recall). The potential fix with no guarantee that this wouldn't happen again is 5-8K. My family could have been severely hurt if someone would have plowed into us. This is not a safe vehicle at all!

- Bowling Green, KY, USA

problem #7

Dec 242014

Escape 6-cyl

  • 155,900 miles
As soon as I hit about 60 mph, between 2-3 RPM, my car begins to stall and feels like the gas pedal is grinding and won't let me go any faster without vibrating the entire vehicle. I initially thought it was the transmission slipping so I took it in to a transmission auto shop where the found absolutely nothing. Which is very odd for an auto shop to not find anything. About 1 week after this problem, the service emission light came on. I was driving home from work the day the light came on and the car completely stopped on the highway, in rush hour traffic. Thankfully I was close to the side of the highway and was able to pull over. I got to the side and put my car into park, turned the engine off, and waited a couple of minutes to allow my heart rate to come back down to a normal pace. I turned the key and the engine turned back on. I drove it into an auto shop to see what the issue was, and the reader showed cylinder 2 misfire. The first possible fix was to replace the coil on plug, which is what I did. I got home today and am still experiencing this scary feeling of my car not being able to excel above 60. I read many reviews this evening and so many people have experienced very similar issues. This is not safe and people are at serious risk or getting injured and/or in an accident. The average cost to fix the issue - reported by many users on www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Escape/2005/electrical/computer_pcm_failure.shtml, is $2000. When you have a 2005 car of any kind, $2000 seems very high to fix when the car is 10 years old. Please investigate this issue further as this is unacceptable that Ford has yet to recall this issue.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #6

Jul 152013

Escape 4WD 6-cyl

  • 85,000 miles

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

I purchased the vehicle knowing the ECM had been replaced recently... about 3 months of purchasing the vehicle my check emissions light came on...losing gas mileage, car stalled out a few times, and dealership said it was the ECM again... approximately August 2013. One year later August 2014 same issue again... ECM replaced again.. when I turn the key on, not starting it the check emission comes on and the dealership tells me this is normal.. my gas mileage is 12 mpg and im afraid it is happening again soon.. I don't know what to do and I was told it may be the wiring harness causing this issue.. I don't know why no one will get to the route of the problem why the computer in my Escape keeps failing. They wont let me trade it in since it is not any value to them anymore..

- Plattsburgh, NY, USA

problem #5

Apr 062014

Escape 6-cyl

  • 125 miles
I was traveling at a rate of speed of 70 mhr on I-95 going down South. As L was traveling I sudden had to get off the exit to get some gas as I was approaching the exit I started to slow down to come to a stop my truck stilled while the truck was still in drive mode. No lights on the dash board lite up indacating there was a problem, no check engine light came on. I then put the truck in park it started right up, but I then had to drive with one foot on the gas and the other on the brakes. Took my truck to my machanic and was told it was torque convertor (transmission ) something has to do with transmission. Another incident happen on the was coming back to atlanta traveling at 70 mph again traffic all of a sudden come to a stop, once again when I came to a stop the truck stalled again it stalled several times, it stalled so much I had to pull over on the side of the rode and sat there for about 1hr in oder to drive without stalling but that did not help it keep stalling every time I had to slow down to stop.smh.scared. Traveling with my kids..... this has happen some many time until I afraid to drive my truck anywhere it stalls if I drive at 60 mph or 70 mph. If you are aware of driving a manual car when you put your foot on the brakes to stop and you don't use the cluth to put the car in neutral to stop and it stalls, well that's what it like drive this truck when you come to a stop whole drive for a period of time I have also had to put this truck in neutral in order for the truck not to stall.. I have had this truck model to at by so many machanic and because the engine light does not come on its had to diagnose the problem. Some say it electrical problem and some say torque convertor... it need to be a recall on this make and model to have the tirque convertor fix before this problem kills anyone that's having this problem....

- Atlanta , GA, USA

problem #4

Sep 112012

Escape 6-cyl

  • 153,200 miles
9/10/12, while driving on the freeway my check engine light came on and my car started running very hard and started shaking and I could feel the car loosing power. I turned the steering wheel towards the right to pull over and as I pressed the gas pedal I could feel the car had shut off. I was able to pull off to the side of the highway and my car smell like something was burning. After sitting for about 15mins the car started and I was able to start the car and drove it at about 40 mph until getting off the exit to go home which was about 10 more miles. I had to continuously press the gas making the car accelerate between 30 to 40mph because the car started to repeat the same thing as I stated earlier. I took the car to the shop 9/13/12 (my car had 153224 miles) and was told there was misfire on #2 coil, so I paid to have the coil changed. 2/15/13 my check engine light came back on and the car was repeatedly hesitating, I took it the shop 2/19/13 (my car had 163071 miles) and had the same misfire code, so I paid to have all three rear coils changed, the owner showed me the old coils & the #2 coil look burned and burst open from the top. After changing the coils the check engine light came back on with the same misfire code for #2 coil and I paid to have it changed again 6/18/13 (my car had 171459 miles). The engine light came back on with the same code and I paid to changed it again 7/12/13 (my car had 173095 miles) after I drove the car about 50 miles the light came back on. I had the code read again on 7/30/13 (my car had 173920 miles) and it gave the same code for a misfire on coil #2. the owner of the shop advised me to take the car to the dealer and explain the problem and check if there has been a recall on the 2005 model. I called the Ford dealership and was told I would have to pay for them to do another diagnostic quoted at $140.

- Vallejo, CA, USA

problem #3

Nov 302012

Escape 4-cyl

  • 123,000 miles
I was driving on the interstate at 70mph at night when my 2005 Ford Escape started jumping and then completely lost power with no warning. I immediately pushed the flasher button and coasted off of the interstate, I was able to crank the vehicle back up and get to the nearest exit and call for help. The repair shop found the # 4 ignition coil had burned up. Thank god there was not an 18 wheeler knocking on my back door, would not be here to complain and no one would have ever figured out what happened.

- Meridian, MS, USA

problem #2

Nov 062012

Escape 6-cyl

  • 108,000 miles
While driving 45mph the car just cut off is a high traffic area. The car behind me had to swerve to miss rear-ending me! I had my 3 year old daughter w/ me at the time! our mechanic has informed us that apparently Ford Motor Company is aware that bad plugs were installed in these cars and would cause computer failure! nothing was told to us regarding this issue when we purchased the car! when emailed fmc they informed me that this is not a safety issue & a recall is not required. How can this not be a safety issue when the car completely dies w/out warning"?"

- Glen Allen, VA, USA

problem #1

Oct 092012

Escape 6-cyl

  • 104,000 miles
Driving at 55 mph and car began to lurch and buck. Car shut off 3 times in busy intersection with no warning and almost caused an accident. Took to mechanic, and learned that the computer system had shorted out due to manufacturers using incorrect spark plugs. Apparently, this is a common issue with this year and make. This is a dangerous problem, and can occur anywhere, doing any speed! the computer system must be replaced and it is very expensive.

- Wrightsville, PA, USA

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