My fuel life has dipped. Pulling hills and shifting into gears is a serious struggle. It's a danger to merge on freeways and highways when my 2009 Ford Escape XLT hesitates to accelerate. It hesitates pulling off from complete stops. When I take my foot off the brake sometimes, the RPMs drop instantly down to 0. The vehicle has now started surging. I never noticed leaks in the driveway other than condensation from running the A/C. I took into the car shop and transmission leak was observed. I have trouble starting the vehicle most times. I understand 86,000 is high-mileage for this vehicle and other brands. But I still feel it's too early to experience transmission issues that probably wouldn't have affected my Honda CRV until closer to 200,000 miles.
So Ford decided to make the transmission cooler with the cheapest material they could find in the scrap pile. The thing is made to fail from the mounting pressures and they know it. Yet they won't recall the issue. After constantly having to add transmission fluid, I did some research and found out that the issue is in most Ford Escapes and we have to pay for their sorry mistake. Ford is a rip off!!!
Love the style of the Ford Escape (up to 2012) it just has a lot of little issues and the guy at Ford says that this is a big problem. I replaced the seal and axle the first time and in a few month's I had another leak... I then had the seal, bushing and axle replaced and its finally working but the transmission is not shifting too hard.
This vehicle has been in for transmission work 3 times. First was to replace half-shaft seal that was leaking trans fluid, then 2 other subsequent returns for leaks of trans fluid from overflow tube. Trans is leaking again from overflow tube.
- Dave R.,
Mesa, AZ, US
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I purchased my 2009 Ford Escape in 2011 it had about 28,000 miles on it. It's now at 74,000 but around 62,000 miles was told I had a transmission leak in the front axle seal, I recently had it fixed, but it did not fix the problem and it is still leaking. Now I have two more leaks (front crank seal, and PTU are both leaking) along with the left front axle seal. The seal around the rear window is leaking as well. It is way too early for things like this to go wrong with a vehicle. Ford needs to do a recall on the transmission and axles. I'm looking at big money to have this fixed, money I don't have.
Before the Ford Escape I had a Ford Explorer and the rear differential went out twice and $2,000 a pop, and the air vents never worked. Before that I had a Ford Mustang and the paint just started cracking and chipping off in large amounts. I'm thinking my next car will not be a Ford, I've had it and I'm done. Ford never wants to fix the problem either.
I purchased my 09 Escape used in May 2013 with 42K miles on it. Before purchase, during visual inspection, I pointed out a leak by the front driver's tire area (now known to be the trans axle). I purchased the car and Ford said they'd take of the leak. Later that week brought to my regular mechanic and trans axle was leaking! So about 2 weeks after purchasing the car it was in the shop for transmission leaks. They replaced the half shaft & bushings etc ..
In Sept 2013 I had it back to the dealer again because the transmission was still leaking. This time Ford replaced the the transmission dipstick (what a joke). Oct 2013, in shop again for same problem. They replaced the half shaft again along with bearings. Nov 2013, dealt directly with the service manager (also part owner). They kept my car for 2 weeks!! I received a free loaner for both the Oct & Nov ordeals. My car was sent to a transmission place and totally overhauled with all new gaskets, seals etc ...! Dec 16, 2013 had car towed to dealer for even worse leaking than before. This time they called the Ford Hotline & explained all that they have replaced. I'm waiting to hear what the latest is ... have another loaner. This is the last time my repair will be covered under the power train warranty, as it expired on 12/17/13. The dealer has treated me very well so hopefully they will continue to cover these issues if they arise again at no cost to me.
I'm almost thinking of trading it in BUT ... it looks like there has been problems with newer year models as well ... I don't know what to do at this point?
It's March 23, 2014 and I just found out three weeks ago that my 2009 Escape is leaking transmission fluid. I picked January of 2013 as the discovery date because I'm estimating the by the slow rate of loss of the fluid and the absence of any pooling at all under the car. My first notice that something was wrong was when backing out of a parking space the tranny spooled up before it kicked in and moved the car, classic low fluid symptoms. So I went to the O'Neil's car part store and got my first sticker shock because this is Mercon LV, fairly new type fluid goes for $6.50 a quart. It took two quart and the tranny holds 9. Probably didn't damage the tranny with that fairly large reservoir, hopefully anyway. I took it to MY mechanic and when it was on the hoist I saw that the fluid has been leaking preety slowly and splashing onto the underside of the car. But what twists my tail is that the 5 year/60000 mile warranty lapsed about 2000 miles ago. By looking at the dates of the blogs, I'm hoping the back order problem has been worked out and I can find the BRAND NEW REDESIGNED transaxle that Ford said they were working on for a problem that should never have happened on a vehicle with this low of milage. Looks like I'm going to bite about $400 worth of repair sell it off or trade it and probably go back to something foreign.
Just shortly before the warranty expired noticed red stains on the driveway. Looked under the vehicle and could see the transmission was leaking around the seals. Took it in and was repaired under warranty this and other issues tells me it is just not a good quality vehicle. Bought based on the rock solid reliability of our late 90's F150 really think we made a bad move with this one and will likely buy a Toyota the next time.
After being told on 03/08/11 that they "couldn't replicate the problem" I bring my car back in and lo and behold - I have ANOTHER transmission leak. This time it's from the dipstick. So, they replace the dipstick according to TSB 10-10-1.
So we took it into the ford dealership after noticing a fluid on the ground which we determined to be transmission fluid, as did the dealership, they said they would fix it, then when we got the report back, they said it was lines leaking in the valve covers, this didn't make much sense to us because the leak was from the transmission.
This 2009 escape been in the shop about 5 times with transmission leaks. Ford changed this thing starting with the 2009 on thru. I have encountered leaks at the dipstick which then charged me for replacing with an updated version, so they knew the previous one was defective. I`m very disappointed in Ford because I thought whey would promptly correct any issues with their vehicles.
The transmission is leaking. my truck has been in the shop longer than we've had it in our garage. Thankfully they have given us a loaner. Very dissappointed so far. Hopefully they fix the problem.
My check engine light started staying illuminated and when I had it checked out by someone locally, I was told my car had a, "serious" transmission problem and I needed to take it to an authorized Ford repair service center. I took my car to the dealership where I bought it (also an authorized Ford repair service center) on March 10, 2011. After a few days, I was told the "axle half shaft" needed to be replaced and they were ordering the part needed to replace it. When they called me back, I could not believe what they said. They said Ford told them the earliest the part I needed could be shipped was MAY 31, 2011. That is 2 1/2 months from now!!! This is totally unacceptable. In fact, needing this type of repair on a 2009 vehicle is totally unacceptable!! Ford should be held accountable for these transmissions and the public needs to be warned so no one will make the same mistake I did and buy one of them!! SHAME ON YOU FORD!!!!
A vehicle with low milage and less than two yars old should not have these issues without a recall. Not only are you inconvenienced and continue to make payments on the vehicle you can not drive, the run around given to the dealership by the manufacturer is rediculous. Just had it in for the mandated $ 600.00 warranty transmission flush now it is leaking.
Our local dealer (Butler Ford, Milledgeville, GA) was great.They had trouble figuring out what the problem was but they fixed it and provided us a rental (no charge) for our vacation while they had our car and were waiting for parts to come in. We have driven about 3K miles since the repair and the leak is fixed.
Unfortunately we just started having problems with the trans... It seems to be slipping as we accelerate away from a stop. I will be calling the dealer on Monday. I'm not sure what the problem is but I am confident Butler Ford will take care of it. I don't mean to sound like a cheerleader but I know what it's like to have a bad dealer and I want to give these guys the credit they deserve..
can't believe that I purchased my escape 6 months ago and I am already having problems with a transmission leak,( noticed a banging noise coming from the transmission) and this is why i took it to get service. They said they fix the problem, but I notice I still have the noise not as loud but the noise is still there, was told by the service department that is was a normal noise for the escape. I am so soooo upset my car is not even a year old.
Transmission problem. Just after a red light, or uphill, SUV starts shaking and crazy changing gears. Sent it to agency twice and still with the same problem!! Lack of technical capacity for solutions. They have already changed transmission valves and some other stuff, guessing the answer/solution. Anyone with similar problem and solution knowledge?
I loved my new Ford Escape until I had to take it in to the dealership for a transmission leak..they are replacing the bushings, axle, and seal. I was told since this is happening on so many of the Escapes, that the parts are on backorder for at least 2 weeks. I was also told it was dangerous to drive my car like this which is why I had to get a loaner..they are paying for it but it still is not my suv it is a Malibu. This is highly annoying and if it is so dangerous, why isn't Ford issuing a recall??
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
My fuel life has dipped. Pulling hills and shifting into gears is a serious struggle. It's a danger to merge on freeways and highways when my 2009 Ford Escape XLT hesitates to accelerate. It hesitates pulling off from complete stops. When I take my foot off the brake sometimes, the RPMs drop instantly down to 0. The vehicle has now started surging. I never noticed leaks in the driveway other than condensation from running the A/C. I took into the car shop and transmission leak was observed. I have trouble starting the vehicle most times. I understand 86,000 is high-mileage for this vehicle and other brands. But I still feel it's too early to experience transmission issues that probably wouldn't have affected my Honda CRV until closer to 200,000 miles.
- Jazmin H., Birmingham, US