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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 5
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
50,656 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.

2011 Ford Escape engine problems

engine problem

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2011 Ford Escape Owner Comments (Page 10 of 13)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #64

Jul 172013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 39,000 miles

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

While driving at freeway speeds, A/C was running (max A/C) and suddenly white smoke/mist was coming out of vents. The cabin started to smell like coolant. No indicator lights came on, engine temp remained normal, but it continued to come out along with cool air. This initially happened during morning commute, and same thing happened during evening commute. After taking to dealership for service, the diagnosis was that the heater core needs to be replaced, at an estimate of $1,150. Called Ford to report the problem, as a heater core should not have to be replaced on a vehicle with this few miles on it, and just over two years old. Waiting for resolution. Will be almost a week without car.

- Kenosha, WI, USA

problem #63

Jul 182013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 53,000 miles
After traveling for a approximately 45 minutes, my car stopped accelerating down the road. At this point my gas pedal would not make a difference in RPM or speed, then my engine began shaking violently. I barely was able to make it to the shoulder of the interstate. Then, a wrench light came on the dash of my vehicle. I then turned the ignition off. Upon restarting the vehicle, the light was gone and the gas pedal worked once more. I merged into traffic and continued on my trip with slight hesitation on the remainder of my trip. This whole scenario happened again on the 19th of July 2013 only 20 minutes into my trip home. Vehicle is currently at Ford dealership being checked out.

- Lake Charles, LA, USA

problem #62

Jul 042013

Escape 4-cyl

  • 44,000 miles
I was driving on the highway, going about 70mph on cruise control. The cruise control suddenly disengaged and the car started slowing down, plus the wrench maintenance sign in the dashboard lit up. I hit the gas and nothing would happen, I basically put the gas pedal to the floor with no results. I pulled over to the side of the road, avoiding traffic, and parked the car. Once the car was in park, the car started vibrating heavily. I shut the car down and waited about 5-10 minutes and then started the car again, it took about 3 tries to get the car to start again. I took the car to the mechanic, they could not get the car repeat the fails at that time, so they could not determine what happened. About a week later, I'm on the highway headed to work and it happens again, same situation, except this time all the lights in the dashboard lit up and I was not using cruise control. I took the car back to the mechanic and he worked on it for a few days, came back and said that the throttle body was malfunctioning and it needed to be replaced. Before I did that, I called the Ford dealership and explained the situation to the lead mechanic there and without even seeing the car, he agreed with my mechanic that it 100% sounded like a throttle body problem. So it has been replaced and I have had the car back with no problems since then.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #61

Jul 202013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 59,810 miles

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

My car has "missed" or "skipped" a couple of times in the past few weeks. Yesterday, it quit pulling. The motor was still running, but would not accelerate. The engine light and the wrench light came on. When I was able to pull over, while coasting, I turned off the ignition - restarted the car, and drove another 2 miles, and it happened again. I restarted the car, drove another couple of miles, and it did it again. I was able to get my car home, which was only 2 miles from where I stopped the last time. I understand it's a problem with the throttle body - an ongoing problem with Ford Escape. My Escape will go to the dealership tomorrow.

- Hayesville, NC, USA

problem #60

Jul 192013

Escape

  • 43,000 miles
My vehicle stalled while I was turning - this is the fourth time I have had it serviced for stalling - the other three times they have accused me of filling it too much, which I do not - and they have changed the fuel vapor store - evap canister. Obviously, this is not the problem. I also have transmission issues where it jerks and makes a loud noise into reverse. I love my car, but can't deal with the issues it continually gives me - my next car will be a GM product.

- Pinckney, MI, USA

problem #59

Jul 152013

Escape

  • 69,000 miles
Car drifted to a stop while in gear. Turned off ignition. Restated car. It accelerated in park without having foot on gas peddle. Tried driving again, the car repeated this pattern 3 more times. Finally got it to operate after letting it rest for several minutes. I was a wreck driving it home, 5 miles. The car was bought used only 4 days prior to the incident. It has ruined my confidence in this vehicle.

- Glenside, PA, USA

problem #58

Jul 172013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 40,000 miles

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

Driving home from work, I was traveling at aprox. 35mph when it first happened. My RPM gauge started to "bounce" from 1 to 4 repeatedly. Make it very hard to stop and could not give it gas. At the same time, my power-train warning light came on along with my check engine light. I was able to pull over and call for assistance.

- Cleves, OH, USA

problem #57

Jul 162013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 59,294 miles
I was driving down a neighborhood street, when without warning, I suddenly had no power at all. My acceleration was gone, and I thought that the engine had died, however everything was running, and the engine light was not on. I pumped the gas pedal and got nothing, fortunately there was a convenience store coming up on my right, which I was able to turn into. At that point I noticed the "wrench" icon lighted up on the dashboard, I thought it might be a good idea to turn the engine off and see if it was a glitch, since I had just had the oil changed at the dealership earlier in the day. At least I was hoping that was the case. The car started perfectly, it took a few seconds to shake itself, which still worried me, and proceeded to act normally as I drove home, where I currently am. I advised my son about what happened and he checked up on auto defects on the Ford Escape and brought them to my attention, that is why I am reporting what happened to me today. I will be bringing this to the attention of the dealership first thing tomorrow morning due to my needing the use of my vehicle for work.

- Beaumont, TX, USA

problem #56

Jul 132013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 49,500 miles
While driving at speed the Escape suddenly loses power. The engine remains running but the vehicle begins to slow and depressing the throttle has no effect. The only indication on the dash is a small wrench shaped light on the lower left side. Once the vehicle is stopped, I turn the engine off and restart. From the point the Escape runs fine. This problem started two weeks ago. It has occurred six times. 4 occurrences on the highway and speed and 2 occurrences on neighborhood streets while traveling in the 20 - 25 mph range.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #55

Jun 292013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 40,000 miles
Was driving to the airport and car stalled, picture of a wrench display on the dash. Next case was about 10 days later, was driving local and car stalled 5 times before I made it. Both picture of the wrench and check engine light came on. Parked car until morning, stalled twice on the way to work then got it to the dealership to be fixed. Was told it was the throttle.

- Hamilton, OH, USA

problem #54

Jul 052013

Escape 4-cyl

  • 42,709 miles

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

Engine power surge under normal driving conditions without increase pedal travel. Also engine power hesitates at times.

- Katy, TX, USA

problem #53

Jul 082013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 32,596 miles
I have been having this issue for many months where the car would not accelerate right when starting from a stopped position. It would shift very hard & jerk even harder from 1st/2nd & 2nd/3rd. I took it to the Ford dealership & they explained it was the transmission so I paid for a transmission flush even though it only had 32K miles. They also at this time resent the computer to my driving habits? the problem continued. Took it back to the shop last week twice & they believe that it was the throttle body but all computer checks showed the truck as fine. Yesterday while driving 45mph, it all of sudden shifted hard like it went into neutral. I had my foot on the gas pedal & there was no response. I did not lose power steering & was able to coast over to the side of the road. I at this time noticed the wrench light was on in the lower left hand corner of the dash. The service manager at Ford told me this would happen & that I needed to get the truck to them with the light on so that they could get the code they needed in order to file the claim with Ford & replace the throttle body. I was too far from the dealership to jerk down the road over 5 miles in nothing more than a creeper pace especially during rush hour. When I applied my foot to the gas pedal it was non responsive. I was told by the service manager that if I turned off the truck & restarted it the wrench light would go away & that it does not send an error code to the computer for them to reference. I had to turn it off, but not before taking pictures for my records. I tried to restart the truck & it struggled but finally turned over of which then it drove fine. Arrived at the dealership & they confirmed it was the throttle body but that the parts are on an indefinite back order. Now we wait. A complete inconvenience & ridiculous that Ford will not issue a recall especially when they know this is a problem.

- Lynn Haven, FL, USA

problem #52

Jun 292013

Escape

  • 43,600 miles
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was restarted after a few minutes and operated as designed. The vehicle was scheduled to be inspected by a dealer. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 43,600.

- Buford, GA, USA

problem #51

Jul 082013

Escape

  • 33,000 miles
Purchased a preowned Ford Escape in March 2013. Had approximately 28,000 miles. Drove fine until July 8 2013. About 1/2 mile from home, driving on residential road at approximately 30 mph, the Escape stalled and wrench light came on. Turned car off and restarted fine. Drove for approximately 1/4 mile and stalled again. Turned car off again and restarted, then drove approximately 1/4 mile home and parked in garage. Checked oil, and level was fine. Called local Ford dealer and let them know what the problem was. They suggested I drive it in so they can take a look at it. Told them I was uncomfortable driving it the 5 miles to the dealer. Called Ford roadside assistance to have it towed to the dealer. Waiting to hear what the dealer has to say.

- Keene, NH, USA

problem #50

Jul 032013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 55,000 miles
On wed July 3, I was backing it out of garage to take a trip to san antonio. I pulled out onto the street to leave when all of a sudden I lost all power. The check engine light came on along with a tool wrench. I looked in the manual and it said throttle problem. I turned it off and started it again and it drove perfect for half a block and lost power again. Finally I got it around the block and put it back in the garage where it sits, until I can find out if this is a Ford defect.

- Waco, TX, USA

problem #49

Jun 132013

Escape 4-cyl

  • 61,000 miles
Vehicle continually has a decrease in power. After stepping on gas pedal starts to "chug" along slowly eventually speeds back up and engages to normal speed.

- Brownstown, MI, USA

problem #48

Jun 292013

Escape

  • 62,000 miles
While merging into traffic engine shut down to limp home mode check engine light with P2111 & P2112 codes indicating a throttle body position error. Checked all connections at pedal, PCM, and throttle body test drive again same result. Cleaned throttle body with sensor safe cleaner with the same result. Impossible to drive in traffic continuously going into limp home. Extremely dangerous at speed as there is no indication when it may occur close calls with person following in traffic..

- Marbury, MD, USA

problem #47

May 282013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 46,300 miles
I was driving home from work at about 35 mph when the car lost power. It stayed running and I turned on my flashers and coasted to the first turn. I turned off the main rd and parked, shut off the car, then started it back up and it worked fine the rest of the way home. A few days later it did it again so I called the local Ford garage, on a Saturday morning. The service man on duty told me " this time of year there are fuzzies from the trees flying around, the get stuck in your air filter and when you turn the car off and start it again the fuzzies get sucked in the engine and the car is fine. He said he knows this has happened and what I described happened to my car sounds like this. He said if it happens again to call back". I said "are you kidding me?". it happened again so I called back, got an answering machine and left a message. No one called me back, and the car stopped doing this. Two weeks later it lost power twice in one day, once on the interstate which was scary, then twice more on my 3 mile drive to work in the morning. I had my son look at the air filter, he said it looked fine and nothing should get through it and to take it to the garage. I took it to the Ford garage, they said it needs an electronic throttle body and will cost $420, that is the estimate. The car has been at the Ford garage for 6 days now. They don't have the part because it is on backorder. They did give me a loaner car at no cost, which I appreciate.

- Janesville, WI, USA

problem #46

Jun 282013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 30,000 miles
Vehicle went into stall while traveling off of exit ramp. Have read that this is being investigated and needs to be recalled! dangerous and felt unsafe with my child in vehicle! if this happened at a high speed on hwy, it could lead to a crash and injury or even death!

- Carencro, LA, USA

problem #45

Jun 052013

Escape 6-cyl

  • 52,000 miles
Vehicle would loose all power while traveling at highway speed. Would have to pull over turn engine off and back on to reset. Wrench light would come on but would reset after vehicle was turned off. Took to shop and needed a new throttle body.

- Pasadena, MD, USA

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