Engine Shut Off Without Warning problems of the 2001 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Escape. The contact attempted to start the vehicle, but it failed to start. She made one more attempt and the vehicle shut off completely. The contact placed the vehicle in neutral and the vehicle started. When she approached a stop sign at 5 mph, the vehicle began to stall. The current and failure mileages were 48,250.

I was driving home and the car started to shake. I pulled over at a gas station and my husband checked to see what was wrong. We could not find what was wrong and drove home. Again the car was shaking then it started to shake violently and then we heard something snap and the car just shut off in the middle of the highway. After having it towed it turned out that we needed to replace the engine. The valve sheered from the valve stem and the valve shattered the piston and ended denting the oil pan and was found in the oil pan. This ended up costing us $5000. We called the dealer where we purchased the car in April of 2004 and he said that he was willing to help us, but decided not to stating it would be "bad business" to replace to car even though we had purchased it 8 months previous to the incident. We then had it towed to a Ford dealership where a new engine was placed in the 2001 Ford Escape. While speaking to a Ford mechanic he stated that he has seen this happen before to the Escape. The dealer that finally ended up working on the Escape called Ford and told them the problem but Ford stated that they had heard about this but there wasn't enough complaints to warrant a recall because of the defect. The car was out of commission for 10 days due to the dealer making promises and then taking them back.

Car shut off while moving at 35-40 mph with no warning. Loss of power steering and brakes. Winner Ford said I needed new computer - took 2 weeks to repair. Found out later they only reprogrammed computer. Car had also shut itself off October of 2002, in for repairs, one week later, shut itself off again, another problem. Escape is not reliable. See chat groups and edmonds. Com for other peoples complaints.

While driving 30-35 mph vehicle will completely shutdown without warning, cause unknown. Vehicle was serviced by dealer. However, problem is still occurring. Please give any further details. Ak.

Car would not start in October 2001. Engine shut off while driving at approx. 50 mph. Loss of steering and braking abilities.

The above mentioned is an attorney writing on behalf of ms. Meredith duley. While driving ms. Duleys vehicle shuts off for no apparent reason losing all power. This is happened four times. Manufacturer notified.

1) on two occasions the car's engine shut off while in traffic. I took the car back to the dealer after both incidences. The dealer was nice enough to look at the car right away on both occasions. The first time the told me that Ford was aware of the problem and is working on a fix to the onboard computer. After the second incident I was told that the computer was upgraded and I should not experience the problem again. Nontheless I would like to report this to your agency due to the seriousness of the defect and the possible consequences of such a failur on the highway. I was fortunate these past two occurences but other owners may not be. Please look into thei matter for the good of all the other Ford Escape users and unsuspecting travellers who may be following a Ford Escape. 2) I would also like to report another unrelated problem with this car. Several owners shared this concern on an internet user group. I am getting 12 mpg on the highway with this car while the posted highway mileage is 28 mpg. This is even less than the posten city mileage of 18 mpg. The dealer tested the city mileage by hooking up a cumputer and verified the cith mileage to be aroun 18 mpg. I have no problem with the city mileage I am getting. The highway mileage is way off and this should be investigated. It does not meet the government standards and does not meet the stated spcifications.

While coasting down slight grade at 35 mph, engine shuts off with no warning, stopped on side of road (required great effort to steer and brake), was almost rear-ended by following vehicles. Put car in "park" and restarted w/o any problem (no engine stumble), drove 7 miles home without further problem, however I am afraid to drive it for fear of recurrence. I will have to drive it to the dealer tomorrow and hope it behaves long enough to get there.

The SUV was purchased new in mid-December 2000. On 9/7/07, I was slowing down, on a downhill slope, to make a right turn when the SUV shut itself off and the steering column locked up. It had 1/3 tank of gas. I shifted the automatic into park, turned the key, the car started and I extricated my 7 year old son and myself from the busy intersection and from the mouth of on-coming traffic (we landed in the left turn lane, much to a Jeep's dismay). I drove slowly to my son's school (3 blocks down), then to work where I notified Ford via it's 800 number. I made an appointment for that afternoon with the dealership to have the car fixed. I left the car with the dealership. On 9/8/01, I called and the dealership said the car was ready. I asked the service manager to review the repairs with me & my husband and to explain why the repair "fixed" the problem. He said they replaced a valve which controls air flow. He said this would cause the car to shut off, especially if I had been engaging the brakes when the car shut off. I was engaging the brakes when it shut off, so I accepted this explanation. I packed my 7 year old into the SUV and left. Within 7-10 miles, the car shut itself off, again (only 26 hours after the first incident and the supposed "fix")! this time I was accelerating up a semi-steep incline. My eyes were forward. I noticed out of the bottom of my field of vision a red glow. I looked down and the oil lamp was glowing. I just had the oil changed within 1,000 miles and the car was just at the dealership that morning, so that couldn't be a problem. I then noticed that all of the other dashboard lights (most in white light) also were lit up. At that point, the steering began to locked up and the car slowed to a stop. I managed to maneuver the SUV to the community center's driveway on the right. We narrowly missed being mowed down by a van which had gained signficant momentum having just swooped down the downgrade and was racing up the incline. 1/4 tank gas.

On 2 occasions engine shut off while coasting at 35mph.

Engine shut off while driving down a hill without prior warning. Loss of power steering and power brakes. Pulled over and shut car off. When I restarted it it seemed to work ok. Took it to the garage and they said it was running very hot. Called Ford and they made suggestions on a fix. They ended up replacing the erg valve. I have driven it for two days and it hasn't happened again. . . . . . . Yet. Very dangerous to drive with no steering or brakes. Someone is going to end up hurt badly or killed.

While driving 35-40 mph on level road, engine shutdown; power steering lost, power assist braking lost; 3 occurrences same siituation, same road & approxiate location and time of day; this is the second vehicle to which this has happened; dealer has vehicle.

Engine shut off while driving down a hill has happened to me four times this week. Causes loss of power-assisted brakes and steering. Vehicle put in dealer shop on 4/6/2001. No repairs made because dealer could not duplicate the problem in the shop.

Brake light came on dashboard. Also, vehicle just shutdown without prior warning. When consumer applied brakes pedal was normal. She took vehicle to dealership. Mechanic told her she needed a master cylinder.

Driving 45-50 mph when engine just shut down. Had all loss of power including steering and brakes. Coasted to edge of road, placed gear in park and sat for a few minutes and tried to restart. Was successful at restarting with no problem. This is the first of two incidents within a period of 5 days. The second happened at 60 mph. To afraid to attempt driving on interstate and am on pins and needles even on rural roads. Made appt with dealer the first business day after it happened and they are trying to figure it out also. Jim snead Ford is replacing the ignition starter switch hoping this solves the problem.