Loud Engine Noise problems of the 2002 Ford Escape

Tl- the contact owns a 2007 Ford Escape. The contact stated that within 9 days of purchasing the vehicle from an independent dealer, the vehicle erupted into flames in a residential driveway. The contact stated that the dealer did not mention that the contact was included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 14v165000 (structure), 12v353000 (engine and engine cooling , vehicle speed control) and 12v005000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The contact stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle and that the suspension was unstable in the front. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop who inspected the vehicle and provided a diagnosis which was extensive. The vehicle was driven and shortly after the diagnosis the abs warning light randomly illuminated. The contact turned the vehicle off and the warning indicator went off but it continued to illuminate when the vehicle was driven. The vehicle was parked and when the contact exited the vehicle it erupted into flames. The fire department had to cut the hood open and inspected that the master cylinder was on fire as well as the fire wall. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer and the contact was waiting on the manufacturer to determine what caused the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 151,703. Dyd.

The car had the original plugs in it at the time of the first incident. It had always ran great so we had no reason to change them. While driving down the road it went from fine to a loud bang and running terrible sounding like it had open headers. The spark plug blew out of the head breaking that cylinder 3 coil pack as well. We had it heli coiled and changed the plugs torqueing them to spec with a torque wrench and changing all the coil packs as well just because, about 30000 miles later (2-21-12) it happened again on cylinder 6. Obviously this is a casting issue with the head being too thin at the plug threads. I have researched this and it is extremely common online. Please have them recall.

While driving at any speed, the engine was rumbling. The dealer could not duplicate or correct the problem. There was uncontrollable jumping and or kicking. The dealer replaced one defective part and was told that the rumbling noise would need to be investigated by Ford engineers. Ford did not know what was causing the noise, but say it was not dangerous. The vehicle would shake at certain speeds and cd's would get stuck in the cd player. The rotors were replaced because they were out of round, the stabilizer end links were replaced.