Ignition problems of the 2003 Ford Escape

I have a Ford 2003 Escape 6 cyl. Bought in may of 2004 new - 76 miles on it test driven from a dealer in schulenburg, TX - the check engine light came on - the pcm computer went out and blew a spark plug on 1/16/2011 - I had to replace the pcm (which I was told should have been a recall on the 2003 Ford Escape) since this should never go out on the car. The milage was only 43,625 on 1/16/2011 when this happened. I have the car for 7-8 yrs. Now. I had to replace the pcm with a remanufactured (since it would cost way more for a new one) pcm - electronic ignition costing me just over $2,100. Again, this part was intended to never go out for the life of the car, period. This should have been a recall on Ford motor companies part - and I was told to complain and record this to NHTSA as others have, and if enough do, they would have to recall. I am not sure if I am in the right place to place this complaint.

My 2003 Ford Escape stalls when placed in to gear and sometimes when stopping.

I had a 2003 Ford Escape that started having problems starting. It was usually when I had left the vehicle for 8 or more hours. I would try to start it and it would hesitate and take a while to start it. After a few tries it would jerk back at me and start. This was a problem for about 2-months. On may 26, 2006 I left my vehicle in the parking lot at work. It was the first really hot day (90+ degrees) of the year. When I got back to my car it hesitated when I cranked it. I cranked it again and it popped back and me and then there was an explosion. There was smoke coming out of the hood. I opened the hood (burning my finger in the process) and found parts and pieces everywhere. I took it to the Ford dealership and the upper intake manifold blew apart. The dealer never gave us a reason why (we pushed but we were told that it shouldn't have happened and that the engineer was on vacation). We had the upper intake manifold fixed and it cost us a lot of money out-of-pocket. I asked them for the old upper intake manifold back, but they wouldn't give it back. I was always intending to file a complaint. The Ford was 3-years old with 54,000 miles on it, so it was out of warranty, although the dealer stated that it was a faulty part that caused the problem? it is possible that it was n a horrible misfire, but we aren't sure. I do know that it scared me and could have hurt someone. Luckily the vehicle did not catch on fire. The problem was fixed for 2-months when the vehicle started hesitating again when I started it. I was terrified to drive it and the dealer told me it was unrelated but I could pay (again) to have it looked at. I started having panic attacks when driving the vehicle, so we traded it in. I would like a refund and to stop this from happening to other people.

Since the beginning of 2003 consumer complained about starting problems. There had been incidents where the vehicle stalled at intersections, and could not be restarted. Consumer took vehicle to dealer for inspection seven times. Could not figure out the cause of the problem.

Upon turning the ignition to the "on" position in my 2003 Ford Escape, the sunroof will automatically open. This occurs when the vehicle has been turned off between 10-15 minutes, and then restarted. This has occurred 6 times within a 4 week period.