Car Will Not Start problems of the 2005 Ford Escape

While driving about 30 mph, the car started sputtering as if it were running out of gas. I was near a gas station and as I was pulling in, the engine just stopped and the power steering went dead. The car then wouldn't restart. I called aaa and they couldn't start it, so I had the car towed to the Ford dealership. They examined the car and later that day told me the coils overheated and fried the pcm. Now it needs new coils on 2 cylinders, possibly more, and a new pcm with reprogramming. Cost quoted was $3520. The service tech that looked at the car said he hasn't seen this before, nor heard of this. After researching this problem online, I don't believe him. I wonder how many people haven't reported this because they were made to think their problem was a very rare occurrence.

Ford customer care case #cac-4150994-b2g8c6 & #4151017-n07b9 this was the 2nd major incident; the first occurred in 1/2009. The second major occurrence was 2/2014, when the check engine light came on and the vehicle very quickly lost all power and engine shut off, the power steering and power brakes also did not respond. The vehicle would not restart and had to be towed a Ford dealership. The dealer stated the pcm had failed causing the coils and spark plugs to also fail. The vehicle was at the dealership for 2 weeks waiting for a replacement pcm; dealer stated there was a shortage of pcm availability due to an extremely high nationwide demand for the part. Dealer replaced the pcm, as well as all coils and spark plugs in mid March 2014; the total cost of was, $2,875. 70. The pcm, coils and plugs had also been replaced in 1/2009 for the same failures. Coils and plugs were also replaced an additional 2 more times between 2009-2014. When the pcm fails, the vehicle immediately looses all power, steering and brakes, and stops dead in its tracks and cannot be restarted causing a potentially catastrophic situation. Had this failure occurred in traffic, a major collision would have been eminent and a fatality probable. When I contacted Ford on 3/19/2014, they stated they are aware of the issue and assigned 2 customer care case numbers; but they refused any reimbursement or compensation of any kind. The multiple incidents of defective pcm failures should be investigated as a potentially deadly safety issue.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph the computer shut down causing the vehicle to stall. The vehicle would not restart and was towed to an authorized mechanic who stated that the computer burned itself out and should be replaced. The repair will include replacing the computer, six coil packs and six spark plugs at a cost to the contact of $2000. There were no recalls or warranties for the repair. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 110,000.

While driving on us highway in the evening, 2005 Ford Escape XLT suddenly started vibrating, check engine light lit and then all other lights on the dash flashed as vehicle lost power but was able coast to a stop on the shoulder of the road. This was a dangerous situation as vehicle suddenly stopped while traveling at highway speeds without any indication to the vehicles following this vehicle that it was going to suddenly decrease speed and stop. Fortunately vehicle following was able to pass safely. Vehicle would not start and was towed to dealership. Code p0353 was indicated and TSB 10-18-10 was used to service vehicle. All 6 cops were replaced along with pcm. Vehicle still did not operate properly and on inspection by tech, catalytic converter was found to be plugged and was replaced. Prior to this incident, vehicle was operating normally and had approx. 45,000 miles on it.