general problems of the 2008 Ford Escape - part 1

When driving, the gas pedal will get stuck down and you will not be able to apply more pressure to the pedal to accelerate. This often happens when I go to change gear and then go back to the gas pedal to accelerate again. This typically will only happen from time to time but today it occurred every time I went to change gears. I had to pull over on the highway because I was unable to keep up with traffic and the weather was quite snowy and it was unsafe for me to try to drive without keeping speed with traffic.

Having issue with throttle body and or controller. Break takes time to respond and is stiff. When on an incline road, the car rolls backwards before accelerating forward. The rolled back at stop signs on inclined roads and inclined parking lots. The car shows no warming lights. The car has issues accelerating and decelerating. The car has rolled back while another car was behind it. The car at some instances has come to almost a halt while driving at 70 mph on the highway. While displaying no warming signals. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? this type of issue has been confirmed by the dealership and has been recalled for some Ford Escapes but not all. The car has been inspected by a technician. The transmission has been rebuild but that did not work so a new transmission was placed inside yet this did not resolve anything. The car has been having these issues for some years.

On 1/9/20 the car had its last dangerous malfunction of so many sense I purchased the vehicle from a dealership 10/18. The car was parked in a beach parking lot. As my son was getting ready to leave the parking lot he turned car on put car in drive slightly stepped on gas to begin pulling out and the car surged and accelerated full speed by itself. He lost all steering and had no breaks. He had absolutely no control of the vehicle. It went full speed into a parked car about 15 ft away! both cars were totaled. All 3 people involved were injured. There was 2 people in parked car and my son who was burrowing my car. Previous to this accident the Escape has had so many dangerous malfunctions. Some being total steering loss while I was driving 45mph . Car was towed and fixed covered by factory recall. Another shock snapped and punctured my fuel tank. My mechanic said I dodged death by driving . He said car was a ticking bomb. Ive replaced 2 abs sensors at different times because they failed and caused break pedel to vibrate and made it very hard to stop. Another wheel bearing and wheel compartment due to total rust and corrosion of under body. All these things happened in only a little over a year sense purchasing this vehicle from mid cape moters for 6000$ in October.

Randomly the car will 'stall' to to speak even though it is an automatic and not a 5-speed. When I say stall I am referring to when I am stopped at a stop sign, red light, yielding to turn, etc - when I go to hit the gas the rpm's rev up high and the car speed is very low and at a rolling speed - even though I push down all of the way in order to get the car to speed up to avoid being struck my other vehicles when turning. The car will then regain all speed at once - instead of gradually. This has happened numerous times while I am trying to merge onto an oncoming interstate ramp or am at a red light or stop sign. I have missed being hit thus far but have had a few close calls. I have a check engine light on and have taken it to several dealerships and auto mechanic shops that have been unable to determine an issue with the car. They have read the check engine code and have found nothing wrong with the car.

My lights on dash will all randomly flash while my speedometer and rmp will stop working. My car also seems to not shift well when this happens. My steering feels extremely loose and unsafe. I don't dare to drive over 30mph and have not had anyone be able to tell me exactly what is wrong. My steering has also locked a few times, usually when I'm in reverse. I have to turn the car off and back on to make it work again. I fear for my son and family every time I have to drive to work and school.

While driving, the carboard noticed several signs and the speedometer dropped to zero. Also, on other days, I could not start the car.

Upon accelerating on an on ramp, the shifting did not work properly. It will not easily shift from 1st gear to 2nd gear. I had someone put a computer reader on the truck and it said it was a gear shift ratio for gear #2. The out take sensor was replaced with a new one, however that did not fix the problem. I do not have any other problems with any other gears. All others shift flawlessly except for the afore mentioned. Thank you.

Car fails to accelerate properly while driving. After stepping on the gas while driving, I feel a strong pull, and the car doesn't accelerate more than 20mph. It seems to happen at random times and no sensor lights come one.

Loss of 2nd and 4th gear/ limp mode. I purchased a used 2008 Ford Escape with 69,980 miles. No complaints till hit 89,000 miles when all if a sudden there was no 2nd and 4th gear. I was getting ready to pull into traffic. Put foot on accelerator whent to about 16mph and refused to ho faster. Rpms reved up to 4000+ the yellow wrench light came on. Once got to 20mph hard shit into gear . And did this again at 40mph except wont shift into higher gear. Was told it is in limp mode. So I did internet research on this. Said over 368 complaints just on this specific problem, specifically on the 2008 Ford Escape. I tried resetting the pcm. Did not fix problem. Replaced the throttle control sensor. Did not fix problem. Now that leaves the 2nd & 4th gear band assembly. I called and got 3 estimates, they ranged fron$1900-$3000. Part cost $89 and a new transmition cost $1700. Replacing this part can be done without having to remove transmition and said to about 2hours. My complaint in if this is a common issue why aren't you replacing part or fixing this? there has been several investigations and still nothing! this is the first Ford I purchased and will be the last! which is a shame because I love my truck. Just can't afford to fix it. So I will park it and pray Ford owns up to their faulty parts and assimbly and fixes this. And I will make sure everyone I know and everyone I meet knows about how Ford knowingly put in defective parts on many vehical so they could make money fixing them. Think about it. All these ( throttle control sensor and 2nd & 4th gear band ) go bad at 89,000 mile.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal was difficult to depress and became stuck in the depressed position intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

When sitting idle at red light or stop sign, it rumbles roughly, I hit the accelerator it hesitates to go then all of a sudden gets a burst of speed. This mainly happens in city street.

Purchased vehicle a month ago with 135,000 miles. It has stalled 3 times at low speeds, once while in the middle of a turn on a city street causing me to lose steering and almost hit another vehicle, no lights pop on when this happens it just dies with no warning. I am able to put the vehicle in park and restart it. It has also, on numerous occasions lurched forward from a stop or rolling stop when I hit the gas. From reading other owners complaints it sounds identical to the throttle body control issue so many seem to be having. I can't afford to have it checked out at this point, and don't feel safe driving it but I have no other vehicle. I did call Ford but they don't recognize my VIN under the "customer satisfaction program" they have for so many other of their vehicles having this same issue! again, I don't feel safe driving it but have no choice, so I wanted public record of the issue in case it shuts off on me at highway speeds and I die in an accident, so my spouse and children have a record that I brought the known issue to Ford but they did nothing.

I purchased my 2008?Ford Escape last year 2015. I have replaced both cv axils on each side and I had my steering column replaced. I purchased the car with 95,000 miles on it at a great deal of $8,900. I then found out why it was so cheap from such a trusted dealership. The dealership was closing in the next 2 weeks. It closed shortly after my purchase and a new Ford dealership opened in its place. Through out the last few weeks my car has not been driving correctly, especially on the highway. I took a closer look and noticed that no matter my speed my car will not go above 3rd gear. My power tran light came on today. I have read on other sights that there were recalls on this issue. I do not think these issues were fixed while being recalled. The related I've done so far have not been cheap by any means. After a year (even less 2 of the above cases) I should not be having these issues. . Read more...

Vehicle power train light came on. Vehicle began to shutter then lose power on the highway without a shoulder. Vehicle reduced speed to max 20mph.

Abs and traction control lights came on. When braking, it took longer to stop and was like you were stopping on ice. When starting out again, it took awhile for my vehicle to accelerate again and I had to pull off the road until it could start again. I had my daughter and granddaughter in vehicle. This presented a dangerous situation as it impeded braking ability plus the hesitation with the acceleration could cause an accident.

My gas pedal completely broke and dropped down while driving on the freeway, and I could not move once the car came to a stop. I have google this particular issue with other Ford Escapes 2008, and many other folks have the same issue or are complaining about a sticky or loose gas pedal. This is a very serious and dangerous issue. I could have been involved in a very horrible accident, and other folks are at similar risk.

Truck is accelerating and switching gears on its own. While at a traffic light , a wrench light pops on and the truck begins to switch gears. Once the truck is turned off, the wrench light goes away but returns after driving begins again. Truck is not getting enough power when driving as if it is going to shut off. There are also jerking motions while driving.

Acceleration is labored. The vehicle skips gears when driving at a low speed rate. The vehicle will jerk and make noises as it skipping through 2nd and 4th gear. Unfortunately, this happened in traffic at rush hour.

I had traveled about 8 miles and was traveling at 40mph when the speed of the vehicle remained at 40mph without my foot being on gas pedal (cruise was not on). I successfully stop at traffic light with engine still excelarating (rpms were at 2k)). While sitting at light the engine reved to about 5k rpms as I held the brake. I pulled over to verify that nothing was under the gas pedal. This happened to more times on 9/9/15. Morning of 9/10 it worked fine until I had traveled 8-10 miles then the same thing happened. I have taken it to a garage and the can not find anything wrong or recreate the problem. Thank god I was not traveling at 75mph when this happened because I doubt the brakes would stopped me. The garage has kept the car tonight to try to recreate the problem. I am afraid to drive the vehicle in fear of hurting someone or myself.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while at a stop sign and turning right to merge with oncoming traffic, the dashboard displayed "the traction control kicked in" and there was no acceleration available when the accelerator pedal was engaged. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the tone ring was replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 117,700.

Attempted to pull into uncoming traffic in a 45mph zone , but could not get to more than 10mph. The power train light appeared as a wrench bottom left of steering wheel. Glided/steered car immediatly to closest parking lot and called closest Ford dealership.

When I slow down or come to a complete stop the car sounds like it is going to stall & then it feels like I am in neutral. As soon as I press down on gas pedal the car jerks forward. When I was driving home this past Saturday night same thing happened & the traction light & abs light came on. I was informed by a CO worker same thing happened to him & it was throttle body assembly that was on recall. I was never informed of this by the dealer & now they want to charge me $2,000. 00.

My car feels like it's jerking into gear. If started off only jerking when I would be at a corner and I needed to make a turn. The car would move very slow and then mum forward. This is very dangerous because any cars coming could possible hit me. After a while it would also jerk when I was stopped at a light and needed to pull off, the car would move forward slowly and then jerk forward. Now the jerking is happening while I'm driving. Is there something going on with this vehicle? I am scared that I'm going to get hit one day.

While driving the vehicle it stopped accelerating & lost rpms. The SUV jolted forward & back & did not have enough power to accelerate. It made a revving sound each time the gas pedal was pressed. At moments the SUV would accelerate slowly but then repeat the process over.

Driving down the road the power cut out to the vehicle, and the throttle stopped responding, the engine continued to run but very labored. At the same time the wrench light lit up on the dash. Using the forward momentum I was able to pull the vehicle over, where it stalled. I was able to re-tart the engine where it ran labored again, and stalled out, the throttle was not responsive during this time at all. After approximately 10 re-starts with the last coming after the vehicle sat awhile, I was able to re-start it and drive it normal. Throttle response returned, and the wrench light was off. This issue occured for my wife again on 11/12 with asimilar result.

Difficulty shifting from gears. Throttling high before shiffting. I have replaced transmission three times in this vechile.

Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle began shuddering when the accelorator pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the vehicle had also independently reversed. The failure caused the contact to shift the gear into park in order to stop the vehicle. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle had not been taken to a mechanic for a diagnosis. The manufacturer had not been notified of the failure and the approximate failure mileage was 97,000. Gb.

Vehicle won't shift into 2nd gear until reaching 3500 - 4000 rpms. Can let off gas to ease change, else vehicle gerks into 2nd.

I was turning right on a stop light and front left abs tone ring broke. Car slipped gears and would not accelerate for 5-10 seconds. Rsc light and abs light came on briefly. Car continued to do this randomly and abs brakes were activated when braking at low speeds. Issue is with tone ring on many Ford Escapes from 2000-2008. Rings often break because of excessive rust build up on Ford components causing expansion. Part is constructed very poorly and as a result safety is compromised and service repairs profit goes up!.

Vehicle surged forward when I came to a stop vehicle would not go into gear until I was at 3500 -4000 rpm. I got on freeway &couldn't get to speed limit. The wrench light is illuminated & when I looked up description in manual it states it is the throttle control/powertrain. After doing some research they do have recalls for this but on the 2009-2012 models. It also specified that Ford as of Feb. 2014 had issued an extended warranty for throttle body assemblies for 2005 - 2012 for 10 years or 150,000 miles. I contacted Ford & then state there is no recall nor consumer satisfaction program 13n03 for my car. Yet, the have the same consumer satisfaction program for the 2011 milans. This I know cause my daughter has a 2011 milan & she received notice. I do not understand how Ford can not comply when this Escape clearly has the same problems as the recalled vehicles for 2009-2012. All I was told was to get it fixed & keep receipt and maybe some day could get reimbursed. This is really frustrating and on Ford's part totally unaware and unfair to their consumers!.

Two days ago, I was driving on the highway and suddenly, my gears started slipping. I was driving 45 mph and then my car decelerated to the point where I could no longer accelerate. This made it very difficult to get back home and I feared that I would be at risk for a crash. Immediately the next morning, I brought my car to a Ford dealer and they diagnosed the problem to be with the transmission. My options were to fix one band or the entire transmission. Upon doing research about this issue, I found that many other Ford customers had experienced the same problems with their 2008 Ford Escape's transmission.

Went to accelerate and the gas pedal would not move. It was stuck.

While turning the wheels the abs light blinks on and off and the car seemed to be slowly losing power. When wheels were straightened again it ran as normal. This happened three times on the drive home from the grocery store, each time when I was turning, the electrical panel was dimming and the gas pedal lost ability to propel car.

As I was driving about 30 mph my car suddenly sped up on its own. When I began to slow down my car then would not shift into second gear. The rmps would jump to over 300 when I tried to go faster than 25 mph. Once I had gone that speed for a few seconds my car would then do a hard jerk and move into the next gear. This caused many safety hazards for me while driving on the highway.

I left the Ford dealer's service center after having my car exhaust repaired and less than a quarter mile down the road I suddenly lost all power to the car and could no longer accelerate when I stepped on the gas pedal. I was travelling on a very busy road and I was extremely fortunate to roll into a parking lot without getting hit by another vehicle or causing a major accident. The Ford dealer ship found that the throttle body malfunctioned. I found that Ford is extending the warranty on this defective part for certain model years under a "customer satisfaction program". I contacted Ford and they are refusing to extend the warranty on the throttle body for my car. I would like to find out why my car is excluded from this program. The part is obviously defective and should be replaced by Ford per this program.