general problems of the 2016 Ford Escape - part 1

Known coolant intrusion, blowing white smoke, blown head gasket.

The end of February was driving and I noticed white smoke blowing from my exaust, then my car lost power.

Description of incident: while operating the vehicle, the check engine light (cel) illuminated. I took the vehicle to an authorized dealership, where a diagnostic scan revealed fault code p0247. The dealership confirmed that the wastegate solenoid has failed. Safety risk: the failure of the wastegate solenoid prevents the engine control unit (ecu) from properly managing turbocharger boost levels. This results in "limp mode" or a significant reduction in acceleration and engine performance. Furthermore, improper boost regulation poses a long-term risk of catastrophic engine damage, which could lead to a stall or fire while the vehicle is in motion. Additional information: dtc code: p0247 (turbocharger wastegate solenoid b) symptoms: check engine light, diminished throttle response. Repair status: confirmed by dealership diagnostic and completed.

I have replaced the transmission due to the toque converter acting up and then failing. I have replaced now 3 coolant parts as well due to leaking and constant overheating and have replaced the block once as well.

Water leaking into cylinder number 3, causing misfires and loss of coolant/ overheating.

The fuel injector and the one of the cylinders has gone bad and has been available for inspection. My safety has been put to rest due to engine overheating. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer police or any insurance representative. The check engine light did appear on November 1, 2025. The car started overheating on November 4, 2025. According to other owners that I have spoken to, this is a constant problem with this make and model. I believe it is a manufacturer defect since so many other owners are experiencing the same issue.

My car set a code , and the engine misfired. I took all the necessary steps, but the code reappeared. I have car shield, and they are saying its cracked block but refuse to replace the head gasket. My mechanic believes it's the head gasket, so a cracked block seems common in these cars, as does a bad head gasket. What should I do, and whom should I contact to fight car shield and Ford?.

Transmission failed at 62,000 miles with no prior issues or indication to this matter.

Escape has developed water intrusion in cylinder #2 of the 2. 0 ecoboost engine, with under 80,000 miles. Continued driving of the car could cause overheating due to low coolant and potential motor seizing. Check engine light has come on, with cylinder misfire but no low coolant warnings. Potential engine seizing will be a safety concern if the vehicle is in motion, causing loss of control and damage to passengers and other motorists. I have footage of the cylinder leak via inspection camera if needed.

After 104,000 miles experienced transmission issues. Been told this happens to several Ford Escapes' after 100k miles.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #3, resulting in damage to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to customer satisfaction program: 21n12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 54,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument panel indicated that the engine was overheating. While driving at 35 mph, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating. The contact pulled over to the side of the road, where the vehicle experienced complete engine failure. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that coolant was leaking into the engine because of a fault in the engine block. The engine needed to be replaced. The mechanic informed the contact that it was a known failure with the vehicle and referred the contact to the dealer for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The engine block failure was related to NHTSA campaign number: 26v011000 (equipment); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed through an online complaint of the failure; however, the contact was not able to speak with a representative. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

According to cleburne Ford, my 2016 Ford Escape had a coolant leak that makes the engine malfunction and they quoted me a price for a new engine installation. My safety had been impacted because now I don’t know when my engine will stop working but I need a car to get to work. An independent mechanic I took it to told me he could not find a leak or see anything wrong with it, but of course he isn’t a Ford dealership employee. I had a check engine light to which then I contacted cleburne Ford and they were able to diagnose it and give me the bad news.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating before the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failure persisted. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that coolant intrusion into cylinder #4 had resulted in engine damage. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to customer satisfaction program: 21n12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 65,000.

I was driving the car and I was having issues with it shutting off when I was driving the car it shut off in the middle of me driving and it just wouldn't move after that until a tow truck driver came and gave me a jumpstart that happened a number of times, but in the middle of traffic was the worst and very dangerous when my kids are in the car.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion into various cylinders had resulted in damages to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to customer satisfaction program: 21n12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 70,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated and the engine overheated. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road and the contact turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted and driven to the residence. The contact was aware of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a cracked engine block. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the vehicle was scheduled to be taken to the dealer for an upcoming diagnostic test. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.

A couple of years ago my car started having problems when accelerating, it would not accelerate or almost get to stall without warning, a couple times I got the message " engine fault - service now" . I took my car to the dealership and they could not find the root cause because the message would disappear when turning the car off and on again, therefore they could not reproduce the issue but my car had this same episode 3 times over the past 8 years without resolution from the dealership. Finally a few days ago the issue came back but this time the message is not going away after turning off the car, I used a code reader and the error code reads: p0236. I am trying to get an appointment at the dealership to have my car looked at and finally have the repair done. But I believe my Ford Escape should be part of recall no. 14v495000 for Ford Escape my 2013-2014 along with other Ford Escapes model year 2016.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 25 mph, she noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust. The driver pulled over into a gas station and called her husband to inform him of the failure and drove the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was taken a dealer and was inspected, and the technician became aware of a leak; however, the technician was unable to determine the location of the leak. The vehicle was then taken to another dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant leaking into cylinder #1. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to report the failure. The contact related the failure to technical service bulletin: 22-2229 (eco boost 2. 0l engine failures); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to report the failure and opened a case. The failure mileage was 132,000.

Eco boost failure recommended replacement referred to a Ford dealership for service 1500. 00 to 2000. 00 for replacement.

Coolant leak into cylinder head. Upon start up a cloud of white smoke came from the exhaust.

Coolant intrusion into the ecosystem turbo. It is a known issue, but not disclosed and now the engine has to be replaced at a cost of what the vehicle is worth?!.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 mph, the engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the engine. The dealer recommended that the engine be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating, prompting the contact to discontinue driving the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that there was coolant intrusion into several cylinders, resulting in damage to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to customer satisfaction program: 21n12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 88,000.

I bought the 2016 Ford Escape and 2 weeks after the purchase the check engine light came on. I took it to auto zone and they said it was a spark plug. I had a full tune up done 2 days after the purchase so I called the garage and they replaced the spark plug. The light came back on a few hours later so I then took it to the Ford dealership and paid over $500. 00 to have it fixed, along with the camera glitching. The day I picked up my car the check engine light came back on so I immediately took it back. They re-evaluated it and said that it is a manufacturing defect and that there is nothing they can do unless I want to replace the engine and that there was no guarantee that the new engine would not have the same issue. Apparently there are holes all throughout the engine and the antifreeze is mixing with the oil. I only drove it a total of 6 months before it completely died. Because I bought it from a buy here pay here lot he wouldn’t take it back even though I only had it 2weeks. My extended warranty would not cover the engine because it’s a manufacturing defect and I was stuck with a car note plus full coverage insurance on a car I could not drive. Ford never reimbursed me for the camera glitch that I paid for that is still not fixed and when I called Ford to see if there was anything that they could do to help me they said unfortunately they are in a lawsuit in California over the same issues I was having so no help is available at the time. The craziest part is the clerk at the Ford dealership told me to hurry up and trade it in at a different dealership that’s not Ford owned because I have a “Ford pass” all Ford dealership can see the history of the car. And let it be someone else’s problem.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 25v695000 (back over prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the rear-view camera displayed a distorted image while the vehicle was in reverse(r). The contact stated that the failure obstructed the vision of the driver, preventing the driver from safely operating the vehicle. The message "rear-view camera unavailable" was displayed on the screen. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, the front passenger’s side seat belt retractor failed to function as intended. The contact stated that after unbuckling the seat belt buckle, the seat belt failed to retract. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. Recently, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. After several attempts, the vehicle was restarted, and there was an abnormal fuel-burning odor entering the vehicle through the a/c vents. The contact stated that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The vehicle was refueled, and the contact checked the oil dip stick, and the oil level was extremely low. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was unknown.

Head gasket failure, coolant is leaking into the engine causing combustion and potential fire.

Engine 1. 6l needs replaced with less than 100k miles because of coolant leaking into cylinder causing misfire, only fix is a new engine for 8k! serviced every 3000k miles by the local Ford dealer.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary, the vehicle became hard to shift into gear. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact's daughter took the vehicle to a dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the canister purge valve, valve cover, oil pan gasket, engine, and turbo needed to be replaced. The contact had received an unknown recall notification for the transmission. The contact authorized the canister purge valve to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred to the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 119,500.

Our 2016 Ford Escape had a check engine light come on and populated a code for a #4 cylinder misfire. I took it to the mechanics shop and he found that there was coolant intrusion into the cylinder and the engine would need to be replaced. He had knowledge of finding this issue in the past. The car only has 58000 miles on it and has had all of its regular maintenance. It seems Ford is aware of these issues yet doesn't do anything about it. Absolutely terrible to not stand behind the equipment that they charge a premium for. This puts families at risk when these things die with such low mileage stranded them on highways or god knows where.

Service engine warning came on/ tester indicated low pressure fuel system. On 02282025 the lower pressure fuel senor(part#bu5z*9f972*b was replaced at landers Ford/collierville, TN. On 03172025 service engine warning came on. I contacted the dealership, and was advised to bring it in to get checked. Tester indicated that cylinder #4 was not working. So part# bm5z*12029b (ns coil a) and part# cyfs(100 spark) were both ordered and replaced. When I went to pickup mr car on 03202025, it was missing very bad. I was told that anti-freeze was shooting into the motor, and that the motor was not repairable, and that I could replace it or trade my car in.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at approximately 70 mph, the vehicle shuddered abnormally with the check engine warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

While I was driving, suddenly check engine light pop up. After investigating and troubleshooting by mechanic it shows need to replace evap canister purge valve. Vehicle has just 68000 miles and this component should not be failed this early in life cycle.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in the garage, the contact used an electrical starter and became aware there was heavy white smoke coming from the exhaust pipes. While opening the vehicle, the contact became aware of a strong chemical odor coming into the cabin of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer replaced the cabin air filter. The vehicle was returned to the dealer who performed extensive pressure testing. The dealer suggested that due to the contact noticing the coolant levels were extremely low, the vehicle should be taken in regularly to check the coolant level. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was smoke coming from the engine compartment, and started entering the cabin of the vehicle. The contact stated that the fumes had a strong chemical but sweet odor, and the vehicle was consuming coolant abnormally fast. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact was informed that the dealer had replaced the cabin air filter. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to customer satisfaction program: 21n12. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.