general problems of the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid - part 2

The electronic coolant pump is known problem and Ford is finally supposed to be fixing this through a recall October 2014. . Read more...

While driving down the road at highway speed on a summer night at around 9:00 pm, the car's engine suddenly stopped, a red warning triangle light came on, and the dash message screen said, "stop safely now. " I pulled the car to the side of the road, turned it off, and was able to resume driving after a few minutes. On 5 separate trips subsequently, this sudden loss of engine power has happened, often in heavy traffic where pulling to the side of the road was very difficult and dangerous. The failure often happens multiple times on the same trip. Each time the failure has happened has been in the summer and in the late afternoon or evening. Each time the car can be restarted once pulled to the side of the road and turned off.

While driving at a normal speed, the electrical panel has started displaying "stop safely now" and the engine shuts down. This was happening sporadically but has since started happening more consistently. It happened while traveling on the highway on 3/22/2013, which is a very serious safety concern when a vehicle shuts down in the middle of a busy highway. Once I pull over and restart the car, everything appears normal until the next time it happens. On 3/23/2013 it happened twice in less than 5 miles.

Please issue an immediate recall for the motor electronics cooling system pump on all 2005-2008 Ford Escape Hybrids. This is a known issue to Ford and the subject of TSB 08-24-5. This part failure is extremely dangerous. While the cited complaints form an alarming picture of the mecs pump failure issue, this list is by no means exhaustive. A search of complaints for the 2005-2007 Escape Hybrids returns additional horrifying incidents involving this part failure. It is appalling that with so many reports of high-speed engine shutdowns and near-miss accidents that this issue does not even having a pending defects investigation. Please right this wrong before someone is seriously injured or killed.

While driving on interstate 75 in florida, the gas engine shutdown and a warning light/message appeared "stop safely now". Our vehicle immediately began to decelerate, running only on the electric motor, as we tried to cross two lanes of traffic "safely". We pulled onto the shoulder, and turned the car off. We were able to restart the vehicle without getting the error message. We experienced this same sudden engine shutdown and feh warning 5-6 times over the course of our road trip from wisconsin to florida and back. Upon return to wisconsin, we had the car checked out by our Ford dealer, and they informed us it was a faulty motor electronics coolant pump (part #5m6z-8c419-a). Ford has issued a technical service bulletin about this problem (TSB 08-24-5), but has not yet issued a recall. Since the unexpected deceleration of a vehicle traveling at high speeds constitutes a serious safety issue (as many Ford Escape Hybrid owners on edmunds. . Read more...

Vehicle gave "stop safely now" readout on display and red triangle light on dash. Power dropped off and I had to pull of the road. I was traveling from la to santa cruz in the evening. Happened four more times on the same drive. Just happened again coming back from palm springs also in the evening. Took me seven hours to drive 140 miles. Car stopped over twenty times.

Driving on the highway and abs and emergency brake lights came on, along with message "system brake faliure" and "regen brakes disabled". At this time, the brakes almost feel totally out (1/2 pressed) or very touchy (full press). Took it to a Ford dealership and they said they needed to replace abs module ($2500) which we agreed to. A few days after it was replaced, same thing happend (lights, messages and brakes issues). We took it back, and by the time it was to the dealership the lights, messages and brakes were back to normal. They couldnt find an issues. A few days later, it happened agian while in a traffic jam (very scary!!!) took it immediatly to a dealership to have them check the codes. Took the codes to the original dealership and they took my escape for 2 days, syaing they reset the codes and it was a computer issue. 5 days later it happened agian in our downtown (very scarry). No one seems to know what is going on. I have contacted Ford and they are not familiar with this issue however I have seen other mentions about this online.

1. I was driving on the freeway at 71-73mph when a red triangle with an exclamation mark appeard, my engine shut off, and a "stop vehicle safely" message came across the dash. This happened 3 times in one hour. Each time, the engine shut off, and I had to pull over. The car would start back up perfectly. I was able to get the car to a shop by keeping it under 60mph on the freeway. 3. The shop says I need a motor electronics cooling pump and a pcm reprogramming.

Veh shows a caution sign (exclamation in triangle) with a warning (pull vehicle over safely and turn off engine). Veh loses all acceleration and I must pull over immediately to avoid an accident. Happens every time we drive on the freeway only, never on a side street or in stop and go. I pull vehicle over and turn off engine for approx 2 or 3 minutes, and it starts right up. Some times it will happen multiple times within a 20 to 30 minute time period, sometimes only once in several hours of driving. Dealer has no idea why and requires a tow immediately when it happens to determine cause. Cannot tow when on the way to dr, out of town, or other.

A problem that surfaced again after experiences many times since the above mentioned incident date: a wrench sign was coming on the dashboard frequently, and sometimes disappeared itself without doing anything. Similar sign or indication for oil change was also experienced even after a scheduled oil change was done with the dealer. When the problem was reported in early period, I (the customer) was advised to disregard, because the mechanic forgot to reset after the oil service, when Ford customer service was notified today (11/7/12), it was acknowledged as a service issue, which I do not agree. Since the problem existed when the vehicle was new in early stages after the purchase, my concern is that this is a manufacturing defect with battery door which malfunctions, and does not allow ventilation on & off. The battery was down, all controls disappeared and the car was locked in position about two years ago (approximate June 2010). That time a major service was performed, which required a month long period to fix it. (safecar reference 365127). Unfortunately, I never heard back from your office on this past issue and complaint. Since both problems have to do with battery and monitoring devices, I would like to inform for safety of all using this model. Please let me know your findings on battery vent door functioning. Thanks.

This incident occurred 10/8/10 in a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid with approximately 53,000 miles on it. Departed cordova, TN on a weekend trip to talladega, al and chattanooga, TN. Drove steadily for 3 - 4 hours at 65 - 70 mph and stopped for dinner in birmingham, al for approximately 1 hour. Resumed trip and in about 15 minutes, at around 8:30 pm on an unlit stretch of I-20 at approximately mile marker 135 west of birmingham while traveling at 70 mph the master vehicle electrical hazard warning light (red triangle) came on, the informational display showed "stop safely now", and the accelerator became unresponsive. All the lights remained on, steering appeared normal, and brakes functioned normally. We were basically coasting in 70 mph traffic trying to cross 3 lanes to get off the road. Maneuvered to the right shoulder, turned the vehicle off with flashers going. After about a minute composing myself, decided to try to restart the vehicle. It restarted with no warning lights or messages and all systems appeared to function normally. Drove the vehicle approximately 500 miles without further incident until I could take the vehicle to my dealership. They retrieved codes p1a0d and p0a3e and said they heard a loud high pitched noise from the electronics cooling pump motor which they replaced. We feel extremely fortunate that we were able to somehow get safely off the roadway without causing or being involved in an accident. We were also lucky that the fault did not occur after mile marker 147 because, due to construction that went to mile marker 155, there was no way to pull out of the traffic flow at all.

Driving on a highway when I suddenly lost all power. The dashboard of the vehicle showed a symbol of an exclamation point surrounded by a triangle. Moreover, the dash stated "stop safely now. " at this time we had been traveling in a work zone that was one lane, and surrounded by concrete barriers, with no shoulder. A tractor trailer was following closely, so when I all of a sudden went from 65 to no power whatsoever, I was almost hit. Furthermore, I had to block traffic to turn off my vehicle and to restart it. My 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid repeated this same occurrence many times. Since the first incident, this has happened numerous times, unfortunately all occurring on highways where I was traveling at significant speeds. I have spent a lot of money that has not resolved this recurring problem, which is a significant safety hazard. Ford has not posted any recalls, but the blogs have shown that many others have suffered from this occurrence. Please step in and advice Ford that although the "limp home mode" may be for the safety of the vehicle, it is not safe for me.

While driving on the freeway at 65 mph the power cut out and a warning was displayed on the dash to pull over safely. I was able to restart the car and continue driving, but it happened again. I had to have the car towed to Ford. The Ford dealer had to replace the throttle body and motor assembly. This is very dangerous.

I have a 2008 Ford hybrid escape. While driving on a recent trip - 70mph in 92 degree heat, I experienced a sudden loss of power, and a message on the dash that said "stop safely now. " this happened repeatedly, as I was trying to get home to nc from florida. I wondered if I had purchased some bad gas, so refilled the tank. I drove the last 4 hours without problems, but the temperature fell to the 70s. However, yesterday, as I googled the problem, I found numerous mentions of the same problem with various "fixes" all over the internet. Some drivers reported the scary situation of driving on a 2 lane highway without a shoulder to pull over on, and the same loss of power. It is very sudden with no warning whatsoever. In most cases, after the power failure, the car starts right up and you can drive on, but the same thing will happen again in from 10 to 90 minutes. It was very scary. I have not taken the car in yet, but think the problem should definitely be investigated. Ford knows about it and has not come up with any one "fix. ".