Engine Cooling System problems of the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

Submission to mark fields re 2008 Ford hybrid escape defects. The consumer stated about two weeks ago, a red master vehicle electrical hazard warning lamp and stop safely now message appeared on the dashboard, while driving at 60 mph. The engine immediately shut off. He was able to pull over safely. He turned off the vehicle, waited 5-10 minutes before re-starting it and drove a few miles, before the situation repeated itself, several more times, until he arrived home. After doing some research, he narrowed the problem down to what he believed to be the (mecs) motor engine cooling system pump, which from his understanding, was unique to the 2005-2008 Ford Escape Hybrids.

Does someone have to die before Ford recalls these cars to fix the hybrid cooling system in these vehicles. I have fixed the problem once myself (two years ago) and now it is happening again. These cars shut down on the highway with out warning because of something going on with the hybrid system. This time my wife was in the passing lane when it happened. One day someone is going to die from this problem because it only happens when you are traveling at higher speeds (on a highway) the red triangle light comes on and automatically shuts down the car. Some family will be killed because of this and Ford will be caught knowing about the problem and doing nothing to fix it.

We were driving up I-95 from FL to va when the car suddenly gave a loud warning tone and displayed the message stop safely now. The car lost all power as we quickly tried to cross several lanes of traffic to reach the shoulder. Upon examination of the car we started it up again with no consequence and continued on our trip. About 30 minutes later it happened again. After reading the owner's manual I discovered the warning message involved a component of the hybrid system. I decided to try shutting off the econ switch (which activates battery) and all ac/ electrical components. This worked beautifully for 100+ miles until at nightfall the headlights kicked on and our troubles returned. Since it was Sunday night we decided to stay overnight where we were and get it checked by the nearest Ford in the morning. The diagnostics ($95) revealed it was the motor electronic cooling pump at fault which this dealer did not carry. We cautiously continued using the no electrical method and were able to successfully reach our destination 400miles away with no more incidents, where we then took it to our home dealer for repair. A very dangerous condition which upon research I'm learning is happening to many other Escape Hybrid owners.

While driving in the left lane of the highway at about 60-65 mph in moderate/heavy traffic, the gasoline engine shut down and gave me a "stop safely now" message on the instrument cluster. I was able to get the car off of the road, but it was a rather frightening and dangerous ordeal to cross two lanes of moderate/heavy traffic after the engine shut down. After having the car towed to the dealer, they informed me that it was "a pretty common" problem amongst escapes (transaxle cooling pump / water pump). Researching this further, it appears that there are a number of others on message boards and the like that have this same problem.

While driving on a bridge at 65 miles per hour, I heard a beep and a triangle light came on. The car immediately jolted as it lost power and it displayed a message to stop safely. This was in late morning traffic and a semi was able to slightly swerve to the right in order to avoid rear ending me as I had sudden reduced power and little median space to coast to on my left side. I was able to restart the car after a few minutes. A Ford dealer has run a diagnostic and confirmed it is a failure of the motor engine cooling pump and the overall cost for parts and labor, including diagnostic is $738. After reading all of the complaints to this agency and online entries, I cannot believe that no action has been taken about this safety hazard. There are two issues, the first being that the cooling pump is known to fail on these vehicles at different mileage levels, and is supposedly not covered by the hybrid warranty even though it is only found on hybrids. Ford dealers will not even acknowledge that this is a known problem. This part should be recalled as it is known as one cause that leads to the shut off of the car at different speeds. Second, Ford's shutoff design itself is seriously flawed since it allows the car to unexpectedly shutoff at high speeds risking collision and injury. I am forced to pay the high cost of this particular repair because I cannot do it myself, however, I no longer consider this a reliable safe vehicle. I urge NHTSA to investigate these complaints rather than wait for one of these incidents to result in death or serious injury. At the very least Ford should be notifying all owners of these vehicles about the defective cooling pumps and need for replacement.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact was driving 60 mph when the vehicle stalled with the stop safely now warning message displayed. The vehicle was restarted without any hesitation. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they advised the contact that the water pump had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

I was driving my 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid on the high way and it stalled 3 times at high speeds. "stop safely now" came on dash. I did tons of research and this is a huge problem with the motor over heating. Ford had backorders up to nearly 900 coolant pumps last year. This is very scary because you just lose power in the middle of he highway. Toyota just recalled theirs, why has Ford not been on this. It is all over the internet. I am bringing my car in to the dealership with printed research and a letter of concern. I am blown away that so many people have had this issue with the stalling at high speeds and Ford has done nothing. This is very concerning.

I was traveling through nyc on rt 95 during rush hour, bumper to bumper traffic. All 3 lanes were traveling at 65 mph with no breakdown lane due to construction in the area. The car for no apparent reason displayed the "stop safely now" message and the engine died. By some miracle the jersey barriers blocking the breakdown lane opened up for about 100 ft and I was able to pull over. The car loses all power when the stop safely now message appears. This is a hazard and this car should be recalled for this problem. It turned out the cooling pump needed to be replaced. No car should simply shut off when driving. It creates an extremely dangerous situation. I had 18 wheelers and a stream of cars behind me and had the breakdown lane not been available, there would have been a multiple car crash with potential deaths. It is hard to believe that there have been no accidents due to this problem. This car is unsafe to drive because you have no idea when the engine will shut off. The car needs to be redesigned so that the stop safely now message never shuts down the engine.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. While driving approximately 55-70 mph, the engine stalled and there was a beeping chime heard in the vehicle followed by a message displayed on the instrument panel instructing the contact to stop and pull over safely. The vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and the engine was restarted. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the electronic cooling pump was being replaced. The failure mileage was 63,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Our 2008 Ford escape (hybrid) shuts down without warning. The problem has been diagnosed as a failed coolant pump for the electrical system. When we tried to have it repaired, we learned that there were 891 replacement pumps on back order - these are not orders for new manufacturing, but for replacing failed pumps. These are just the ones on back order and do not include ones already replaced, or those owners that have not taken their escape for diagnostics. Our escape has shut down several dozen times and it has almost always been at highway speeds on an interstate. There is no warning, the vehicle shuts down and gives us a message to please stop safely. The vehicle will re-start once it has been shut off, but that means we have to coast to the shoulder while avoiding other vehicles. We then have to merge back into interstate traffic. Ford is aware of the issue, but have told us they have nothing to do with "recalling the part" as that is up to the federal government!.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact stated that the auxiliary cooling pump failed which caused the gasoline engine to shut down as it was electric. The electric motor still functioned but the gasoline engine would stall. When the failure occurred, a message on the instrument panel warned the contact to pull over safely. The contact was able to drive home but could only drive 7-8 miles before they would have to pull over again and let it sit. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the cooling pump had failed. The vehicle was repaired at the contact's expense. The failure mileage was 52,961 and the current mileage was 53,045.