Gas Recirculation Valve (egr Valve) problems of the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

It was Thursday, October 17, 2013. The ambient air temperature was about 62 degrees. It was sunny. The streets were dry. I was driving south from austin to new braunfels, texas on I-35 at approximately 7:15 a. M. I had the speed control set for 55 m. P. H. As I was leaving san marcos, an alarm tone sounded, and the dash board display showed "stop safely now" and the engine shut off. I was able to move to the shoulder using battery power only at less than 20 miles an hour, causing issues with other traffic on the interstate, with many of the other drivers anxious to get to work. I stopped the car, and when it was safe to do so, exited the vehicle and did a perimeter scan for issues. None were detected. I opened the hood and checked for untoward issues. There was no smoke. The engine wasn't overly hot. Oil was full to the appropriate mark. The vehicle had been serviced by the dealership who sold the vehicle to me about 1790 miles prior to this incident, and a full diagnostic was performed without any issues detected. After completing this check, I restarted the car and drove for another 20 or so miles when the alarm and display repeated as above. Again there were no issues. I restarted the vehicle after about three minutes and was able to complete the 75 mile commute. The return trip had no issues. Since the vehicle shut down completely without warning in fast-moving traffic, this is a catastrophic failure. Information from the internet indicates that Ford has had this issue since the first Escape Hybrids were on the road, and there appears to be no definitive problem or correction. I request that the NHTSA examine this to determine if a recall should be performed before someone is killed because of a faulty alarm that shuts the vehicle down completely without warning.

Failure of the electronic water pump for the hybrid system causes the immediate shutdown of the vehicle leaving driver no power to move to a safe area. There is no warning but just an immediate electrical shutoff until driver can move to the shoulder and restart the vehicle. This occurred twice and left us in very dangerous situations before I had the car repaired. Ford would not replace the part claiming it is not covered under their hybrid warranty although the part is integral to the hybrid system. Part should be recalled before fatalities occur.

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

Going from missouri to arkansas my car simply stopped running no indicator lighs were on at the time and a triangle came on stating I could pull over safely now and stop. I turned off the engine after trying to make the electric battery engine work. Nothing happened. People helped me push my car off the road and then a man suggested I try to start it again. It started right up and ran for another 20-30 miles and then proceeded to do this about every 5-10 miles for hours. The temp was raining and about 60 degrees. Again on the way home in dry weather and at night it did the same thing for 136 miles. This was at night and I tried to keep it at 60 mph. Finaly dropping it to 50 and finally made it home. I'm taking it to my mechanic but when I called Ford where I bought the car they said they never heard of this problem. I find this to be an untruth and Ford ( which my family has sworn by for many years) refuses to acknowledge this problem.

I own a 2008 Escape Hybrid. On numerous occasions my escape’s engine stalls/shuts down at speeds over 40 mph. The red triangle on the right of the instrument panel lights up and the display reads “pull over safely now�. I can immediately start the car again and go, but it will only travel 1-2 miles before stalling/shutting down again. Typically, if I wait 3-5 minutes I can go and have no more issues for a week or a month (it went one time 9 months before it happened again). There is no rhyme or reason for this; it has happened in 90 degree weather and 40 degree weather, rain or shine. Last night driving home on the interstate, it shut down every 1. 6 to 5. 4 miles on my 42 mile commute home. I let it sit for over 10 minutes and it still shut down. I drove it to work this morning, no troubles. I have had it in the shop multiple times and they replaced the battery said the water pump and nothing has worked. I bought the vehicle new and this problem started approximately 23k miles in. Ford is telling me they really don’t know what is causing it, but don’t have problem taking my money trying to figure it out. I am afraid this is going to lead to an accident as most of the time we are on the interstate traveling over 65 mph with tractor trailers next to us. I have read numerous blogs with other Escape Hybrid owners having this same issue.

Driving off road up a steep incline (40-45 degrees), the vehicle came to a halt. There wasn't any power going to the tires even though I had the accelerator pedal to the floor. The engine rpm would only rev up to about 1200 rpm. It felt as if there was a disconnect between the transmission and the engine as there was no power being delivered to the tires. The tires did not loose traction or spin either. What was especially unsafe about this is that it was extremely hazardous backing down the steep hill I had tried to ascend. I was trying to back down slowly by using the brake, but many times the brakes would lock up causing the vehicle to shift and slide sometimes sideways which could have caused the vehicle to roll. I tried to again to no avail. This vehicle is used by the us forest service in which many times the vehicle is required to go of road on forest service roads. There is a section in the owner's manual about off road driving, but it makes no mention that the vehicle should not be driven up steep inclines.