Water Pump Problems of Ford Escape Hybrid

On cold morning, car started drove down the road about 5 miles and the car just died, saying "brake safely now. " seems to happen only on cold days when heater is on. It will not start again for 30 minutes. It will start, but will continuously die. We had called Ford in middlesboro, ky and spoken with frank who said our vehicle did not have any recalls. I then found out it had a recall. I took it in over the weekend and he then claimed on Monday that the recall item had been fixed. However, when I checked the website, it confirmed the problem had not been fixed. This has been going on for about a month now. We have had the oil changed, battery replaced and it checked by Ford of morristown, TN. They claim they can¿t find out what¿s wrong with it. We have read other people's similar complaints who said it was either the "electric motor water pump" or coolant pump.

See all problems of the 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid 🔎.

As we were driving, a "hazard" light come on the dash, the engine shut completely off, and a message, "stop car safely," also appeared on the dash. We did so, and turned off the car and turned it back on. Car drove fine for about 5 minutes and the same thing happened. We did this for about an hour or so to get home. Had we been on a busy interstate. A sudden engine shut off could have been very dangerous. We took the car to the dealership and were informed that the electric battery had overheated because the water pump was not working. I have come across similar complaints while looking into my situation. . Read more...

See all problems of the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid 🔎.

I was driving my 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid at about 65mph in the leftmost lane shortly after merging from i83 south onto i395 (baltimore beltway) when, with no advance warning whatsoever, the gas pedal stopped responding at the same time as the triangle with an exclamation point and the "stop safely now" (as if I had any choice) message appeared. By the grace of god I was able to coast across 5 lanes of traffic to the breakdown lane. I was anxious to get home to feed the dogs, and my husband was out of town, so rather than call a tow truck I restarted the car and kept going in the right-hand lane for another 3 or 4 miles until the same thing happened again. It took another 2 hours (with an 15-20 additional stalling episodes) until before I was able to make it home to annapolis. Through the internet (and my husband crawling under the car) we have confirmed that the source of the problem is a well-documented faulty oem hybrid drive train mecs coolant water pump. Seems to me that this is a catastrophic failure that is every bit as serious as the gm ignition switch problem, and a fatal accident waiting to happen. It is unconscionable that Ford has not issued a recall on this issue, and unconscionable that NHTSA has not forced Ford to do so.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician diagnosed that the water pump for the hybrid battery failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 75,000. The VIN was not available.

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While traveling on an interstate highway, the vehicle displayed "stop safely now" message along with an audible chime and a red triangle with exclamation point symbol. The gas engine shut down and the vehicle lost power coasting from highway speed to around 35 mph. The vehicle remained under hybrid electric power allowing me to move to the side of the road. My vehicle is around 7. 5 years old and has 89,000 miles. I researched this issue and it appears to have occurred with several of these type vehicles. The dealership reported that they retrieved error codes p1aod, p0a3e, b139. The dealership says that it requires replacement of the hybrid drive train motor electronics cooling system (mecs) water pump (part# 5m6z8c419a) and (part# al8z19e66f). There is a technical service bulletin (TSB) 08-24-5 that seems to relate to similar problems. The problem is not covered by the manufacturer 8 year /100,000 mile hybrid warranty according to Ford customer relations despite both parts being part of the hybrid drive system.

See all problems of the 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid 🔎.

While backing out of a parking space, the right front wheel separated from the vehicle. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the bolt sheared, dislocating the wheel from the drivetrain. This was later confirmed at the repair center--the bolt had sheared and had to be drilled out. The front lower control arm bolts (forward bolt) removed and threads had to be repaired. The right front axle also had to be replaced. This vehicle is only 6. 5 years old, and is not driven off road. Ford does not acknowledge this as an issue. As noted elsewhere on this site, we also have had issues with brake squealing, as well as the water pump issue.

On June 24,2013 I was coming back from arizona traveling on the two lane freeway at 70 miles an hour with the air conditioning running. With no warning what so ever the engine just quit and fortunately, I was able to coast to the shoulder of the road. Had I been on a four lane freeway in the fast lane at traffic time it would have been a different story. I am very concerned this could have resulted in a rear end collision. After sitting on the shoulder for 10 minutes the engine started and I continued my trip without any additional problems. I didn't drive the car again after I got home until I took it to huntington beach Ford for inspection. The dealer found the electric water pump was faulty and failed their test. The water pump was repaired, the system flushed and it tested ok. A test drive was also performed by the dealer with passing results. The cost of this work was $829. 99 dollars. I am writting to you out of concern for our family and others that own this vehicle since we no longer can trust we won't have another no warning engine shut down some place we won't be able to get to the shoulder of the road. Richard l. Scholl.

Driving at 55 mph, engine stopped, kicked out of gear, loud beep sounded, and dashboard warning light came on. Triangle with bolt inside. Message said "slow down and pull over. " this had happened 3 times before while in cruise control, but I was not in cruise control this time. First time it happened, I consulted the manual. It said to turn off the engine and restart. I did, and warning light went off. Same next 2 instances. I attempted this fix four times on this last occasion. Car would restart, then engine would shut down in a few hundred feet. Finally called tow truck. Ford dealer found bad auxiliary water pump connected to hybrid system. In researching this, I found this is a common problem with Ford Escape Hybrids. Called Ford customer service, but they refused to do anything about the repair, which cost $700. Felt very unsafe with the way the engine just shut down. Luckily, I was on a road with a shoulder. If I had been on a bridge, tunnel, or in traffic, I could have been killed, the engine shut down so quickly. Ford needs to issue a recall on these water pumps, as their failure causes a dangerous engine failure.

The contact owns a 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the pull over and stop warning light displayed on the instrument panel. The contact allowed the vehicle to cool for a few minutes before restarting the vehicle. The failure recurred several times. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified and stated that the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure mileage was 103,000.

I was traveling northbound on I-95 in maryland, about 10 miles south of elkton. While driving in the second from the right lane, in heavy traffic just after dark, the engine completely shut down, with no warning. My information screen said "hybrid system failure, pull over immediately. " I had no power of any kind, had to navigate heavy traffic at high speeds, and pull over to the shoulder. It was very difficult and very dangerous to navigate. After sitting on the shoulder for several minutes, the car finally started, and I was able to continue on for a few miles before it happened again. At least I was in the right lane this time. I again waited, and once again the engine started. I pulled off at the elkton exit, and spent the night at a local hotel. The next morning, I called the local Ford dealer, and was told that, since I was not a regular customer, they could not help me for two days. After towing the car to my home dealer, about 75 miles, I was informed that it was a water pump failure, not a hybrid system failure, and therefore not covered by the warranty. This seemed curious to me as there was no indication that the engine was overheating, and the car itself indicated that there was a hybrid system failure. Why would they design a vehicle to completely shut down, with no warning. I can not imagine the panic this may have caused with a less experienced driver. This had disaster written all over it. Further, I do not understand why this was not a warranty issue. The hybrid system is supposedly warranted for 100,000 miles. The system should be designed to warn the driver that a problem is imminent, and the engine will shut off in a short period of time. As designed, this is a terrible and dangerous warning system, and the warranty service from Ford is vague and awful.

"stop safely now" appears in dashboard while going 70 mph and you lose the accelerator - you cannot maintain / increase speed. The car basically dies and shuts off. This is incredibly dangerous, especially while driving on a highway or in traffic of any kind. This happened numerous times as we were driving to florida for spring break. Once we stopped, we were able to restart the car and continue on until the next "stop safely now" appeared, sometimes in less than 3 minutes, sometimes after 3 hours. Given that it was a Sunday, we were unable to find a Ford dealer with a hybrid technician on staff. The first Ford dealer we took it to had it for 3 days and "could find nothing wrong". The second dealer we went to replaced the throttle body and water pump. This breakdown is unacceptable and dangerous. No car should simply stop like that. This design / flaw should be recalled and fixed before someone is killed on the expressway.

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. The contact stated the electric water pump was not functioning and causing the vehicle to stall when driving at high speeds above 70 mph. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after several moments and the vehicle was taken to the dealer who will replaced the electric water pump. There were no recalls for the failure. The manufacturer was contacted who took a report but provided no further assistance. The failure mileage was 60,000.

As fleet manager , I have experienced engine failure on all 3 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid vehicles. During each failure, the main engine shuts down and the vehicle goes to straight electrical power which could cause a wreck in situations where a rapid drop in speed could cause an accident. The failure has happened on all three hybrids at about 15,000 miles and now again at 36,000 miles. The dealership replaces the water pump that supplies coolant to the electric motor after each failure. I feel that this situation should be reported due to the fact that I researched edmunds. Com and this problem is well documented in their carspace automotive forms. Ford needs to re-engineer this system.

This report is for the third occurrence (there have been 2 prior occurrences in the past 6-8 weeks). This vehicle has roughly 17,900 miles and keeps shutting itself down without much (if any) warning. This time, I had about 2-4 seconds warning (which would not be adequate if the vehicle had been on a highway or busy road). I was in a parking lot about to pull out into traffic when the yellow wrench light came on. Before I could do anything, the vehicle shut itself off. At about 16,000 miles, the "high motor temperature" warning came on. I was able to get off the highway and get it towed. The dealership told me it was a bad electric water pump and replaced it. (I was later told by the dealer that the water pump that failed was a known problem at Ford - apparently a truck carrying these was in an accident and boxes of these pumps literally fell out of the truck. Ford supposedly tested them and decided to use them anyways). About a week later, I could tell there was still something wrong with the vehicle. (it had been "surging" forward when coming to a stop without warning and had many other noises/issues that were a sign that something was still wrong). I brought it back - and after they examined it they assured me that everything was fine. Within 2 weeks, we were driving on the highway when the "high motor temperature" light came on again. My husband got off at the first exit and tried to get it to the Ford dealership that was 2 blocks away. Unfortunately, without warning, it powered itself down right in front of a city transit bus. This time, the dealer said it was the water pump and fuse again and replaced both. After getting the vehicle back, I was still concerned since this seemed to be a major safety issue (having it power down in front of a city bus is enough to scare the living daylights out of you). This is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed.