Automatic Transmission problems of the 2005 Ford Freestyle - part 1

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. While driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle jerked without warning. The failure recurred multiple times. An independent mechanic stated that the transmission fluid needed to be changed and the transmission filter replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.

2005 Ford Freestyle surges and accelerates from a stop or low speed. It is particularly evident when shifting the transmission from drive to reverse or reverse to drive. The acceleration can last for maximum 5 seconds but you better have your foot firmly planted on the brake or the vehicle could lunge forward or backward into oncoming or parked cars and pedistrians. It doesnt happen al the time, often after the car has been run and parked for a 15-30 minute period.

2005 Ford Freestyle transmission surging when placed in reverse. Had been minor up to this point but while my wife was driving it last night, engine revved higher than before and stalled . Check transmission light came on and 'system failure" message appeared. After doing some research, it seems to be the throttle body problem that is prevalent with this vehicle. Of course, my extended warranty expired 2 weeks ago.

I have a 2005 Ford Freestyle that surges, especially when it is hot and I have the a/c on. This surging occurs several times a day. It happens while I am driving very slowly, backing out of a parking space or waiting in line at the drive-thru. I have almost rear-ended people several times. After researching it on the internet, I have found this to be a common problem with these cars. The issue is with the throttle body but apparently Ford will not recognize that a problem exists.

Have a 2005 Ford Freestyle . In the last month, the car has been surging and taking off without my touching the gas. It surged violently backward while I was parallel parking and ran up on the curb . I stood on the brake and the engine quit and went into a fault mode. It did this three times after re-starting the car each time. It also about two weeks ago surged forward into the community. It is now surging at a third of my stops. I don't try and back it up if at all possible. I am convinced this is a serious saety problem. I am afraid to allow anyone in my family to drive it. I feel this should be re-called and fixed.

Our 2005 Ford Freestyle began moving in reserve quickly as soon as the car was placed in reverse and my foot was still on the brake. This happened last night and then the wrench(transmission) light came on. The engine previously had began revving very high like it was possessed while driving on the highway and when I exited the road the car acted as if it was not going to stop and I had to practically stomp on the brake to get the car to stop. The engine sounded as if it was going to explode from revving so high. It was frightening. The vehicle has about 90,000 miles on it.

The vehicle surges when at idle. Commonly happens when backing up or moving forward slowly (ie, in a parking lot or driving into a garage). Because this is occurring at idle speeds so far my foot has been either on the brake or close to the brake to prevent an accident. However this will also happen if in a traffic jam or slow moving traffic situations (ie, dropping the kids off a school, slowing down due to pedestrian traffic, etc). I have discussed with the dealer the issue and they are ignorant to the problem.

While driving in traffic at 40mph car lurched forward and went into fail safe mode and stalled out. Car restarted and at next intersection lurched forward again and went into fail safe mode.

The car surges in drive or reverse without applying the accelerator. It usually happens after the engine has been turned off. It seems worse when the engine is "cold", but it has also happened after the car has reached operating temperature. The only solution has been to apply the break and attempt to control the surge when it happens.

Started car, put it in reverse, car lunged. Not the first time it has done this. Each time the lunge, either in reverse or drive, happens with no warning whatsoever. It just about always starts when the car is started or moved into gear after idling.

While sitting in a parking lot on a hot day (a/c running), my 2005 Ford Freestyle suddenly lunged forward. When the brake was applied, it stopped the engine. A message appeared reading "engine in fail-safe mode. " approximately 2 weeks later, this same condition was repeated with the same result. In between these events the car seems to perform as expected. As of now we have taken no action however next Wednesday the dealer can look at the vehicle and hopefully have some good news on the repairs. I had the local autozone technician run a diagnostic check and two codes came up he said were unique to Ford so a Ford service technician would be required to interpret. He lead me to believe these codes read "tac" and something referring to the torque control module. Codess may have been "p061b" and a p1202" (?).

My 2005 Ford Freestyle sel fwd has sudden acceleration problems in both forward and reverse. This issue happens more frequently and is worse in the warmer months. This issue has been going on for the past 4 years with my vehicle. The sudden acceleration caused my Freestyle to shut down and go into engine failsafe mode the last time. The acceleration issue occurs multiple times a day. The dealer says that since there is not a recall on the vehicle there is nothing that they can do that won't come out of my pocket. I am worried that the car will one day lunge forward or backwards into another vehicle or a person walking around the car. Ford needs to be forced to issue a recall and correct this problem before someone is gravely injured.

Sudden acceleration in vehicle: after driving 200 miles I was pulling into a parking space when I had a sudden acceleration in the vehicle. I had my foot firmly on the brake with no contact on the accelerator. The turn was a 180 degree turn into the parking space. (90 into driveway then continuous 90 degree turn into space. ) had to increase angle of turn to avoid hitting parked car. Immediately after the acceleration the vehicle stalled. There was no difficulty restarting the vehicle. The radio was off, air conditioning on (approximately 90 degrees outside, sunny high humidity. ) three adult passengers in vehicle at time. Speed approximately 10 miles an hour. First time I noticed this in the vehicle. Three hours later as I was decelerating while approaching a light I also had a sudden surge lasted maybe two seconds. Had foot on brake at the time. Was able to continue slowing despite surge in engine and attempts by car to increase speed. Car did not stall this time. Speed about 25 mph. Have driven about 300 miles since and have not experienced the problem. Vehicle front wheel drive with cvt transmission.

This is the second time I had to tow this car to the dealership due to transmission issues. I have already spent $6,000. 00 on the transmission and then it lunges while backing up and I have to take it in to the dealership again. It is very scary to drive this car when it does this. They have the nerve to tell me it is the air filter!!!!! how can the air filter casue the wrench light and engine safe mode to come on!!! they know that it is the transmission and they don't want to fix it so they are giving me the run around. There is no way I should have to replace the transmission twice on a 2005 vechile. I am scared to death to drive it cause I never know when it will leave me stranded or just lunged into something or someone. Please investigate this before someone gets hurt.

Car unexpectedly lunges when sitting at idle position on hot days with a/c working hard. Does so in drive or reverse. Most concerned while sitting in car pool line at elementary school on hot days. Kids walk in front of care frequently and this lunging can be rather dramatic at times. Occurs quite frequently when it's hot and a/c is running. There is no known fix and Ford does not acknowledge the problem or a fix.

I own a 2005 Ford Freestyle sel with just over 77,000 miles. I have had numerous problems with my vehicle lunging at low speeds (drving forward and reverse) and one time where it lunged, stalled and entered into safe mode while backing up. The air conditioning was on during the incidents. I use the brakes to stop it from lunging but that is because I expect it to happen. To someone who is unaware of the problem might not react the same as I do. It is quite possible that had I not been aware of the problem and reacted properly that I could of hit a pedestrian or another vehicle. To get my vehicle out of safe mode I cycled my key a couple of times with the last time actually taking the key out of the ignition and the vehicle returned to normal driving.

Stopped after driving a long distance (6 hours) on a major highway to purchase a cup of coffee and after pulling into the parking spot my car lunged forward while stopped. My foot was directly on the brake and I pushed even harder on the brake and my daughter checked my foot location as well. I was firmly on the brake and no where near the gas pedal and I shifted into neutral and pushed harder on the brake and the car stopped. Probably would have jumped the curb had I not been able to stop it. In the shop at my Ford dealer now and they are telling me that I need the throttle body replaced. No money from Ford is available for this nor from my extended warrently and now I must make a decision whether to take my car back without doing the repair that I cannot affort to do now. I believe this should be a covered safety expense as the price is over 500. 00+ and I am paying for another repair that was done while under warrently for the shift issue that needed a new shifter bezel. This was done at 32,000 miles and had never been totally fixed but now needs to be replaced once again at 300. 00 estimated cost. Hope that Ford will help all of us out asd this is a dangerous issue with the lunging forward.

The car surges while idling and when place in drive-the car shuts off and restarts in safe mode and the transmission wrench comes on--you can shut the car off and wait a few seconds and restart and the wrench goes away--this has happened 2 times in the last 2 weeks--first noticed the problem 5/21/11. The car has over 90,000 miles on.

Our Ford Freestyle had its a/c repaired and since then has been surging at low idle or while backing out of parking spaces. On may 21, 2011 it was the hottest day since the a/c was repaired and the surging was worse. It did it three consecutive times and then the car died. I got it started and 'limped' home. Took it to the dealer as they seem to be the only ones who know anything about the type of transmission on this. I did some research and now see where the ntsb is investigating this same issue.

On April 30th, 2011 I was leaving on a short weekend trip with myself and 5 kids. I had just left my driveway and was driving about 25 when a bird flew out in front of me. I proceeded to try to brake so I would not hit the bird. Instead of braking, the car accelerated. The kids in the vehicle wanted to know why I sped up instead of braking. It was very scary. If there would have been a car or person in front of me, I would have hit them. Thankfully there was not. I let the incident pass and we continued on. On Sunday, may 1, 2011, we were driving home when my car started speeding up and then shaking. It was out of control. It was then that the check transmission light came on. I thankfully was able to pull over safely. We ended up having to find transportation for myself and 5 children and then have the car towed back to our local dealership. After the dealership checked it out, we were informed that the transmission is bad and they are asking $6000. 00 to fix it. It seems that the special transmission they put in our 2005 Freestyle is not a good one and they are having problems with it. It is the "special" transmission that is making it so expensive to fix. So, it seems Ford knows that there is a problem but refuses to stand behind its product or customers and fix it. This is a very dangerous situation! I am so thankful no one was hurt in my situation. It could have been much worse considering I live on a busy street with a lot of children. I am glad it was not a child I was trying to stop for as I would have most definitely hit them. .

2005 Ford Freestyle lunges unexpectedly while placed in gear or moving at slow speeds.

My 2005 Ford Freestyle "surges" when the engine is running but my car is not moving. I have to keep my foot on the break when starting up the car for fear it will lunge forward, or backward, without any pressure put on the gas pedal. I am afraid to let anyone drive the car, even with me telling the person about the surges, since it is not what you would normally be thinking about when starting a car and putting it into gear. I am concerned about the safety of this situation. I have not taken the car to the dealership yet since I don't know what the charge will be for repair. The surging has occurred at least 10 times over the last 2 months. Each time I think it is just a one time thing, but now I know it is not.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly surged forward without warning, when she noticed that the transmission light illuminated. The dealer advised the contact to have the transmission replaced. The manufacturer was aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The current mileage was 67,000. The approximate failure mileage was 64,000. Updated 08/31/11 updated 09/01/11.

Unintended movement, when brake was applied engine seemed to throttled and shifted up without foot on accelaratorand continue moiving until brake pressed again and emergency brake applied and car hit curb.

Bought our 2005 Ford Freestyle new. Summer 2010 began having stalling and lurching problems. Fall 2010, "knock" in transmission while in nuetral and reverse. Winter 2010, "knock" becomes more prominent and is now being heard while slowing to a stop. Called several non-Ford transmission shops, they will not touch the cvt's. Finally go to local Ford dealership, bearings are going bad, best case scenario $2,000, worst case scenario a re-man tranny $5,400+. Of course, after getting into the tranny, I am with the worst case scenario. Contact Ford customer service. . . . . End result --sorry about your luck.

Only had one event before the failure of the transmission,while backing into the driveway at a low speed the vehicle lunged backward nearly running into my garage,one week later my transmission went out and had to be replaced at a cost to me of $5,000 dollars. The dealer that sold me the vehicle told me that there was a service bulletin on the problem but no recall.

This happened again today. First noticed summer 2010. Have around 80,000 miles now. Vehicle surges forward. Rpm spikes during driving every day no matter what speed driving to 3k-4k. Vehicle lurches forward at slow speeds as well. Have hit the side of my garage when I took my foot off the brake while parking and banged up the bumper pretty bad as well as garage. Vehicle lurched forward during summer when ac was on, almost hit another car, but seems to happen regardless of ac or heat on or off. Ford dealer reported no problem during last check up. Could it be the cvt. This is a serious issue and should be addressed! I don't feel safe and I'm planning to give vehicle to my son next year. Please help!.

I own a 2005 Ford Freestyle with 74k miles. A few months ago I noticed that while shifting from p to d or r with the foot on brake pedal the car would lunge forward/backward with enough force that it would move a foot or two. This has happened a few times but intermittently. The last time the wrench light also came on but disappeared after I restated the car. The problem started about 6 months ago with 65k. Luckily all times I either caught the lunging on time and increased the brake pedal pressure or I was lucky that no car was in front/back. One time my friend saw the lunging while waiting for me to finish parking and was very concerned about the possibility of me hitting someone accidentally. I haven't taken it to the mechanic yet thinking that it's just an electronic mishap that would disappear upon restarting the car, but I just found out that many Freestyle owners are having similar problems!.

My 2005 Ford Freestyle with 48000 miles on suddenly needs a new transmission. The dealer gave an option of spending a $1000 dollars to "possibly" fix it but cannot guarantee else we have to spend $5500 on a new transmission. Something is seriously wrong with Ford if after 5 years I have to spend over $5k on a new tranny and nothing is covered. Basically I pay it or have no car that will drive. This is completely bogus and Ford needs to do something about it. Apparently I am not the only one complaining here, so what is going to be done to rectify the situation?.

I bought a 2005 Ford Freestyle used with 81,000 miles a couple months later it began to surge forward or backward with the brake on. Then at 98,000 miles while driving down the four-lane the transmission completely quit. I had it towed to a Ford dealership and they are saying the transmission is gone and has to be replaced (for $6000). Obviously from all the complaints this is a serious problem, why isn't Ford doing something about it. Are they waiting on somebody to die first???.

Cvt trransmission faliure in my Freestyle 2005 at 83000 miles. The car has gone into a "safe" transmission mode or just stopped almost every month for 6 morths. Ford wanted $ 6500 to put in an entirely new transmission. I took it to a transmission shop and they rebuilt it. Same prolem is happening again. Ford needs to address this with teh transmission manufacturer and figure this out or put out a recall on this transimission - that is no longer being used.

2005 Ford Freestyle lunges forward when placed in gear and sometimes when sitting at a stop sign or traffic light. Also lunges backward when in reverse. This has been going on for about 5 months and seems to be getting worse. Worried about the car hitting a person or another car.

Purchased a 2005 Ford Freestyle two years ago. This past year (2010) have experienced surging when placing my car in reverse- consistently happens every time I start my car and place into reverse. This past week (8. 26. 2010) I almost rear ended a car while waiting at a traffic light when the car started surging (rpms were going up & down) unexpectedly. It surged 4 times then the fail safe lights came on and the engine cut off. I pushed the car off the side of the road. After a few moments I restarted- car again surged while in reverse and drove it to the dealership. Awaiting response of the problem. Am very afraid I will end up backing into someone or rear ending a car due to the over revving while sitting idle.

For the past 3 weeks, my 2005 Ford Freestyle has been lunging forward in drive w/o my control. In reverse, it lunges backwards. I have seen numerous blogs about the same problem w/Ford. Some people have actually hit bldgs & people! this is outrageous that Ford has not made a recall. This is a complete safety issue. Also, after the car lurches, it dies - which can happen on a highway as well. Ford will not do anything to help. They told me its my responsibility to get a replacement car while I wait months for the part to come in from the national backorder. If this wasn't such a problem then why are the parts on a national backorder?.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Freestyle. The contact stated that check engine light illuminated as the vehicle abnormally accelerated before stalling. The contact stated the failure would occur intermittently. When shifted into reverse, the vehicle would move forward independently and vice versa. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the transmission would need replacing. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 75,402 and the current mileage was approximately 75,800.