NHTSA Complaint #10425242 — 2008 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID

WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES, THE GASOLINE ENGINE DIED AND A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON SAYING TO PULL OFF THE ROAD SAFELY. THERE WAS NO OTHER WARNING LIGHT (NO HIGH TEMPERATURE WARNING). I DROVE SLOWLY ON ELECTRICAL ENGINE POWER UNTIL THERE WAS A SAFE PLACE TO PULL OFF THE ROAD. AFTER A FEW MINUTES PARKED THERE WITH THE CAR TURNED OFF, I TRIED TO START THE CAR AGAIN. IT STARTED AND I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE HOME. I TOOK THE CAR TO A DEALER AND HE COULD SEE NO REPORTS IN THE COMPUTER AND NO EVIDENT CAUSE FOR THE ENGINE TO FAIL. HE SAID TO WATCH THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE. HOWEVER, THERE IS NOT A CONSTANT TEMPERATURE GAUGE - IT ONLY COMES UP ON THE SCREEN WHEN THERE IS A PROBLEM (AND IT DID NOT COME UP WHEN THE ENGINE FAILED). A WEEK LATER, AGAIN ON A LONGER DRIVE (MORE THAN 20 MINUTES) AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, THE CAR STALLED AND I WAS FORCED TO PULL OVER. THE DANGER OF PULLING OVER ON A MULTILANE FREEWAY IS VERY SCARY. OVER THE NEXT 30 MINUTES, I RE-STARTED THE CAR AND PULLED BACK INTO TRAFFIC, ONLY TO HAVE THE GAS ENGINE DIE 5 MORE TIMES. EVENTUALLY I WAS ABLE TO GET HOME AND TAKE THE ESCAPE IN TO A FORD DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP IMMEDIATELY DIAGNOSED IT AS A FAILURE OF THE COOLANT PUMP AND REPLACED IT FOR $500. THE MILEAGE OF MY CAR WAS ABOUT 53,000 MILES. *TR