NHTSA Complaint #10551768 — 2007 FORD ESCAPE HYBRID

WHILE TRAVELING DOWN THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY THE TRIANGLE WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT IN THE MIDDLE LIT UP AND THE DISPLAY READ "STOP SAFELY NOW". I WAS IN THE LEFT LANE OF THE INTERSTATE AND THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN - THERE WAS NO SHOULDER AND TRAFFIC WAS TOO HEAVY TO COAST ACROSS LANES. I FOUND A SERVICE STATION THAT WAS OPEN ON SUNDAY EVENING. THEY SAID MY COOLANT WAS FINE, THE OIL LEVEL WAS FINE, AND THEY COULD NOT SEE ANYTHING OBVIOUSLY WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE. I ELECTED TO CONTINUE MY TRIP ANOTHER 50 MILES AND THE PROBLEM OCCURRED 2 MORE TIMES. I KEPT THE SPEED UNDER 70, RAN BY HEATER ON FULL BLAST IN CASE THE PROBLEM WAS TEMPERATURE RELATED, AND COASTED AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. EACH TIME THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN, I SLOWED TO THE SHOULDER, TURNED THE ENGINE OFF, WAITED 5 MINUTES, THEN STARTED AGAIN. THE SERVICE RESULTS ARE STILL INCONCLUSIVE, BUT IT SEEMS THERE ARE A LOT OF OWNERS EXPERIENCING THIS EXACT PROBLEM. THE AUTOMATIC SHUT OFF OF THE ENGINE PUT ME IN AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. *TR