NHTSA Complaint #10556079 — 2013 FORD ESCAPE

ON 12/14/13 AT APPROX 6:55PM I WAS TRAVELING AT 40MPH. I HEAR DING DING DING AND NOTICED MY VEHICLE IS LOSING SPEED AND IMMEDIATELY LOOKING AT GAUGES MY TEMP GAUGE IS ON HOT. ERROR MESSAGE DISPLAYS HIGH TEMP, SLOW DOWN, STOP SAFELY, ENGINE SPEED HAS BEEN REDUCED.!! I WAS SO ALARMED AT WHAT WAS HAPPENING HAD I THOUGHT QUICKER I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A PICTURE WITH MY PHONE OF THE MESSAGE. I WAS ON A HIGHWAY WHERE I COULD NOT GET OFF THE ROAD, ONLY SLOW DOWN AND PULL TO THE RIGHT. I GOT STOPPED AND SHUT CAR OFF. WAITED A FEW MINUTES AND STARTED CAR BACK UP. MESSAGE INSTRUMENT DISPLAYS THE SAME MESSAGE. THEN MESSAGE DISAPPEARS AND I DRIVE TO MY DESTINATION 3 MILES AWAY VERY SLOW . REACHING MY DESTINATION I GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND THE SMELL OF ENGINE COOLANT IS VERY STRONG. NO LEAKS OF ANY KIND OBSERVED. IT HAS NOW BEEN 15 MINUTES LATER AND THE SMELL OF ENGINE COOLANT IS STILL VERY PUNGENT. I HAD CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP THIS PAST WEEK ON MONDAY 12/9/13 REGARDING THE SMELL OF COOLANT AND A RECALL I WAS TOLD ABOUT. I WAS ADVISED BY THE SERVICE ADVISOR FOR THE RECALL PARTS WERE NOT YET AVAILABLE AND TO CONTINUE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AND IF I ENCOUNTERED A ISSUE TO IMMEDIATELY STOP DRIVING THE VEHICLE AND HAVE IT TOWED TO THERE FACILITY AND I WOULD BE PLACED IN A LOANER VEHICLE UNTIL MY CAR WAS FIXED. NOW AT THIS POINT I DO NOT FEEL SAFE TO CONTINUE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE. THE RECALL I WAS INFORMED ABOUT IS RELATED TO A ENGINE OVERHEATING ISSUE AND POSSIBLE FIRE COULD RESULT DUE TO SOMETHING WITH OIL. PLEASE HELP. THIS ISSUE WAS WITNESSED BY MY PASSENGER. *TR