NHTSA Complaint #10611246 — 2013 FORD ESCAPE

ON 5/31/14, UPON STARTING VEHICLE (2.0 L, SEL), VEHICLE RUNNING ROUGH, SPUTTERING, LURCHING WHEN ACCELERATOR WAS DEPRESSED, ETC. MESSAGE ON DASH SCREEN STATED "ENGINE FAULT - SERVICE NOW". DROVE CAR APPROXIMATELY 8 MILES TO A FORD DEALER I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH. TURNED CAR OFF BUT THEN DECIDED TO MOVE CAR. STARTED CAR, ALL ISSUES DISAPPEARED, SO I LEFT AND DROVE CAR 35 MILES TO MY HOME WITH NO ISSUES. DROVE CAR UNTIL 6/20/14 WHEN EXACT SYMPTOMS HAPPENED AGAIN. DROVE CAR WITH SYMPTOMS OCCURRING TO LOCAL FORD DEALER. MECHANIC SUSPECTED COOING SYSTEM PROBLEM, TURNED OFF ENGINE WITHOUT HOOKING UP TO COMPUTER FOR DIAGNOSIS. MINUTES LATER, MECHANIC DECIDED PROBLEM WAS NOT COOLING SYSTEM RELATED SINCE ESCAPE WAS A 2.0 L (COOLING SYSTEM PROBLEMS APPARENTLY OCCUR WITH 1.6 L MODELS), BUT WAS INSTEAD THE MAP SENSOR WHICH WAS REPLACED ON 6/26/14. NEXT DAY (6/27/14) AFTER MAP SENSOR REPLACEMENT, SAME EXACT ISSUES. NO TIME TO TAKE TO A DEALER, SO I SHUT IT OFF AND RESTARTED IT AND ALL SYMPTOMS DISAPPEARED. DROVE REGULARLY UNTIL 7/16/14, WHEN EXACT SYMPTOMS OCCURRED AGAIN. DROVE DIRECTLY TO LOCAL FORD DEALER, LEFT IT RUNNING. THEY HOOKED UP THE DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER WHILE RUNNING WHICH SHOWED ERROR CODE RELATED TO MAP SENSOR AGAIN. EXPLAINED TO MECHANIC THAT MY RESEARCH HAS INDICATED THAT TSB 13-12-12 MIGHT ADDRESS THE PROBLEM WHICH IS RELATED TO WIRING IN THE "SIGNAL RETURN SPLICES." HE AGREED. MADE APPOINTMENT FOR NEXT DAY, 7/17/14. UPON STARTING ON 7/17/14, SAME SYMPTOMS. TURNED OFF, RESTARTED, SYMPTOMS CLEARED AND I DROVE IT WITH NO ISSUES TO MY LOCAL FORD DEALER. LOCAL DEALER CALLED AND SAID THEY LOOKED AT THE WIRE SPLICES, MADE SOME "ADJUSTMENTS" (NO NEW PARTS) AND THAT VEHICLE IS READY FOR PICK UP. IF THIS OCCURS AGAIN, WHICH I BELIEVE IT WILL, I WILL ASK FOR WIRE HARNESS REPLACEMENT TO THE SIGNAL RETURN(S). DANGEROUS, WELL-DOCUMENTED PROBLEM. *TR