NHTSA Complaint #11032743 — 2014 FORD ESCAPE

DRIVING MY 2014 ESCAPE TO WORK I WAS ON A 35 MPH STREET, AN ALERT WARNING CAME ON TELLING ME THE ENGINE WAS HOT AND TO SAFELY STOP VEHICLE. MY TEMPERATURE GAUGE NEEDLE WAS AT THE HOT. I PULLED OVER AND IT SLOWLY WENT BACK DOWN ENOUGH WHERE I GOT TO MY DESTINATION A MILE AWAY. WHEN CHECKED, MY COOLANT OVERFLOW WAS COMPLETELY EMPTY. I HAD SOMEONE TAKE ME TO PURCHASE THE CORRECT COOLANT AND REPLACED IT BEFORE STARTING THE VEHICLE. WHEN I RETURNED HOME AND CHECKED THE LEVEL, THE COOLANT WAS AGAIN LOW. THE ENGINE WAS EXTREMELY HOT TO THE TOUCH, INCLUDING THE HANDLE TO LATCH OPEN THE HOOD. I REMEMBERED A RECALL ON MY VEHICLE, 17S09/ NHTSA RECALL 17V-209, AND WAS WAITING FOR THE SECOND RECALL LETTER WHEN THE PARTS WERE GOING TO BE AVAILABLE FOR REPAIRS. IT STATED IF THE VEHICLE LEAKED COOLANT OR BECAME HOT, IT COULD CAUSE POSSIBLE OIL LEAK AND CRACK IN THE CYLINDER HEAD, AND EVEN FIRE! I CALLED BRUCE TITUS FORD IN PORT ORCHARD WASHINGTON AND THE SERVICE GUY TOLD ME NOT TO DRIVE IT AND IT WAS TOWED TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT. THEY DID TESTS AND FOUND THAT THAT ALERT MESSAGE OF VEHICLE GETTING HOT, ETC SHOWED BUT THEY DID A PRESSURE TEST AND SO ON AND COULD NOT SEE WHERE THE COOLANT WAS GOING. THEY TOLD ME THERE WERE STILL NO PARTS AVAILABLE FOR THE, (ENHANCEMENT TO THE COOLANT PROBLEM), NOT THE FIX! APPARENTLY THE RECALL SAYS THE ENHANCEMENT PART IS A SENSOR WHICH TELLS ME THE COOLANT IS GETTING LOW. SO WITHOUT IT BEING FIXED, I WAS TOLD TO COME GET THE VEHICLE AND KEEP REFILLING AS NEEDED! I WAS TOLD THEY COULD REPLACE THE COOLANT OVERFLOW BOTTLE BUT IT WAS NOT ONLY ON BACK ORDER, BUT WOULD COST ME $400! COOLANT IS LEAKING AT WORK AND IN DRIVEWAYS AND A HAZARD TO MINE AND OTHERS PETS! I'VE SPENT $40 ON COOLANT SO FAR AND CANT KEEP DOING THIS! I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO. ONLY 52,000 MILES, MY ONLY TRANSPORTATION, AND I'M STILL PAYING OUT $458 PAYMENTS AND INSURANCE!