NHTSA Complaint #11302712 — 2015 FORD ESCAPE

THE CAR A 2015 FORD ESCAPE SE AWD WITH ~ 86,600 MILES WOULD SHUT OFF AND HAVE TO BE RESTARTED AFTER SITTING FOR AWHILE. IT ALSO STARTED TO RUN A LITTLE ROUGH. SO I TOOK INTO A FORD DEALERSHIP FOR SERVICE AND A TUNE UP ON DECEMBER 24TH 2019. AFTER THE TUNE UP IT STILL EXHIBITED THE SAME ROUGH RIDING AND SHUT OFF. THE NEXT DAY ON DECEMBER 25TH AFTER SITTING OVERNIGHT SHUTOFF INITIALLY AND HAD TO BE RESTARTED. WHILE BACKING OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY IT SHUDDERED VIOLENTLY AND WHITE SMOKE POURED OUT OF THE TAIL PIPE. I PULLED IT BACK INTO THE GARAGE, AND TOOK IT BACK TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP THE FOLLOWING MORNING DECEMBER THE 26TH. AFTER SOME TIME THE ASSISTANT SERVICE MANAGER INFORMED ME THAT IT WAS LEAKING COOLANT INTO THE ENGINE, AND THAT ONE OF THE SPARK PLUGS HAD BEEN FOULED WITH COOLANT. AFTER MORE TESTING AND HOLDING THE CAR FOR TWO WEEKS THEY INFORMED ME THAT I NEEDED A NEW ENGINE. WHAT'S ODD IS THAT I NEVER WITNESSED THE CAR OVER HEATING, AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT DIDN'T COME ON TILL I WAS DRIVING THE CAR BACK TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER THE 26TH. FORD CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE SAYS THAT THEY'LL PAY 1/4 OF THE COST TO REPLACE THE ENGINE. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH I'VE FOUND QUITE A FEW ESCAPE OWNERS THAT HAVE HAD SIMILAR COMPLAINTS WITH THE SAME ISSUE OF COOLANT LEAKING INTO THE ENGINE AND HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THEY NEED A NEW ENGINE. THESE ENGINES ARE FAILING PREMATURELY DUE TO ENGINES OVER HEATING AND THE BLOCKS FAILING. I SUSPECT THAT THE COOLANT SENSOR IS ALSO DEFECTIVE. THIS 2015 ESCAPE WAS PURCHASED NEW AT THE END OF 2014, AND MAINTAINED BY REGULAR OIL CHANGES AND MAINTENANCE. *TR