NHTSA Complaint #11684825 — 2018 FORD ESCAPE

My check engine light came on Saturday August 23rd. I took my car to my local Ford dealership on Monday August 25th and on Wednesday, August 27th the Ford technician verified a misfire and found coolant was low. They removed the spark plug and found cooling system was under pressure. They found coolant entering into the cylinder via the cylinder head and that my vehicle now needs a new engine. This problem has been confirmed by the dealership and my only option is to purchase a brand new engine for my 2018 Ford escape that has less than 40,000 miles on it. An engine failure at just 40,000 miles is simply unacceptable and raise serious concerns about the reliability of this model. I am aware that engine issues on certain Ford escapes have been the subject of multiple customer complaints and I strongly believe that this may be part of a broader quality or manufacturing issue. There are numerous reported cases from 2018 Escape owners describing engine failures, tied to coolant intrusion and instances where an engine fails unexpectedly often linked to coolant, entering the cylinder and requiring full engine replacement, which seems to be a common pattern in these 1.5 L and occasionally the 2.0 eco-boost. While no formal recall exists for this Ford has implemented a customer satisfaction program 21N12 which addressed coolant intrusion into the engine, especially affecting 1.5 L eco-boost engines.