KnownCarProblems2011 Ford Escape Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 1,318 complaints with NHTSA about the 2011 Ford Escape, most often about the steering (31% of complaints, typically around 110,000 miles). It is 10th of 27 Escape model years by number of complaints and has 2 recalls.
Most common 2011 Ford Escape problems
Steering
411 complaints · 31%Half of these problems showed up before 110,000 miles. Parts named most often: electric power assist system, column.
I was traveling northwest on I 26 when I heard a pop and lost speed and control. I eased over to the right side of the highway and tried to stop. At this time, the car started to shake violently. Eventually the car stopped and would not start again. I had to be towed to newberry and left the car at a garage and rented…
Tl contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed that the power steering control module had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The…
Fuel system
284 complaints · 22%Half of these problems showed up before 48,500 miles. Parts named most often: delivery.
I was traveling at approximately 60mph when my Ford Escape completely stalled and s service light came on. As I tried to move out of traffic I was nearly hit by multiple vehicles coming from both directions. I had the vehicle towed to the Ford dealership assuming this would be covered under power train warranty. After…
On 27 april 2013 at approximately 0930, I was driving my 2011 Ford Escape at 70mph on I-475 on my way from macon, ga to atlanta, ga when I lost all power and control of my gas pedal/throttle body system. I felt a jerking motion of the vehicle, it began to decelerate, and I noticed the wrench icon light was illuminated…
Transmission
268 complaints · 20%Half of these problems showed up before 45,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, driveline.
Vehicle went into limp mode on major highway. Was able to coast off without incident. Ford company is unable to find replacement part for the throttle bottle, assuming in high demand. Was informed no longer under warranty. There needs to be a recall.
I was idling at a stand-still on the highway (or very close to a stand-still - may have been rolling at approx. 5 miles per hour) as traffic came to a stop due to a lane merge ahead. When traffic started to slowly move forward again, I took my foot off the brake and stepped on the gas pedal to accelerate forward but…
Engine
263 complaints · 20%Half of these problems showed up before 47,000 miles. Parts named most often: exhaust system.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they advised the contact that the computer was reading an error and the valve assembly failed, which needed to be replaced. The vehicle…
Driving on interstate at 65-70 MPH and engine shuts down. I have to get to the side of the road put in park and restart it. The engine remains running when this happens but only at a idle. And a very rough idol. This happened 4 times last week. Very scary when on interstate! When I turn it off and restart it seems…
Speed control
245 complaints · 19%Half of these problems showed up before 45,000 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact merged to the shoulder and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where a technician advised that the throttle body assembly would need to be replaced.…
I was idling at a stand-still on the highway (or very close to a stand-still - may have been rolling at approx. 5 miles per hour) as traffic came to a stop due to a lane merge ahead. When traffic started to slowly move forward again, I took my foot off the brake and stepped on the gas pedal to accelerate forward but…
Electrical
117 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 53,000 miles. Parts named most often: ignition, 12v/24v/48v battery, horn, alternator/generator/regulator.
I was pulling out of the doctor's office with my wife and newborn child and as I pulled out (I had plenty of safe distance if my car were functioning properly) my car all of a sudden lost any acceleration capabilities and the RPM's dropped extremely low. The speed limit on the road was 55 and it started when I got to…
While driving along highway, my gas pedal suddenly became completely unresponsive. Was luckily able to coast off to shoulder of the highway and SUV began to idle extremely roughly. Restarted vehicle and was able to drive home without additional problems. Researched issue today and found numerous examples of this…
Other or unspecified
56 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 70,000 miles.
My car will be idling and suddenly power down. Recently while I have been slowing down at a traffic light, stop light, or braking for traffic it will power down. After researching online I have found that hundreds of other Ford Escape owners have had the same issue, some have had it happen while driving at high rates…
Carrier bearing drive shaft assembly causing severe vibration upon exceleration and and letting off the gas peddle also ignition issue put key in turn on cranking several times before starting unless key is turned back my Escape has 70,000 miles on it I should not be having these issues.my engine light is on and…
Visibility and wipers
45 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 44,000 miles. Parts named most often: glass, side/rear, sun/moon roof assembly, windshield, rear window wiper/washer.
Closing rear lift gate after the car remained stationary overnight, the window shattered onto the ground and into the trunk. Low temperature from the night before was 19 deg f. Subsequent clean-up efforts revealed scratches to car body and resulted in personal injury (lacerations). Ford would not cover the repair cost…
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated while at a red light the tailgate window exploded. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing nor was it repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2011 Ford Escape recalls
Fuel system: fuel pump
Risk: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fdm flange with one that has a redesigned fuel supply port, free of charge. Remedy parts are currently unavailable. Interim notices were mailed to owners on december 13, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16s41.
Full defect summary
Ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain model year 2010-2012 ford escape vehicles manufactured february 26, 2009, to april 29, 2012, and 2010-2011 mercury mariner vehicles manufactured february 25, 2009, to december 12, 2010. On vehicles with a 3.0l engine, the fuel delivery module (fdm) may crack, causing a fuel leak.
Steering: electric power assist system
Risk: If power steering assist is lost, greater driver effort would be required to steer the vehicle at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the power steering control module (pscm) and the instrument cluster module, free of charge. If a vehicle shows a history of a loss of the torque sensor signal or fault codes relating to the pscm when the vehicle is brought in for the recall remedy, the affected components will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on july 18, 2014. Owners may contact ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. Ford's number for this recall is 14s05.
Full defect summary
Ford motor company (ford) is recalling certain model year 2008-2011 ford escape and mercury mariner vehicles manufactured august 18, 2006, through september 11, 2010. The affected vehicles have a steering torque sensor that may not be able to properly detect driver steering input. As a result, the system could remove the electric power steering (eps) assist.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Loss of power steering while driving
Summary
On may 27, 2014, amended june 2, 2014, ford motor company (ford) submitted a defect information report (dir) to NHTSA describing a safety defect that may result in a sudden loss of power steering assist while driving in approximately 746,067 model year (my) 2008 through 2011 ford escape vehicles equipped with electric power assisted steering (NHTSA 14v-284, ford 14s05). Ford's dir described the defect condition as a poor signal to noise ratio [snr] in the torque sensor within the electric power assisted steering (epas) system [which] does not allow the pscm to determine the driver's steering input. When the system detects this fault condition, it transitions the epas system to the fail-safe/
Electronic throttle body malfunction
Summary
On february 21, 2013, the office of defects investigations (odi) opened preliminary evaluation pe13-003 to investigate allegations of electronic throttle body (etb) failures resulting in sudden reduction of engine power in model year (my) 2009-2013 ford escape, fusion, mariner and milan vehicles. During this investigation, ford identified a condition in subject vehicles equipped with 2.5l and 3.0l engines that may result in a sudden reduction of engine power.according to ford, the etb internal motor contacts may develop a high resistance material buildup condition on the commutator, resulting in intermittent electrical connectivity and reduced engine power. When this condition occurs, the ma
Electronic throttle body malfunction
Summary
In a letter dated august 30, 2012, the north carolina consumers council (nccc) petitioned the national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) to initiate a defect investigation of alleged electronic throttle body failures resulting in engine stall or surge while driving in model year (my) 2005 through 2012 ford escape vehicles. On october 2, 2012 the office of defects investigation (odi) opened a defect petition dp12-006 to evaluate whether to grant or deny the petition. The petition is hereby granted on certain model years. The nccc letter cites two complaints of stall while driving in my 2009 ford escape vehicles that were diagnosed as failed throttle bodies with diagnostic trouble
Rear liftgate window glass breakage
Summary
In its response to the agency, ford acknowledged a higher than normal level of glass breakage incidents in the model year (my) 2010 to early-build my 2011 subject vehicles.the incidentsoccurred when the liftgate glass was being opened, or more typically while being closed, but in both cases while the vehicle was stationery, I.e., not moving on the roadway.additionally failures often occurred during early morning hours when ambient and/or liftgate glass temperatures may have been lower.ford advised that it investigated the failures but failed to identify an anomaly in the glass manufacturing process (which is often a factor in glass breakage trends odi investigates) that could explain the rep
Questions about the 2011 Ford Escape
- What are the most common problems with the 2011 Ford Escape?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: steering (411 complaints, typically around 110,000 miles); fuel system (284 complaints, typically around 48,500 miles); transmission (268 complaints, typically around 45,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2011 Ford Escape have?
- 2 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from October 26, 2016 (fuel system). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2011 a bad year for the Ford Escape?
- It is 10th of 27 Escape model years by number of complaints, with 1,318 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.