2wd 6 cyl escape limited - 25K mi. trans seems a bit clunky. When driving on the highway I let off on the gas and shift into neutral, the rpm’s rise a tad then slowly decrease as the speed of the car decreases. It dosn’t drop to idle rpm as my other vehicles do. is this normal???
What you describe is not a transmission problem but may be a driveability prolbem. The idle speed action may well be a strategy of the ECM to keep the engine from dying when the throttle is lifted while cruising – sort of like the old dash pots on automatic transmission cars. If it is idling high at a stop when you are in neutral it could be a problem with the Idle Air Control actuator. A throttle body cleaning may be needed. To be sure if this is a problem with your Escape see if you can drive another 2005 Ford Escape with your setup and see if it is doing the same thing.