Ive had this vehicle for 2 years now and it had been otherwise great. a week ago I brought it in for the 35k mile service, the safety sticker, and a recall. now whenever I come across a stop sign I cant get it to accelerate past about 5 mph for about 20 seconds before it finally kicks in. I almost got broadsided yesterday because I was crossing a street with plenty of room for everything except car trouble. the recall according to the letter said it was about a steering safety feature that can turn off power steering under certain circumstances. it seemed pretty stupid but my dad wanted to take it in for that. Ordinarily this car can get up and moving at the crack of a whip. Its being taken back to the dealer right now but I already have that feeling like they are going to try to run off with my wallet on an escapade of fruitless “efforts” to fix it. Im on the ramen and hotdog budget though so I cant really afford to deal with that crap right now 3 classes from a double degree. Im hoping to get some guesses as to what might have gone wrong while they were performing those “services” and how to get them to fix it with a minimum hard time dealing with them. any thoughts?
Your Escape may be subject to these known problems with the throttle body (there are two problems described in the link below; I think the first problem listed is the one your Escape is having:
http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Escape/2010/investigations/
"During this investigation, Ford and its suppliers, Delphi and Igarashi, updated the powertrain control module (PCM) software to include a throttle body motor cleaning cycle during key-on and modified the ETB internal motor components design, surface finish and material composition to improve durability. Additionally, Ford developed a remedy procedure and issued a special Customer Satisfaction Program (CSP) 13N03 extending the ETB warranty coverage and instructing dealers to update the powertrain calibration to improve vehicle performance in the event that intermittent electrical connectivity of the throttle body motor contacts occurs. The program extends the coverage for up to 10 years of service or 150,000 miles from the warranty start date of the vehicle, all vehicles are eligible for the program through January 31, 2015 regardless of mileage.Owners of the affected vehicles will be contacted by mail to take their vehicle to a Ford dealer who will reprogram the PCM to the latest calibration. "
Print out the above problem description from the link, take it to the dealer, ask if your car is covered by the particular Customer Satisfaction Programs to fix these issues and if they are doing the corrective work prescribed (reprogramming the PCM). If you’re lucky that will be the fix.
What happens when you try to accelerate? Does the engine rev without the car picking up speed? Or does the engine not rev?