By design the Escape engine shuts down and sometimes it does not start back up on it’s own. Accelerator should start it going again but requires a Brake pedal press and push the start button again. Have about 300 miles on vehicle now and might be something with fuel. Don’t know. Love the Car other than that. Happened only twice. So if it levels out later then I am totally happy. First tank of gas since purchased. (Dealer fueled)
The auto start/stop is designed to be fully automatic, should not require any additional input from the driver other than moving your foot from the brake pedal to the gas pedal.
I would discuss this with your service department.
Try driving with the auto start/stop turned off, must be turned off each time you first start the car.
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this should be discussed with your favorite Ford dealer.
So it turns the engine completely off by design when stopped at a traffic light. Then when you step on the gas pedal it is supposed to crank the engine and get it running again. Is that correct? When you have this problem does it crank the engine, but it won’t catch and run? Or doesn’t it even crank the engine (that rrr rrr rrr sound)? If the latter I’d guess the problem is the throttle position sensor needs to be adjusted; ie the computer isn’t sensing that you are pressing on the gas pedal. The posts above are correct that the proper way to deal w/this is just take it back to the Ford dealership. You can have a look-see at what’s going on as long as you don’t disturb anything, it’s your car after all. But for warranty purposes don’t try to fix it yourself.
You are correct in the Engine stopping and
Not restarting. When it stops (engine dies)
It has to be started again by pressing the brake pedal and pressing the Start button.
However, it has only done this three times within 368 miles on odometer. The real scare is when you are lined up in traffic and it stalls at the light. But it does start almost immediately again. Dealer stated that it was mostly because it was new and not broke in and it might be that I am pushing the accelerator down too rapid and not allowing the engine to properly disburse the fuel. I told him I did not do that. But would take his recommendation and try to see if it might be me. He also mentioned Low octane fuel can cause this problem.
I have been working on Cars almost all my life and never had to deal with this new feature. So who knows maybe I will have learned something. I will update later if it doesn’t fix itself. Thanks to your follow-up and attention on my concern.
I have almost zero experience with this type of system, but I would call hogwash on all 3 of these suggestions.
Sounds like the engine is actually stalling, not turning off due to the start/stop feature. Do your dash lights light up when this happens?
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Are you a left foot brake person? Also how much trouble is to turn off the Start/Stop function ? Has to be done each time you start vehicle .
I think eddo is correct. The engine is just stalling and has nothing to do with the start stop which I would happily have them remove and the high cost battery and high cost starter while they are at it. But that’s just my humble opinion after driving one. But I suppose stalling when new could be related some to break in, gas, and possible computer learning the proper engine settings.
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Engine not broken in? You’re pushing the accelerator pedal too rapidly? Fuel octane is too low?
The first two seem nonsensical, excuses to get you to go away. The third one might be valid if you are using an octane rating different than what is required as stated in the owner’s manual for your engine. What octane rating do you use vs the owner’s manual. Note that if the owner’s manual says a certain octane is “recommended”, you can still use a lower octane than that and the car shouldn’t have this problem at all. Using a lower octane grade might cause a little reduction in available engine power under heavy load, but not at idle.
Suggest to fill up with the lowest “required” octane grade and give it another week or two. There is some possibility the engine computer is still learning how to idle the engine. This could be especially true if the battery was disconnected before you purchased the vehicle, or since. Disconnecting the battery may cause all the engine operating parameters to be erased, and they have to be relearned once the battery is re-connected. During this re-learning process the engine could possibly stall in certain circumstances when stopped at a stop light etc. It’s also possible there’s an electrical system problem that is causing the computer to lose power once in a while. That could force it to have to go through the relearning process every day.
Not a left pedal person. Been driving for around 50 years. (No offense) just stating fact. I drive sensible so don’t think it is me.
Never had this kind of system before so it becomes a question and answer activity.
It did stall one more time today making it four times total. Seems it does not idle fast enough just before the engine dies. I plan on driving some more to see where it leads me. Thanks to all you guys for your inputs
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I’m only a longtime interested reader in this forum but several things really stick out in your statements.
You said the tank of gas came from the dealer, so why are they blaming this on low octane gas?
You said it has failed to restart/died “only” two or three times so far. For a brand new car fresh off the dealer’s lot even once is too many.
I know several people with cars of different makes which have the stop/start engines and I’ve test driven several different cars with it. They are designed to work seamlessly no matter one’s driving style. None of them I and my friends have driven have ever (yet) had the problem you are experiencing.
I heartily suggest you read your new car’s manual that should have come with the car for information including the corporate customer service number to escalate this lack of adequate service to corporate level if need be. Also, document document document – every problem incident, all trips to the service department including making notations on your service receipt printouts of what you were verbally told, etc.
This brand new car is under warranty! If the dealer insists this problem is normal for a new car with only a few hundred miles on it I’d be calling corporate customer service to ask for verification of that claim.
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I have 420 miles on the Car now and only 4 times the engine has died (Had to be restarted using both the Brake pedal and the start button) to become mobile again. Also the Air Conditioner blows hot or at least warm when that happens. To some out there that have not experienced what I am describing in this new technology probably think I am crazy and don’t know how to drive a new Car. They would be wrong of course. I have owned several new cars over my years and have not experienced many issues with them. But this new Technology is a little different animal to deal with. I wonder if there is a way to turn off this System and go back to the old way. I honestly cannot see where this system design in Ford would save enough money by stopping several time periods at lights, Stop Signs and other application would be beneficial in terms of Saving Fuel Vs Expensive Battery and Starter and many other relays that have been added to the new car bill, sensors etc. that cost in terms of repair down the road. So, in reality…Say I save estimated $2.00 (More or less) in gas per tank using this system. Then I add all the upcoming repairs, (Special Battery cost ), Starter and relays, sensors… will the cost balance out somewhere down the road? So, knowing all that & I trade it in, & you buy it, Now you have my problems out of warranty. So it will be passed off to the consumer somewhere down the line. See where I am going. Maybe it is to sell Parts and service, just a thought. To me, it is just a feature that you have to pay for that can add more cost and not needed. Plus it don’t seem to be working maybe like it should. Just my opinion and you know what that is worth. I do appreciate all you guys inputs because it allows us to see what automakers may not and we can discuss it on this forum. I do like the 2019 Ford Escape, great performance, powerful and easy to drive, just not so proud of the above stated feature. Some may like it, but I am skeptical at the moment.
Look in your owners manual to see how to turn the Start/Stop function off . As someone else said it needs to be done each time you start vehicle. Also there are you tube videos that show the turn off feature and you dealer might even do that.
I agree with your concerns. In the past couple of years I’ve rented cars that have this feature, and it has always worked without any errors. It’s a bit disturbing at first, but there has never been a moment when I had to intervene. On a couple of cars the restart wasn’t too smooth and thing felt a little jerky, but that’s all.
Under NO circumstances should this be your fault or your doing. Cars are made to be driven by the entire population with a license. If yours required special training, where was that training? It’s pure aggressive nonsense, a salesperson’s reaction to a potential problem. When they start that BS whip out your phone and ask them to repeat it while you record it so you can forward it to Ford with your complaint about them. And I think you should hand deliver a written letter to the senior person at the dealership, asking them to sign a copy that you keep, requesting that they either replace your car with an exact duplicate that actually works or refund your money in full, all the taxes and fees included.
We’ve had this discussion before. The manufacturers get points or credits from the EPA for coming up with this stuff and they really never have to prove it is worthwhile. Some estimate $50 a year savings but then depending on driving conditions and how soon the battery or starter needs to be replaced.
Of course they have to prove it’s worthwhile. If these devices didn’t result in improved fuel economy ratings, they would never be installed. They have higher CAFE standards to contend with. Of course, real-world benefits are a different matter. As the saying goes, YMMV.
OP can use the forum search feature to find this topic discussed on earlier threads. One of the upper right links on this page. There’s been some antipathy expressed about the start/stop function here, the main objection being overly complicated for not much in return, not enough bang for the buck in other words. As I recall it is possible to turn it off at least on some cars. But that usually has to be done every time you start the car.
No, if you read the links in the previous discussion, they get points for just coming up with stuff-proven or not.
This is NOT a result of the normal operation of the start stop function. Something is wrong with your car, and the dealer needs to fix it. The explanations they offered are nonsense. Get it in writing every time you take it in, you need a record in case this turns into a lemon law case. And start elevating this at the dealer and with Ford.
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They only “get points” when the fuel economy tests demonstrate an improvement, however slight. Stop/start gives a very real improvement in city driving, not to mention the benefits of reduced air pollution.
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