I bought a 2013 Ford Escape in March of 2016 and have had a recurring problem ever since. I get a problem message on my display stating " ENGINE FAULT - SERVICE NOW" and the car will slow down, buck, and hesitate as if it is about to stall (although it never has yet). I have to pull over, put the car in park, shut off the ignition, then restart, and then the car runs normally…for 3 days or 3 weeks, or whenever until the same thing happens again. The dealer has replaced the “Electronic Throttle Body” and replaced all the spark plugs to no avail. I even brought it back in for service twice while the problem was happening, and he attached it to his computer to retrieve an “error code” but he still doesn’t seem to know what is causing it. I have heard from others that this particular make and model has a history of this problem, but I have contacted Ford and still have no solution. Any ideas on what could be at the root of this problem?
And none of these people ever solved the problem?
My first guess would be a bad computer.
Sorry you are having this frustration Linda. There used to be a part unique to Fords that would fail & cause this problem Part named something like " differential vacuum modulator" or the like. DPE something-something were the initials I think. Somebody here probably remembers the actual name of that part. If your Escape has that part, that’s something to suspect anyway. It’s a part unique to Ford, other cars don’t seem to have it. Or if they have it, it isn’t a common failure items in other cars.
BTW, replacing parts to fix problems isn’t a very effective solution on modern cars. Used to work ok on older cars, but with modern cars you can quickly run out of money before running out of guesses. If the CEL (or engine fault) light comes on, that means a diagnostic code set has been stored. If you post all the codes stored, folks here could come up w/some ideas what might actually be causing it. Without the codes its just a guessing game. You paid for the diagnostic software when you bought the car, so you might as well take advantage and use it.
If you’d like me to offer a guess based on what you say, it seems like the engine is missing in a major way. That means the cylinders are not firing consistently, and gasoline is just going in one side and being blown out the tailpipe much of the time. Usally that is a spark, fuel, or mixture problem. That part I mentioned above, when it fails I think it causes a mixture problem. If it isn’t that, my next guess would be the crank position sensor or a failing ignition module (both spark problems). But if you can, post the diagnostic codes and you’ll get some actual ideas, not just guesses.
DPFE (something like Differential EGR valve Pressure Feedback position sensor). On my '06 Mountaineer, it is now combined with the EGR valve.
You are not alone: CarComplaints.com has many 2013 Ford Escape owner complaints on this issue: My link takes you directly to the discussion. There are 102 TSBs and 14 recalls on the Escape for 2013. Yikes.
I looked at that carcomplaints.com website
My gut feeling is the problem is related to the electronic throttle body
An egr could definitely cause this. If you activate an egr when its not supposed to, it will choke the engine.
I’m not familiar with the 2013 Escape, but I’d be kind of surprised if it had EGR
Problem on every model year through 2016. http://repairpal.com/failure-of-egr-differential-pressure-sensor-319#
Hopefully that’s it, b/c it seems from what folks say here, replacing that part fixes the problem straight away.
My 2013 Escape just did this today! I shut my car off and turned it back on and it ran like normal. Did you ever figure out what the problem was?
Mine light came on today, I got the oil changed at the dealer and started my car and there was the message that said engine fault, they cleared the warning, so far it hasn’t came back on. I have noticed some lagging in my take off.
My car has been doing this too… has anyone found the issue ??? Called dealership and they said they can’t fix it until the light appears again and to drive to them immediately.