What 563 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 Ford Escape Gas

The flex plate is cracked. Possible missing dowels.

NHTSA ODI 11686328

According to my local ford dealership, the rattling/clicking sound in my engine is due to a faulty water pump which is apparently a known problem for a 2019 ford escape. I did not even have a check engine light appear and just happened to have my vehicle there for a different reason. This is an extensive and costly fix that should not be an issue with a 6 year old vehicle with 77k miles. With this being a common/known fault for EcoSport engines, it affects the safety of my engine and all passengers and other drivers.

NHTSA ODI 11685375

My 2019 Ford Escape 2.0 Titanium has a KNOWN coolant intrusion issue where it is leaking into the engine. This began as my car shook on startup, then the check engine light would come on. Drove it a little ways, check engine turned off. Took my car into the repair shop and they looked up the stored code and it was P0301 cylinder #1 misfire detected and P0316 misfire detected on start up first 1,000 revolutions. Car seemed ok, so took it back. Happened again, 2x, check engine light on, off, then on again when I brought it back in. Same codes again. Mechanic said coolant low, removed cylinder #1 spark plug and sent camera into cylinder, found coolant leaking into cylinder. They said I need an entirely new engine, as this has been occurring a LOT with these EcoBoost vehicles. Ford had an open recall but only acknowledged a small amount of vehicles, mine not one of them, and there is currently a lawsuit against Ford because this has been happening to so many people. We are getting nowhere with Ford, they won't acknowledge the issue on the EcoBoost and now we have to come up with nearly $10k to replace an entire engine when the car isn't even worth $8k. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS! Some people are having this issue at 50K Miles!!! This is not ok!!

NHTSA ODI 11683883

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road. The check engine warning light was illuminated, and the contact received a power train malfunction notification through the Mobile App. The vehicle was able to restart but failed to respond while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The dealer determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was difficult to start but was started after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to Loganville Ford (3460 US-78, Loganville, GA 30052); where it was diagnosed and determined that the cam seals, the crankshaft sensor and harness, and the timing components needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the engine was previously replaced in 2021, and the fuel pump was replaced in 2023 due to the stalling failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 98,117.

NHTSA ODI 11683742

The Ford dealer just advised that I need an entire new engine at a cost of $10,000 for a crack in the block, causing coolant to leak into cylinder three, potentially causing critical failure and danger while driving the vehicle. This is a known defect in this motor, which the manufacturer/Ford refuses to address.

NHTSA ODI 11682643

at 96800 upon start up there was a cloud of white smoke and a check engine light. It was taken to the local ford dealer for diagnosis. Code was P303 and P316 indicating a misfire. the car was found to have coolant intrusion in cylinder 3 and would need a long block replacement. reference used was TSB 22-2229. This type of engine failure is know to ford due to design of coolant channels between cylinders. This could have cause sudden engine failure while drive resulting in an accident and injury or engine fire due to insufficient cooling causing loss of property and/or injury.

NHTSA ODI 11682573

The vehicle is suffering from an engine failure. It has a check engine light DTC PO303 with a heavy misfire. This causes to engine to lose power at times preventing proper acceleration which could lead to an accident. Ford has a technical service bulletin [TSB 22-2229 ] that describes the failure and the required repair. The problem is a design issue, but Ford is not covering any out of warranty repairs.

NHTSA ODI 11682170

Leaked coolant into second cylinder caused engine failure. This is a known issue with this model. No prior warnings, check engine light came on as the engine lost power. Risk of total engine failure.

NHTSA ODI 11681529

Stop /Start button would kill the car would need a jump. Coolant leak in engine blew a gasket. Need a new engine. 54,000 moles on a 2019 Fors Escape

NHTSA ODI 11681400

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shuddered abnormally. The contact believed that a fuel cleaner needed to be added to the fuel tank. The contact stated that the engine revved abnormally. While at a stoplight, the vehicle failed to drive forward and stalled. The contact stated that the axle and turbocharger had been repaired prior to the failure. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000.

NHTSA ODI 11680879

Coolant in cylinder causing overheating, misfiring of cylinder 3 and cracked engine block

NHTSA ODI 11680941

Replaced engine blowing a lot of smoke out of the exhaust when starting engine and it didn't do that before the new remanufacured engine was installed.

NHTSA ODI 11679749

Coolant is leaking and causing the cylinders to misfire. The check engine light is illuminated. This problem has been confirmed by the service department at my local Ford dealership. The repair is to replace the short block with an updated part and estimated cost is $5000-6000. My 2019 Ford Escape has only 79,000 miles on it and has been well-maintained. This leakage will definitely put myself and others at risk when my vehicle breaks down. The check engine light appeared on Thursday, July 31st. I brought the car immediately to the dealership. Since I did not have a scheduled appointment, they did a quick diagnostic and reset to see if it would happen again. The check engine light came back on the next day. I brought it in for a service appointment today after returning from being out of town last week.

NHTSA ODI 11679803

There's currently a coolant intrusion issue with my 2019 Ford escape and I see that there was a recall on this for all Ford escapes from the years of 2017 through 2019 and I wanted to see if this will be covered for repairs

NHTSA ODI 11679924

Coolant leak into the engine.

NHTSA ODI 11678155

coolent intrusion int the motor - no notice given regarding a previous recall

NHTSA ODI 11677799

White smoke coming out of exhaust smelled of antifreeze. Took to Ford dealer in Eagle River, Wisconsin: Dealer found coolant in #1 cylinder and wrote on receipt - headgasket block failure, recommend replacing engine. Service writer said this is due to a defect in engine block being a slit machined in block between cylinders by Ford. Dealer quote for engine replacement was $9500.

NHTSA ODI 11677305

2019 Ford escape titanium with 62000 miles.check engine light came on once and went off- took to dealer and was told the coolant was going into engine. Had an extended warranty to 75000 miles because of issue I had when car was brand new-brake release switch. Now I am told that warranty expired last year even though there is not 75000 on it yet. They are telling me I need a 8700 dollar new engine. I am [XXX] and this car is like new. Please help! I bought this brand new and only put about 10000 a year on it INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11676860

The vehicle's engine shutdown while driving on the highway, forcing me to pull to shoulder in traffic. We had it towed to Ford and were advised that the engine was blown due to coolant intrusion into the cylinders. We're told the engine is totaled and they quoted us almost $15,000 USD for the repairs. There is a know recall notice for this exact issue, however we were told it only covers up 85,000 miles and our vehicle has 94,000 miles. We had brought it to a Ford dealership for an oil change 6 months prior and they didn't say anything about it. The dealership/manufacturer refuses any accountability, and offered us $1,500 loyalty discount if we purchased a new Ford vehicle from them. The SUV was in like new condition prior the engine failure (ie. no damage).

NHTSA ODI 11676778

the night prior to my car breaking down I Did notice the car began to lose horsepower to move just a little bit not to much to worry about than the check engine light did appear on dash that night. Code popped up for misfire in cylinder 1. SO changed the spark plugs and light went off , next day light was on and smoke began coming out of the tailpipe.

NHTSA ODI 11675813

Coolant intrusion issue caused by a defect from Ford. They are refusing to fix the issue.

NHTSA ODI 11675507

My Ford Escape was driving as usual, but as I was traveling on a down ramp in a left turning lane, the engine overheated abruptly and serious audible and visual alerts appeared on the screen. I was in heavy traffic and was forced to pull over quickly into the right turning lane. This could have easily caused an accident because all of a sudden, the Escape started stalling and would hardly move. It was terrifying, and I was barely able to maneuver it into a nearby parking lot. That night, it was towed to a Ford dealership that inspected it and now says that I need a new engine because the engine block is cracked.

NHTSA ODI 11675142

Car has been experiencing the misfire in cylinder four. This is a known cause in the 1.5 L escapes. This is a 2.0 but it has the same issues not fair that they fixed 1.5 L and not the 2.0 causes a misfire due to coolant leaking into the cylinder burning coolant and then causing the motor to overheat. When that happens, you can be going on the highway and have an abrupt warning that causes the vehicle to drop to 20 mph without notice causing extreme safety concerns for just not the driver but anyone around especially on highways.

NHTSA ODI 11675192

After turning the car on, the car started to shake for a couple minutes, the engine light came on after a few minutes of the car doing that. Took it to get it scanned and the code given was P0302 and P0304. Took the car to a ford dealership and after almost a week it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the cylinders and needed it a new engine. Since the coolant was leaking it also damaged the power steering system due to rust and an electronic power steering gear was also needed since it was giving intermittent failure and was very hard to turn the car. Ford is not owning anything and it is clearly an engine poor design by ford. It is happening to thousands of owner that have that engine.

NHTSA ODI 11674800

My engine had a coolant leak a few years ago (2021) and needed a complete engine replacement since the car would no longer run. Since it was under warranty then it was replaced. However, the engine once again has had a major issue with the engine bearing and needs another full replacement and will no longer run. Many people are struggling with needing to get full engine replacements on Ford Escapes. There are Ford retailers keeping stocks of Ford Escape engines in preparation for these engine replacements, but Ford has refused to offer any assistance for this known issue. Requiring a 2nd full engine replacement at the value of the car itself is absurd. I received a warning message on my car, but when I took it in to have the issue assessed - it was notified as a minor gas cap issue.

NHTSA ODI 11673977