While we love our Escape when it is working, However, I am beginning to question the quality of these vehicles. At 102,000 km the alternator went. Being a 2007, there was no aftermarket alternators availalbe and the dealership wanted $400 just for the part. So I did it myself and took it to an auto-electric place to be rebuilt. Cost me abou $300 in the end, after I had to replace the lower control arm because I tore the ball joint boot (oh did I mention you have to remove the right drive shaft to get the alternator out).

Anywa, last week at 124,000 km my transmission suffered from the runaway line pressure problem that appears, after researching, to be common with the CD4E transmission.

The first indication of any problem was that it didn't seem to want to shift up (rpms ran high) then abruptly shifted. Later, once I knew the problem, I realised that it was unable to shift into second. Immediately after that the O/D light began to flash. I was on my way home, so I continued on the service road, and then parked it when I got home. After pluggin in my scanner, I got codes PO7032 and PO7034, Gear 2 and Gear 4 Incorrect Ratio respectively.

After talking to my local transmission specialist he indicated that it could possibly be the band between 2nd/4th only, but he would have to take it apart to no for sure. So, I had it towed there and had him look at it. Problem turns out to be a design flaw in these trannies that sometimes causes this runaway line pressure to cause damage inside the transmission. It has blown off the band between 2nd/4th and started to crack the drum. So, in the end, it will be a full tranny rebuild, plus he is adding in an aftermarket shift kit that is supposed to address this issue, so I shouldn't run into it again. End price - $2500 + tax.

Now, after spending time researching auto transmission (I much prefer manuals, but this is for my wife to drive) I've learned that shortening the duration can help with transmission life. While it will make the shifts less smotth and feel rougher, from what I've read, it will help reduce wear on the clutch disks and produce less heat in the transmssion. So that being the case, would the SCT X3 be able to accomplish this or does it only change the shift points? If that won't do the trick is there another programmable tuner available that would?

Like I said, we love our Escape, when it is working. So, I'll suffer some harder shifts if it means the tranny will last much longer.