Hey all,

I bought my 05 Escape Limited AWD in 2006. It had 21,000 km. Since then i have drove it to 242,000 km with nary a problem

Two weeks ago I got on the highway to go home, stomped on the gas and it died. It went into limp in mode so I was able to make it the 600m to the exit.

I had it taked to a reputable garage here, and thats when the fun started.

1. The first diagnosis was a failed Camshaft Positioning Sensor
2. The 2nd diagnosis was a failed Crankshaft Synchronization Sensor
3. The 3rd diagnosis was a failed ECM

They were quite adamant that the 3rd diagnosis was the issue. So i authorized them to replace the ECM with a refurbished one. I couldnt afford to pay 1300$ for a new one.

Days later I call up and they tell me that the ECM has been replaced but now there are two coils that are shot in the motor.

So knowing that they may have been the ones to have broken the coils I authorized them to replace the coils at 130$ a piece.

They called me back a few hours later, an hour before I am supposed to pick up my Escape, and tell me that it wont do over 60km an hour (45 miles an hour). That was last thursday.

I have been lurking on this site for some time and never found anything about anyone having the same types of problems. I understand that there a process to diagnosing what is actually wrong, but I am gettin the feeling that I have just been fleeced for 1250$. I am waiting for the garage to call me back now because they are test driving the Escape.

Does anyone have any advice or know of anyone that has had the same series of problems? Really I have never had one issue with this truck other than this:

Last summer I bought 3 tanks of cheap gas (off of an indian reserved here) and my gas mileage went bad. On the last take the "Check Emmissions Systems" light came on. A mechanic in Toronto changed the fuel filter and something else and I have never had the problem again.

Other than that this truck has been extremely reliable. And as I stated I have never had an issue with it at all.

One more thing, I am Canadian so:
242,000kms is roughly 160,000miles
60km/h is roughly 45 mil/h

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Tom

 

Well just got my Escape back from the mechanics.

It was the front catalytic converter coming apart clogging the last catalytic converter.

 

My Dad had similar trouble with his 2001 F-150 and took it to two seperate garages, getting three seperate diagnosis, (O2 sensors, MAF sensor and EGR valve)none of which fixed his problem. He then took it to the Ford dealer and the problem was found to be three weak (not dead but weak) coils. They also found that one of the two new O2sensors that had been installed was faulty. It has ran fine ever since. The moral of the story is that sometimes the scanner tools that local garages use cannot compete with the equipment that the dealers have. The dealers computers are updated daily whereas local garages up date theirs whenever they can afford or justify it. Good luck.

 

Catalystic converters are often overlooked. Thanks for posting your experience.

 

These coils have been known to take the computer out with them.

Also a severely misfiring engine can damage a converter in short order.

I doubt the cam/crank sensor had anything to do with it, but the rest could have all been related.

 

The mechanic told me that a failed coil could take out the computer, something about an electrical surge shorting it out.

The thing is, I have never noticed a misfire in the motor. When the truck went into limp in mode i had to mat it to get the next highway exit though. Could this have exasperated an existing problem with the catalytic converters?

 

If you never changed the spark plugs in the 242Km, you could have had plugs that were misfiring, causing the COP[coil on plug] coils to have to 'eat' the sparks they were generating, and possibly feeding 'back EMF' through the wires to the driver transistors in the computer. The computer 'eats' the electricity, providing a ground for the coils to build up the magnetic field in the coil, and then 'open', to make the field collapse and make spark. When the coil can't send that through the plug, it has to go somewhere...
At the same time, if the plugs were misfiring, you could have fed the catalytic converter the fuel/air mix that was not lit off by the spark plug. How fast? I dunno. You likely cooked the converter in the 600m run to the next exit as you had it floored and it wouldn't get out of its own way. Thatsa lotta unburned gas... Did you happen to look under to see the cherry-red converters burning all that gas? It worked, and went over 60kph before you had the 'instantaneous' trouble, and then, it didn't, and that was only found out after the ignition parts had been replaced that were damaged and faulty.
One thing led to another. Here's to another 240+km.
tom

 

Usually a bad MAF/O2 sensor or a leak between the MAF and throttle body would cause a severe enough rich condition to take out a catcon. I've not *personally* seen simple misfire foul a catcon, especially one that's not detectable.

A failed coil can definitely take out the ECU. I wouldn't call foul on the shop for the coils or ECU failure. The faulty ECU could have caused the overly rich condition though...

 

I had the plugs and wires done in Sept 10. Here in Ontario we have to emissions tests every two years. So I did my oil change (every 5k), filters and plugs and wires.

I did the emissions in November and it was so good it didnt even register above 0.00 all across.

I know this whole thing is compounded. I do a ton of highway driving, so if there was a small misfire happening I am not sure if i would have noticed.

I am waiting for a used catalytic converter system for the Escape. I need two manifolds and the main converter at the Y pipe. If i buy this new then I am looking at about 1500$ with labor. So right now I am driving on what the mechanic is calling a 25% clogged system after he has removed the front converter.

The mechanic has said that I will be okay for a bit in normal driving conditions, and has said to stay off the highway. So my trip home on the weekends has gone from 1hr to 3.5 hrs .

 

I didnt look under the Escape, I did look under the hood, I didnt see any cherry red converters. But I did smell the unburned gas. It smelled like my 83 mustang used to smell when i would flood the motor on cold mornings.