I got my '05 Sport earlier this month and have less than 1800 miles on it (300 when I got it). The other day, the air conditioner quit blowing cool air so I called the dealer and scheduled an appointment for next week. Well, we drove it about 10 miles to the nearest city (from our small town) and on the way back the engine light came on and the engine died. I got it restarted but when I accelerated it made an awful knocking noise and I had very little horsepower. I drove 3 miles home at less than 40 mph. When I finally got home I noticed that the temp guage was pegged on H (I don't know why I didn't notice the guage beforehand. I feel dumb that I didn't). Checking the manual, we realized that it went into failsafe cooling mode. Further review found that there was little to no water/coolant in the system (yet I have seen no signs of leaks). Tried letting it cool for a bit, then put warm water in the tank. Started the engine but it doesn't appear to pulling any of the water from the tank.

I will, of course, call the dealer Monday to come get the thing. My question is, did driving those three miles harm the engine? I'm not sure the techs, even if they did know, would tell me yes. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

Got my Escape back today. The problem was two loose clamps on the lower driver-side radiator hose. Covered under warranty.

I asked the service manager about potential engine damage. His response was (and I paraphrase), that the diagnostics checked out fine. There are enough fail-safes programmed into the PCM that the engine would have completely shut down before it got hot enough to cause permanent damage. (The fail-safe cooling mode did kick in, even if the manual says it's only on the 4-cyl). Additionally, he said if there was damage, it will be discovered within 4-5,000 miles (and still be under warranty).

 

Strange it would say the I4 and not the V6. I've owned both Escapes and I'll plead ignorance as to whether both had failsafe. I had an F150 with a V8 and it had the failsafe mode so it may be standard on all Fords now.

Not that I would want to drive mine with the temp gauge pegged but he's right. Any damage should show real soon. Engine noise or a head/gasket issue. Since oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure, check the radiator/overflow in a few days when it's been sitting overnight. If you have a gasket/head issue, oil would mix with the coolant and would float to the top. I experienced this once on an overheating vehicle.

 

yeah if there was any damage it will develop well before your warranty is up.. i wouldn't worry too much about it

 

I have always though there was a temp. light for escapes that will come on if the engine is too hot.

 

My 05 XLS has a temp. gauage and (I assume) a temp. idiot light.

 

Watch for leaks as well as oil in the radiator.
After running to operating temp park overnight in the garage with plain clean paper or cardboard under it. A couple sheets of white poster board works best. This will catch what leaks and show you the color also.
When you look for oil in the radiator reservoir, I would also open the radiator cap in dip your finger in it to feel if the coolant is oily. While running a lot of times you will also see tiny bubbles in the radiator. These come from the compression being forced through a bad head gasket.

 

I would check the oil for water. If you have water in the oil, you will see a milky subtance on the dipstick or in the oil you drain when you change the oil. Checking the dipsitck was probably the extent of their engine damage "diagnastics". Driving those three miles wasn't a good thing but you are probably going to be OK.

I would also look for smoke in the exhaust, especially at start-up in the morning or after it's had an opportunity to sit for an extended period (like overnight). This would indicate damage to valve seals that may have been cooked. If it smokes at all while driving, it would indicate damage to piston rings.

Hope all turns out well.