Well, here it is, had the throttle cable replaced due to the recall, well, it is doing the same thing again, but worse. just need some suggestions, did ford actually replace the cable with a redesigned one, or put a new one on just to get us past the 36k mile mark, now it is our problem? what exactly sticks on this thing, is it the cable or the throttle blade? anything you can come up with, let me know, i would appreciate it.

 

Hey Vortechf150,

I'm not sure about the escape, but my Explorer was experiencing the same issue and I just talked the local Ford dealer, service manager, who is a friend of mine, and he immediately said mine was the throttle body. Check my post today in the explorer section of this forum. The post is kind a long because of the call I made to Ford. I hope this helps. You can look in the Recalls/TSBs tab at the top of the page to see if your vehicle was affected by the same one they said mine was not included in. You can also go to www.genuineservice.com and enter your VIN number to find out if anything else is available in a recall. I hope this helps.

Racnfirecapn

 

If it's sticking when you first press on the gas and usually worse in cold weather, then it's the throttle body. You can continously replace the TB and still have the issue every 40k miles. Remove the TB, take a soft toothbrush and some cleaner (injector, B12, etc). Sit on the curb and brush the butterfly and that nasty black ring that develops on the TB where the butterfly closes. Ford claims to have some "special" lubricant on the TB to prevent this and doesn't suggest cleaning the TB. But they also get $40 or so for every TB too. I brushed my aluminum 02 Escape TB twice by 85k miles and I've already had to brush the plastic TB on my 05 Escape at just under 30k miles. The 05 was under warranty but it takes less than 30 minutes...I'd spend more time fooling with the dealership.

Another way to check the TB. Remove the plastic engine cover (assuming the V6) and open the throttle by hand. Let it slam shut and if you feel the stickyness when opening it again, then it's the TB.

A few people have had issues with the gas pedal being sticky but it's not common. Ford used a black paint where the pivot pin rocks under the gas pedal. This issue is fixed by fine sanding the pivot pin. But it's not the most common cause. It's also a joy to remove the gas pedal while twisting your body in the floorboard.

 

Just had my throttle cable recall done. Works normally now except so i would suggest you get it checked at another dealer

 

well, this is what i found, i took apart the intake hoses, and inside of the throttle body where the blade comes in contact with the body, is where a lot of gunk accumulates around it, i used carb/intake cleaner, and a round stiff bottle brush, and ran it back and forth until it showed up clean, on top and under the blade while holding it open,after that, it quit sticking. so i guess this is going to be a normal occurence. when it sticks, clean, and good to go. maybe the tolerances between the throttle blade and body are too close, probably what ford did while changing the cable, it probably wasn't even anything wrong with it at all. just my 2 cents.

 

That was the wrong product to use. It is too harsh and removes the factory coating. There is a throttle body cleaner available for this specific purpose.

 

But it works fine. Apparently, the coating doesn't do what it is supposed to do anyhow.

 

Wrong product to use? well, all i know is, i did this, last week, and she is still driving it, and she has said nothing about it sticking. as for a coating, i have been dealing with racing and such for several years, and with mustangs and trucks and their throttle bodies, never seen they had a coating, factory and aftermarket. not saying you are not right gator, but i did not see one, and like Doctor stated, if it was wrong, it sure as heck worked, and it is not sticking. don't have to worry about it sticking and you leaving a light and squealing the tires in front of a cop.

 

This is a DIRECT quote from the Ford Escape 2002 Workshop Manual 303-04A-3 (the factory manual):

"CAUTION: Throttle body bore and plate area have a special coating and should not be cleaned."

That being said, IF you are going to clean it, use the correct product. There are special products for this purpose which are "friendly" to this coating. Carb/choke cleaner is not one of them.