Engine Shutdown on Shift To Neutral
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2nd Gear
Joined: Jun 2010
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Engine Shutdown on Shift To Neutral
I was test driving a 2003 Escape with 70k miles. I wanted to make sure the 4x4 On worked. The Escape was already warm as I had driven it about 4 miles at this point. I stopped, switched from Auto to 4x4 On and then drove slowly in the empty parking lot. (Yes, I know 4x4 On on dry pavement is not recommended. I didn't intend to run it this way for more than 30 secs.) When I went to make a turn, to see if the rear tires were truly locked, the engine simply shutdown. No stutter, or other hint that it was laboring.
I figured I probably caused that shutdown. I then shifted to Park, turned 4x4 back to Auto, and restarted the engine. As soon as I shifted to Neutral, the engine shutdown again. No stutter, no rough idle.
Again I returned it to Park, started the engine, and shifted to Neutral, and again it shutdown. Returned to Park, restarted. It ran fine in Park. No stutter or rough Idle. I let it run this way for about 30 seconds. I shifted to Neutral and again the engine shutdown.
I was able to repeat this two more times. Finally I figured I restart and just shift to Drive skipping over Idle as fast as possible. Especially since it always took about a second in Idle before the engine would shutdown. That worked, and I was able to drive it all the way back to the dealer without mishap.
Upon returning to the dealer, I thought I'd try to cause the shutdown one more time, but whatever had caused the prior shutdowns had since gone away and I was unable to get a shutdown shifting from Park to Neutral.
I passed on that Escape, but I've been wondering ever since if this behavior was the result of something I did, tripping a fault condition in the computer, that took awhile to clear, or if this is a known problem. I have read about spurious engine shutdowns in Escapes, but this doesn't seem to fit usual shutdown cases.
I figured I probably caused that shutdown. I then shifted to Park, turned 4x4 back to Auto, and restarted the engine. As soon as I shifted to Neutral, the engine shutdown again. No stutter, no rough idle.
Again I returned it to Park, started the engine, and shifted to Neutral, and again it shutdown. Returned to Park, restarted. It ran fine in Park. No stutter or rough Idle. I let it run this way for about 30 seconds. I shifted to Neutral and again the engine shutdown.
I was able to repeat this two more times. Finally I figured I restart and just shift to Drive skipping over Idle as fast as possible. Especially since it always took about a second in Idle before the engine would shutdown. That worked, and I was able to drive it all the way back to the dealer without mishap.
Upon returning to the dealer, I thought I'd try to cause the shutdown one more time, but whatever had caused the prior shutdowns had since gone away and I was unable to get a shutdown shifting from Park to Neutral.
I passed on that Escape, but I've been wondering ever since if this behavior was the result of something I did, tripping a fault condition in the computer, that took awhile to clear, or if this is a known problem. I have read about spurious engine shutdowns in Escapes, but this doesn't seem to fit usual shutdown cases.
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