2017 Ford Escape

On 1/13/26, vehicle was taken to Don Hinds Ford, Fishers, IN 46038-2892 for loss of coolant and sporadic shaking during start. Service performed diagnostic "Diagnostic: PERFORMED COOLANT PRESSURE TEST AND USED BOROSCOPE TO INSPECT EACH CYLINDER. FOUND CYL# 3 & 4 TO HAVE COOANT INTRUSION. RECOMEND REPLACEMENT OF ENGINE LONG BLOCK." Service recommendation "Engine Rebuild/Replace: REPLCEMENT OF ENGINE LONG BLOCK VIA TSB 22-2229" totaling $9,229.68 to be paid by customer. TSB 22-2229 is expired and vehicle has 82K miles. Known issue with this engine design, but not covered by Ford. I contacted Ford Customer Service requesting goodwill assistance or out-of-warranty coverage. Both were denied over the phone.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Engine, Yes. There is a known coolant intrusion engine fault with ford escapes. ford has issued TSBs over this How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Engine abruptly died. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Yes Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No

Coolant intrusion due to head gasket wear from Ecoboost, a known defect on the Ford Escape from 2013-2019. Yes, safety was put at risk, as the entire vehicle started shaking violently without warning on the expressway due to misfire caused from coolant intrusion. Vehicle is currently at Roy O'Brien Ford, SCS MI, where it was diagnosed having coolant intrusion. No warning lights appeared until the incident on [XXX], with a flashing check engine light while driving, with the vehicle shaking violently. Prior to, I could feel and see the RPM's bouncing. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Coolant Intrusion: A design flaw in the open-deck engine block allows coolant to leak into the combustion chambers, leading to misfires, white smoke, and severe engine damage. Affected Vehicles: Primarily 2017-2019 Escapes and 2014-2019 Fusions with the 1.5L EcoBoost engine, built before specific dates. Symptoms: Low coolant, white exhaust smoke, rough idling, check engine light, and DTCs like P0300, P0301-P0304.

I am the single owner of this 2017 Ford Escape with an Eco-boost 2.0L engine. This vehicle has only been serviced by Ford dealerships. at approximately 60K miles I noticed a lag in acceleration between 1200-2200 RPM. At 88K this lag became more violent, and I took the car to a Ford dealership for diagnosis. No warning lights had illuminated. The ford dealership advised me that there was coolant intrusion in the cylinders, and an entire new long block engine was required. After researching I learned that the 2017 had a design flaw that allows coolant to leak into the combustion chambers. in 2020 Ford redesigned the engine from an open deck to a closed deck. Due to Fords design flaw, I required a completely new long block engine and was able to confirm it was the new closed deck design at a cost of $14K. This problem boils down to the engine's open deck cooling design, which causes premature gasket failure and sometimes cracks between the cylinders. These problems don't affect the earlier versions of these engines due to their closed deck system, which was used prior to the introduction of the 2017 Escape. Ford has acknowledged this problem, but the fix isn't a simple one - it requires a long block replacement, which is obviously a labor intensive and expensive job. How to we get Ford to be responsible for the costs associated with changing the engine out from their flawed design? This could have been an on highway incident since there were no warning lights or other visible issues.

It is only the low beams, but every couple months, the passenger side goes out. Then within 3 weeks to 2 months later the driver's side goes out. This has been happening since a month after I bought the car in 2021. This does not matter if they are changed individually when one of them goes out or if they are both changed at the same time. Occasionally, they will both just go out at the same time. This is extremely unsafe when driving down the road. I have had the car looked at by different mechanics different times when this issue was happens. It can happen when I turn the car on and it's just been running a few minutes or while i'm doing city, highway and interstate driving. Today is the most recent time it happened my passenger side just went out again. The passenger and drivers side light bulbs (low beans) were last changed just after Thanksgiving. I have never had any issues with the high beams. Those have worked just fine. It is only the low beams.

I bought my 2017 Ford Escape from Cocoa Ford in Cocoa, FL on 8/23/2025. Less than a month after purchase, I noticed the coolant was low, and that the engine was making a weird noise. I also had the check engine light come on two different times and after using an OBD reader, I got code P0303. After the first instance, around Mid-November, 2025, I cleared the code myself, but then immediately scheduled an appointment with my mechanic. Seaside Auto Repair in Satellite Beach, FL on November 24, 2025. They came back stating that the problem is a known issue with Ford Escape cars, citing [XXX] & [XXX] . No repairs were made at this time, as I was assessing my options. Shortly after taking the car to the mechanic was when the check engine light came on again. Around December 5, 2025. Due to the holidays, and the car seemingly getting me to point A to Point B without too much trouble when I wasn't driving far, and constantly monitoring the coolant levels, which continued to drop, even after topping off, I have been waiting until after the new years to seek further mechanical fixes, however on Jan 1, 2026, while driving on the highway, my car began to shake, and I had a flashing check engine light on. I immediately returned home, about an additional 25 minutes of driving, and have not driven the car since. Since this is a known issue, Ford should be responsible for the fixes and/or replacement of my car. It is asinine that this issue does not yet have a recall. I will be reaching out to Ford directly to see if they will assist with this matter, but for now, I wanted to voice my concern about this issue. I'm lucky I was close to home when the issue became more serious. I have attached the invoice from my mechanic, which also includes a descriptions of their findings. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

This is related to the class action lawsuit 2:20-cv-01796-DAD-CKD Miller v. Ford Motor Co. Concerning alleged engine defects in Ford vehicles, specifically focusing on issues like excessive oil consumption and premature failure in certain EcoBoost engines. My engine has developed symptoms regarding the known coolant leak into the engine. The engine looses power when accellerating, and produces white exhaust after starting cold. Replacing spark plugs and coils did not resolve the issue. I checked the coolant level and it was below the minimum, and I had to add more coolant. The ECU has logged misfires at cylinder 2 and 4. The MIL turns on intermittently.