2017 Ford Escape

Coolant leakage, intrusion into the engine block. This is a KNOWN issue by Ford. They have issued technical service bulletins to address it (attached), but those programs were only offered for a limited time and are expired, even though they know the issue exists. Also, owners were not notified of this because it wasn't an official recall.

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 10 MPH and attempting a right turn, the “High Temperature - Fire Risk” message was displayed, and the vehicle independently shut off while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact started to merge the vehicle into a shopping center. An independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The thermostat was replaced, and the remaining coolant was drained and refilled, and the coolant temperature sensor was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure had occurred twice. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall or warranty on the vehicle for the repair. The contact was informed that if the vehicle was repaired out of pocket and then there became a recall for the failure, there was a possibility of being reimbursed. The approximate failure mileage was 88,344.

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that soon after the engine was replaced by the dealer under warranty, the vehicle started to hesitate and jerk while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The failure worsened, and the contact initially called the dealer and was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic, where the vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure, and the contact was provided with estimates to replace the transmission. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and the contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The contact was then referred to the NHTSA for additional assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000.

The vehicle has experienced consistent overheating issues and coolant leak this Fall. My mechanic searched and realized that there were hundreds of thousands of vehicles that experienced engine performance issues traced to coolant intrusion—a known problem in certain Ford 2.0L EcoBoost engines (model years around 2015–2019). Coolant leaked into the cylinders, causing misfires and eventual engine failure. While this issue is widely documented and addressed under Ford’s Customer Satisfaction Program (CSP 21N12), it is not part of an official safety recall. As a result, coverage is limited to specific warranty or mileage criteria, leaving some vehicles, including this one, ineligible for repair under the program despite the severity of the failure. I have no recourse for this, and it seems as though a very costly repair is likely even though there is a known issue that Ford has acknowledged and fixed for many other owners.

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and there was a misfire coming from the engine. In addition, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the contact stated that the failure had occurred while the contact was driving on the highway. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with a misfire in cylinders #2 and #3. The vehicle was diagnosed with coolant intrusion and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

In 2023, at around 77,000 miles the engine block in my moms 2017 Ford Escape Titanium (2.0L EcoBoost) cracked due to coolant intrusion and we had to have it replaced. Although the engine was replaced, the replacement engine was the same model, just from 2016 instead of 2017. The engine is still running fine, but due to the poor manufacturing of the engine block, I am worried it will happen again soon since the car itself has 108,000 miles, and the engine has around 85,000.