2018 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle with a cracked cylinder head and coolant intrusion into the cylinders. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12 (Short Block Replacement After Coolant Intrusion); however, the vehicle was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact was informed by his wife that while driving at various speeds and while the vehicle was idling, the vehicle was shaking abnormally. The contact was informed that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that while the check engine warning light was illuminated, the vehicle failed to unlock using the key fob, and the driver had to unlock the vehicle manually by entering the code on the driver’s side door. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that coolant was leaking into cylinders #2 and #3. The dealer confirmed that the failure was related to Technical Service Bulletin: 22/2229; NHTSA ID Number: 10214126 (Engine and Engine Cooling) with a defective short block to be replaced by a long block. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA ID Number: 10214126 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 53,600.

Vehicle has a known issue with the coolant leaking into the engine and causing the engine block to fail. This has been documented thousands of times with almost 100 complaints on this site. Our vehicle has 34,000 miles on it and the engine had catastrophic failure while driving, which could have caused a fatal accident. Thankfully, it didn't cause any damage or injuries. The engine is going to cost $10,500 to replace and Ford is not assisting with any of the cost. The Ford repair shop has confirmed that this is what occurred.

My vehicle received a short block repair under CSP 21N12 in 2023 at my ford dealership. Now, less than two years later, the same issue has returned — coolant intrusion into the cylinders, visible white exhaust, and oil leaks, with an estimate for the full repair is $15,000, from this same ford dealership where I purchased the car clearly the recall repair did not fix this issue of coolant intrusion. Dealer diagnosed the issue as long block pressure tested cooling system for over an hour system dropped 8 PSI, Engine consuming coolant into cylinders and burning through exhaust. Dealer Recommends replacing long block with new engine and replacing one time use parts with new turbo at 15k. I still owe on the loan this is the same problem as the recall.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into the cylinder, which caused the engine to fail. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the same assessment was made; the contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. No further information was available. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 89,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 MPH, the check engine warning light started flashing, and the message "Engine Fault" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic, where the contact was informed that the coolant reservoir was empty, and the coolant reservoir was refilled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the water pump had failed and needed to be replaced. The water pump was replaced; however, the failure recurred approximately three and a half hours later. The vehicle was inspected by a certified mechanic who noticed that the coolant reservoir was empty and refilled the coolant reservoir; however, the mechanic noticed that the coolant had lowered by a quart the following morning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was filed. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to file a vehicle safety complaint. The failure mileage was unknown.

From what I understand, the engine malfunctioned in a way that caused the cylinder compression to fail in several cylinders, but not all. This caused the car to stutter, shake, and slow down significantly in traffic on the highway. A warning popped up on the dashboard that said to shut the car down as soon as possible. We pulled over right away, which left us on a bridge on the highway. This endangered us as well as passing traffic, and then the tow truck person as well. We had to have the entire engine replaced in the car, which then after about 25 miles of driving, had the exact same problem (thankfully, in a 25 mph neighborhood this time). The problem has been replicated by the service center several times. They have now installed a total of three replacement engines that were all defective.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated and the engine overheated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a coolant intrusion and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure had previously occurred, and the engine was replaced at 18,000. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact referenced an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not included. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.