The car was serviced in 8/2022 after warning light came on leaving wife stranded while on nursing call. Towed to Ford dealership. Changed spark plugs @ 40,000 miles. Same issue repaired at local shop in 5/2025 @ 86,000 miles. Same issue @ 92,000 miles 9/2025. Diagnosed by Ford dealer to be coolant intrusion. Ford refuses to correct. This engine has known defects and has stopped in traffic which is a possible safety hazard.

- Fayetteville, GA, USA

The exhaust started emitting white smoke with an off smell upon cranking. We took it to a mechanic, and it is likely it is coolant intrusion into the engine block. The burning coolant is likely causing the white smoke. The check engine light has not come on even after the white smoke started. So, far there doesn't appear to be a safety issue, and coolant level is checked periodically. No person or entity has inspected the vehicle other than the mechanic. The concern is that coolant intrusion is not normal, and the coolant level will always be dropping. I don't believe this issue is conducive to long-term operation of the vehicle.

- Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Check-engine light came on, error code showed misfire on cylinder 2. A couple months later, high engine temperature warning came on. Took it to a mechanic and said the coolant was completely empty, and there were over 1500 hydrocarbons in the cooling system. A full engine replacement is the only true fix due to a defect in the engine itself. Mechanic stated they had seen a few of these in the past, and pointed to Bulletin # 22-2322, which discusses the coolant issue.

- Essexville, MI, USA

Ford Recall 21N12 -?" Coolant Intrusion Issue Affected Vehicles: Ford Escape (2017-?"2019) built between 9/17/15 -?" 4/9/19 Ford Fusion (2017) built between 10/1/15 -?" 10/16/15 Ford Fusion (2017-?"2019) built between 10/6/15 -?" 6/10/19 Issue: Coolant intrusion into the engine cylinders, causing engine misfires. I am writing regarding my 2018 Ford Escape, which falls within the production window affected by recall 21N12. My vehicle is in excellent condition with low mileage (87,050 miles). In August, I experienced a noticeable engine shutter and took the vehicle to an authorized Ford dealer. After inspection, the dealer confirmed that the engine was affected by the known coolant intrusion issue and that the solution required a complete engine block replacement -?" quoted at $11,000. Unfortunately, I was informed that my vehicle falls just outside Ford-??s extended warranty coverage (7 years or 84,000 miles) for this issue. I find this extremely disappointing, as this is a known manufacturing defect that affects a broad range of vehicles, and Ford has chosen to draw an arbitrary line, rather than taking full responsibility for all impacted vehicles. I contacted Ford-??s customer service and complaint department both by phone and in writing. Despite my explanation and supporting documentation, Ford refused to offer any assistance or goodwill resolution, citing only that I was beyond the mileage and time limits. It is extremely frustrating that my vehicle -?" well within the affected build range and with relatively low miles -?" is now undrivable for over six weeks due to a defective engine, and Ford will not take accountability for an issue they are fully aware of. It is particularly disheartening to see Ford invest in expanding its world headquarters in Dearborn while choosing not to stand behind their products or support loyal customers who are left with major repair bills for known defects.

- Livonia, MI, USA

Coolant leak into the engine causing engine failure. This is a known problem with the 1.5 turbo engine in this model vehicle. Automobile is now undriveable and entire engine must be replaced.

- Plumas Lake, CA, USA

Check engine light came on and started running rough and shaking at times. Took to dealership who found P0302 code. They performed a number of tests and eventually used a boroscope to inspect Cylinder 2 and found severe coolant intrusion. They advised engine replacement-??for over $11,000. I see this is a common problem for Ford Escapes.

- Plainfield, IN, USA

Coolant leak caused car to overheat and engine failure

- Dallas, TX, USA

Engine failing due to coolant intrusion. I never received a recall notice. I was unaware of the possible issue. Ford refused to complete the repair as I missed the mileage deadline. I was unable to take advantage of the repair.

- Rio Rancho, NM, USA

I started to lease the car Aug 18 2025 that day before even leaving the maintenance guy was like oh yeah let me go ahead and clear that light off for you check engine light said it was fixed. I never thought too much of it since it is my first time leasing a car. I drove it three times and on the very next time I turned it off ran in side some where and came out and it acted like it didn't want to start I finally got it started I went home over the next couple of days it just started to get worse and worse I took it to O'Reilly's and had them to look it up the first time they said ma'am there's no check engine light on I left aggravated I didnt no what wad going on wnd why it hadn't popped up well the next day it popped up finally I took it back in the printed me a paper stating it was misfiring bad and it was cylinders 1 and 3 so I went to the dealership where I got it from the said come back in like a week they were busy so I waited a week and they supposebly fixed well the very next day it started up again same thing misfiring went to O'Reilly they said the same thing misfiring in the cylinders. So I went back again told them it was doing again and it was rough idling and he says to bring it back the next week we'll it broke down before I took it back in the morning it broke down I left my house and went down to go Mart when I got back in the car and started it a little thing popped up on the dash said high engine temp shut down safely.. at the time I thought was over heating I looked at the coolant it was good so I let it sit there for like almost a hr and started it said the same thing I took it over beside gomart where my friend lives and parked it there to wait for a few hours and it popped up again and I went to turn it around for when the towing truck came it had lost all of its power.

- Saint Albans , WV, USA

I have a blown head gasket. Ford is willing to do nothing, and this is a known issue with this engine.

- Avon By The Sea, NJ, USA

Earlier this year the check engine light came on in my Escape. My mechanic informed me that a sensor detected a coolant leak in a cylinder head. They replaced the sensor and addressed other issues with the specific cylinder. Three months later, the check engine light came on for the same issue. This time my mechanic replaced the cylinder gasket head. Ten days later, the light came on again. Now my mechanic is replacing my engine. Although I have a 2 liter engine, Ford had a campaign to replace the engines on the 1.5 liter engine [XXX] ) and have a service bulletin (22-2229) for multiple vehicles with the same issue. I know I'm past the end date of my warranty but ultimately paying out $9k to replace an engine on a decently maintained vehicle at 37k miles seems in appropriate. This issue ultimately causes engine failure. I'm one of many that tried to address the issue immediately, but how many people cannot or do not take their vehicle in on time and experience an engine failure while driving? INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Appleton, WI, USA

Engine failure due to coolant intrusion design defect that Ford DID NOT pay for it. Even though, since Match 1, 2025, there have been over 320 complaints regarding this issue. NHTSA should communicate to Ford, these vehicles should be recalled!

- Roseville, CA, USA

I have a 2018 Ford Escape 1.5L EcoBoost purchased on 2/2/18. On 9/17/25, after starting the car I noticed that it idled very rough when I put it in gear, but drove fine afterward. This behavior continued to happen over the next week when I also noticed strong smelling white exhaust/smoke coming from the car while I was still in the garage. On 9/23/25 the Service Engine Soon light came on shortly after I started driving. I took the car in for diagnostic testing to my Ford dealer on 9/25/25 and the coolant intrusion issue was identified with codes P0302 and P0316. Because I will not be replacing the engine long block (quoted at $10,570 + tax)--the car is past even the Ford extended warranty of 7yr/84,000mi with 85,721 miles when diagnosed--I was told I need to watch the coolant, that I can drive the car, but that the engine will eventually burn out. I was referred to TSB 22-2322 to read more about the problem, but no fix was offered. With no resolution, this Escape is a timebomb that will eventually experience total engine failure and/or engine fire.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

There is coolant intrusion that is a known issue with this model. Coolant is leaking into cylinder 1, which has damaged the engine.

- Columbus, OH, USA

I-??ve seen others report on the same issues and hopefully this brings something up for a recall. At first it was a misfire in the engine, and oil getting into the spark plugs. Then coolant leaking. Then overheating. I looked into the codes and took it into the shop and it-??s going to cost me 8-12,000 to fix due to the same issue that other people all seem to be having.

- Crown Point, IN, USA

Check engine light came on and car started to shake. Took to Ford dealership and they said the coolant leaked into the engine. If I was driving, something bad could've happened.

- Spanaway, WA, USA

Known issue with coolant system. Car is overheating and caused a problem with my engine block. It is a known issue with these vehicles. Ford did a customer satisfaction program (21N12) to fix it for free but only up to 7 years or so many miles. The problem is that I wasn't made aware that this could ever possibly be an issue so how was I supposed to get it fixed with no knowledge of the problem. Now I'm having to pay out of pocket to get it fixed because of Ford's poor design and lack of care for their shoddy product. Fixing this issue will cost thousands, not to mention having to miss work because my car overheated. Which could possibly end up getting me fired. Ford needs to be held accountable for selling poorly made product and not even helping when it falters. My family and I have purchased Ford vehicles for decades but this will probably be the last of that tradition if they can't even be responsible for their own mistakes.

- Five Points, TN, USA

So this morning as soon as I started my 2018 Ford escape up and instantly temp gauge went to hot and threw up a sign stating high temp. Safely stop. I turned it off. And I started googling what was happening and upon doing some searching I started seeing multiple people complaining about the same things that I have going on as well with their 2018 Ford escape having the same problem with their spark plugs and coil packs also they said that they have misfiring in certain cylinders which mine have been in 1 and 3 some of theirs were 2 and 3 also read that the coolant system could be faulty and leaking ( which makes sense on after the car was turned off from driving the night before I heard bubbling sounds and what sounded like a faucet leaking water ) and the leaking could be making it go into where the spark plugs go into. And it could damage the engine. Also I had white smoke that came out of the tail pipe two or three times and it also spoke about the coolant making it's way to the head gasket possibly and all these that I've have read online are just like what ive have been having problems with and identical for the last week or two.and there are quite a bit of people on the Internet complaining these same events going on and no body has found and or not reported of finding any solutions to the problems.

- South Charleston, WV, USA

My 2018 Ford Escape 1.5L Ecoboost experience rough starts for about a week. Then on the highway the engine temperature gage shot all the way to hot, the check engine light began flashing, and the vehicle started rumbling. We parked and had the vehicle towed. The mechanic diagnosed the problem as coolant intrusion into the cylinder. It has cracked the engine block. This issue is known to be a problem by Ford. The dealership mechanic knew what the problem just from the make, model, and year. Ford released a letter to all dealerships to attempt a computer repair in 2022, apparently to buy time as they knew there were going to be issues as these vehicles aged. The letter suggests that Ford and the Dealers are to contact anyone who purchased these vehicles. We were not contacted. We have contacted Ford and their customer service representatives say that Ford has a Customer Satisfaction Program, 21N12, in place to fix these vehicles, but it "is not attached to our VIN" and there is nothing they can do. When you ask for a supervisor, they call from a Toll Free Number after 8:00pm and tell you the same thing. "That program isn't attached to your VIN" and there is nothing they can do about it.

- Chelsea, MI, USA

Coolant leaking into engine. Check engine light on. Codes p0302, p0316, u0140. I was told by the ford dealership that ran codes that the only correction for the issue is a full long block replacement.

- Chebeague Island, ME, USA