May 2011: Symptoms suggested coil and plug bad on cyl number 6 replaced these and still an issue. Had the PCM replaced with a brand new one from FORD dealer with only a year warranty. I was changed a programming fee and I know it had different serial number. That fixed a popular issue with the 2005 model. Just a few days ago had some issue and my garage (in different province) thought it was coil. They call back and let me know it's not coil on number 6 cyl it's the PCM. What coincidence it's the same cyl with a new PCM. Now searching for a new PCM. This should have been a recall with the number of incidents I have seen on the internet with this year and model. I am not sure I will buy a FORD Escape as I was planning.

Well my problem started, with a misfire, unaware i drove it, to avoid a tow. just the next day, my wonderful escape would not go more then 10 mph. here comes the tow truck $80. ok so i figured out the cat was clogged from me driving while it was misfiring ( don't drive when misfiring ). so complete exhaust from y pipe back. $800. check engine light stayed on for 5 months. i read somewhere online that the intake gaskets was probably the cause. so i replace them $20. and reset the computer by disconnecting the negative terminal for a few mins. ran great for 3 weeks, then all the sudden one morning, misfire back, check engine light on. local parts store diagnosed #4 ignition coil bad. $80. put in, same thing, misfire. i switched #4 and #5 no difference. all new plugs $30. same thing. I'm coming to the conclusion, its the computer. its only got 80,500 miles on it, I've taken very good care of it. besides this, I've dealt with the stupid door ajar problem the past 4 years. i hate this car, its nothing but a money pit, i would never recommend this car to any one, and ill bad mouth ford forever for not doing a recall, and making their customers happy. they know about this, and choose us to pay. F**K U FORD

Have a 2005 Ford Escape XLT 4WD, drove it one night and it started sputtering and missing. Then it would go away and drive ok, then started up again out of no where.. Then the dash warning lights all came on and it simply died while driving. Coasted to a stop. Tried starting it. It turned but no start up. Had it towed to a shop. Had all this replaced: fuel filter, fuel pump, spark plugs, 3 coils. Also had the injectors removed and cleaned. It runs now but still misses and doesn't drive correctly. Computer test shows problems in cylinders 1,3,& 4. Linked to a possible bad PCM. So now I am told to get a PCM from Ford and Ford has to program it too. But now I am debating if I want to do this considering some posts on here say they have tried this and have had the problem repeat again. I'd almost rather put 1500 - 2000 towards a different vehicle..... Will decide.

Same here, car just suddenly shut off right after starting it in a parking lot of a restaurant. We were 20 miles from home and after it refired, we knew immediately that something wasn't right. We limped it home on what felt like 3 cylinders. The next morning when I started it again, the engine light came on and I limped it to my personal independent mechanic. The diagnostic code showed the #3 and #4 cylinder coils were bad so those were replaced with no success. That's when the issue of the Computer came up. After having to wait for two weeks for the part to come in, it was replaced, along with the other 4 coils and plugs, the computer re-flashed and had the keys matched. Since I know the mechanic and have a great relationship with them, it "only" cost a little over $1100.

We do have one question to bring up, I had just installed a pretty nice stereo system that I received as a gift and the problem happened 2 days later. The mechanic theorized that possibly the new stereo could have somehow shorted out the computer. I'm wondering if anyone else reading these threads has had a similar experience with this happening right after installing a new stereo, amp, gps device, etc...

So... here's my addition to the growing list of folks with the PCM, coil, spark plug problem. I've had the same crappy issues as all the previous posts have already covered, so I'll try to keep it short, ha! My 05 Escape (which I purchased new) only had 51,000 miles on it when a few months ago the familiar PCM problem occurred. I had just left my home and fortunately was only going 15 mph when out of nowhere it sounded like it was going to fall apart and was riding super rough. Luckily I was able to immediately pull into a local auto repair shop right next door. He determined coils where misfiring, but was unable to get the necessary details from the code that was showing on his computer. After trying 3 different units he finally said I'd need to take it to a Ford dealer because only they have the computers necessary to grab the details of the code that was being generated (real nice Ford). So I spent $100 to tow it to my closest Ford dealer, somewhat reluctantly, since I've already had major issues with that same dealer. Which I'll save for another post. Anyway...they kept it over night, checked it out, and next morning told me I need a new PCM, all new coils & spark plugs! The night before I spent hours online discovering that this very same problem is extremely widespread among 2005 Escape owners. So...armed with this information, the next day I bring it up to my dealer. And...like everyone one else here with this issue, it was met with a combination of uncaring coldness, ignorance, unwillingness to accept even the faintest amount of responsibility and resistance to even entertain any of the knowledge that I gathered by spending hours researching the issue. Yes, I even mentioned and offered to show him the copies of the mulitiple internal Ford Technical Service Bulletins that were send out years ago regarding this situation (interesting how on later versions of the TSB's, Ford modified the content as to not specifically mention or draw attention to the original factory spark plugs as being the cause of the problem) Again the Ford repair shop response was one of total disinterest and denial. (They train them well I guess, ha!) So...realizing I was stuck with either a repair bill or owning a non working truck, I had them replace the PCM, coils, and spark plugs for a total of $2300 (not including the tow, rental car & money I spent at the original local mechanic) In the end it was over $2500! I originally requested that I receive all the old parts back once the new ones were installed so at least I had some physical record of what was wrong. I was told I would have to buy, yes buy back my original burnt PCM, What?!?! He said that they send it back to get it reconditioned and then have it available to sell to another unfortunate 05 Escape owner such as myself. Unbelievable!!! Let me get this straight...A problem that Ford is 100% aware of and responsible for since the original manufacturing using wrong spark plugs, but now not only do I have to spend $2500, but you are also going to take my old PCM (the one I paid for in the original purchase price of the truck) to sell it and make a profit off again to the next victim. Are you kidding me Ford? I explained this logic to my repair person, but again he either failed to see, or acknowledge the insanity of all this. So...in the end... I have a truck that's running again, just the way it did days before all this happened, except now I'm $2500 poorer and know one thing absolutely, positively for certain. And that is... I will never ever buy or recommend a Ford to anyone ever again. Matter of fact I will go out of my way to explain and discourage anyone from ever buying a Ford. It's sad...I really like my Escape, I really do! But with a major, known issue like this, and at only 50,000 miles, with zero statement or hint of concern coming from Ford... the choice is obvious: Avoid Ford at all costs. Finally, just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share and post the details of their 05 Escape problems. I wish everyone the best and good luck!

Add my story to the list.

Unlike many others of you I was not driving (luckily!). Went out to start my car Tuesday morning for work and car wouldn't start. After several attempts I finally got it running and hit the gas a few times as it was hesitating badly. Ran inside to tell my husband and by the time I returned to my driveway my Escape had stalled and would not re-start. There was little indication something this severe was wrong but after bringing to a family friend who is a mechanic I was told a coil had blown out the computer. Currently, I am without my car and repair is expected to take a week and I'll be looking at a bill of $1500.

I must say I love my Ford Escape and have had no other major problems, but typical wear and tear repairs in the past. The timing of this isn't great, but when is it. I can only hope that after this fix things run smoothly and I am not at the stage where everything else begins to fail...

This is being posted for my brother-in-law since he has no computer, little money, and now no car!

The car quit while driving in his hometown in mid April. The diagnosis was 2 blown coils and a cooked computer. The car needs 6 coils, 6 spark plugs and a new computer (the suggested fix) - estimated cost - $2500 (at an independent garage)

I had a lengthy discussion with 1st Martise and then Matt (his supervisor) at Ford and got absolutely nowhere. They are either not informed or really stupid - maybe a combination of both. AND, it was quite obvious they had no authority to make a decision on their own. Their frequent answer was the car was out of warranty and there were no programs - recall or good will - to help me out. Their (most helpful?) suggestion was to get the car fixed at a Ford dealer and if there is ever a recall I MIGHT be eligible for reimbursement! - Nice going Ford that really helps gain customer loyalty!

From what I've seen posted just on this web site, I don't think it's worth getting the car fixed. It seem as though there are multiple the electrical problems and that this one, in particular, may reoccur.

Frankly, if I had the resources, I'd drop ship this car on Alan Mulally's front lawn, and tell the delivery guy to blow him a kiss!

T’was the night before Christmas and while the rest of the world was celebrating with a yuletide dinner, I was stranded for hours in the parking lot of the mall I work at all because my 2005 Ford Escape refused to start. I had to have the car towed to the Pep Boys near my house on the 26th, where they struggled to diagnose the problem. Three days later Pep Boys came to the conclusion that that they were incapable of locating the problem, so they recommended that it be towed to Ford where they would be better able to identify what was causing my car not to start. Moral of the story, nearly a week later I received a call from Ford stating that my spark plugs malfunctioned, causing the CPM (Control-train Power Module) to short out along with the coils. They said it would cost $3,500 plus tax to repair my Escape. Believing I was at Ford’s mercy, I decided to do a little research and found out that this issue is a reoccurring problem with most, if not all 2005 Escapes. It appears that Ford issued a Technical Service Bulletin in January of 2005 acknowledging that they had incorrectly installed the spark plugs in the 2005 model Escape which would eventually lead to them malfunctioning causing the CPM to short out. I then proceeded to call Ford’s Detroit office to discuss this new found information. I spoke with Karen with a “K”, who was an insensitive, discourteous and just all around useless employee who stated that there was never a recall on the vehicle, so I was out of luck. She did however document my complaint, and when I asked what documenting my complaint will do for me, she replied “Nothing”. I then took this information to the Ford dealership working on my car; my service representative stated that he has seen this problem with the Escape one hundred times and it is always the same result. So, nearly $4,000, two tows and not one single solitary sorry nor a partridge in a pair tree later I would like to thank Ford Motor Company, with honorable mentions to Karen with a “K” for a very merry Christmas and a wonderful start to my new year.

If anyone else upset of this issue wants to file a class action suit or take any other legal action feel free to contact me

Same sheet as everyone else...Had 1 coil replaced about four years ago, $300 not bad, but then I had to replace another one about six months ago another $300. Then replaced all 6 spark plugs a few weeks ago (another $430, w/$130 diag fee.) THEN, today, its been determined its the PCM, have to replace all six plugs, all six coils and the PCM for a total of $2300 oh yea plus the $130 diagnostics test from FORD. Plus I'm hearing the Cat is next WTF Ford

I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER FORD!!!

sincerely,

a pissed off broad

same as everyone else, left work to go pick up my girlfriend it was acting a little stallish had to rev it at the red lights just to keep it going just figured it was cold from sitting all day, and as soon as i got on the highway and started to accelerate it shut right down on me, thank god i was just getting on and wasn't too far over so i didn't cause an accident. had it diagnosed as the coils malfunctioned causing the pcm to short. cost me almost 3 grand to fix got it back and not two days later the caty is gone in it. my mechanic thinks its from the pcm going, so i call ford and talk to 3 different levels of management about it. they say they are aware of the problems, that even the caty failing can be part of the pcm failing causing it to rev to hot but choose not to say anything about it at the time.....have been on the phone with ford since july when the caty died in it for the second time in less than a yr and they refuse to help me out. i am nothing but loyal to anything i do but i am considering leaving it on the side of the road and calling it a day. the fact that they don't think that something failing and causing the car to shut down with no power brakes or steering, and they don't see it as a safety issue. and for that reason they will not recall the 05 escape is mind blowing to me. i really hope that someone will file a class action lawsuit against them just so they get whats theirs. getting sick of shelling out so much money to fix something that they knew was a problem and whats more getting sick of having to pay to replace the same part in less than a yr because they don't think they need to help us out at all with this...cant wait to sell this piece and go back to chevy

This problem has happened more than once with this vehicle, once before with myself (I was told only certain coils were shot, replaced said bad coils and all plugs), shortly after I did that lets say just a few months down the road it happened again when my sister and husband were using the vehicle - except this time it was worse, all plugs, 6 coil pak, and computer. I picked the vehicle up less than a month later was driving from Atlanta to Raleigh NC and after driving 100 plus miles into a 375 mile trip I knew the vehicle wasn't at 100 %. After having the vehicle checked out not only are the same problems recurring but add upper catalytic issue all related!!!

Looking at the same complaints from the same vehicle and now knowing that FORD sent this KNOWN problem into the market place is very disappointing, you FORD knew the dangers of this vehicle shutting down at any given moment leaving a motorist with NO POWER BRAKES & NO POWER STEERING and at times in very dangerous situations, such as pulling out into a tricky intersection (like at my sisters house taking her little girl to school, really FORD!) or on the interstate driving ........we motorist are losing our @$$ in recurring repairs but that's nothing compared to the risk of loosing a life.............I am just so thankful that this forum has brought this to my attention before anymore $$$$ is put in the black hole or before myself or my sisters family were hurt in this vehicle. I hope to bring it to FORDs already lax attention to this BUT most of all to other FORD owners, you will NOT get this problem resolved you will only keep trying to resolve it and it is a BIG problem that's why the parts are on back order!!!!! For safety if nothing else, do yourself and your family a favor - get out of this money pit that could potentially be harmful. To FORD, YOU SHOULD CRAWL UNDER A ROCK, kiss your future sales goodbye with me - even your well built, how you have handled (not handled) this has left a very bad taste in the mouth of many consumers!

I've posted on here before about this problem. I was #38 and when I looked today, there were not that many complaints. I have a 2005 Ford Escape 3.0, 4 wheel drive, automatic and now the computer is shot because of a misfire. The part is $1,000 new...yeah. Like that pocket change! The total estimated cost is $2,100 to fix. I've looked online for a used part, no where to be found. Ford is on back order for these parts. This is absolutely ridiculous! Ford has issued a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) to replace these parts - but you have to have a vehicle under 8 years old and less than 80,000 miles. Which makes not sense to me. I strongly urge everyone who has a vehicle and is or has experienced this problem to complain to Ford. The more calls they get about this the more attention they will give us. Their phone number is 1-800-392-3673. Option 1 for English and Option 4 twice. Ignore the recall message about the Ford Escape for this problem. Also, write your State Attorney General, post it on Facebook, Twitter, Skype, MySpace and write a letter to the Editor of your newspaper. I'm sick of big companies telling us to 'suck it up'. Not this time. Email me a kdnichols@twc.com to keep in touch.

OMG! Another Ford Escape on the list of a ever growing problem. PCM Failure. Enough is enough already. Ford there is enough complaints that you need to LISTEN to the consumers. We all have the same problem caused by the same thing. This is a stinking pain in the hind end. I am contacting lawyer about a class action lawsuit. If any of you are reading this take the time to call Ford EVERY DAY and be a pain in their butt like they are ours. Publish your complaint on Facebook, My Space, Twitter any where that is public and let's get their attention. I am also writing a Letter to the Editor of newspapers that I know of. I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL SOMETHING IS DONE. Who is with me???

I would just like to add my car to the growing list. I am just glad that when the car died, I was just pulling into a parking garage. All I could think of was what could have happened if I was going the 55 mph speed limit minutes earlier. Very heavy braking, manual steering. I think Ford wants someone to die in a few crashes before they will come out with a recall. I have warned other people on Facebook not to buy this car because of this problem. I hope everyone follows suit. Now, on to the good stuff.

I took it in to the garage. I had to wait 2 weeks for a re-manufactured computer as they were heavily back-ordered. This indicates that a lot more people than just 32 or so have had this problem. I had to pay for 3 weeks or car rentals and only got to pay what I did because of family ties to the Ford dealer. It would have been over $2800 dollars if parts and labor were charged retail. Ford knew there were problems by issuing two TSBs, yet they preferred to let us pay for their error. I will never buy a Ford again unless they acknowledge their error and reimburse me for the repair.

Sorry that I waited so long to add my complaint to this. I hope more will do it. I now have 109000 miles on it, and that by far was the most expensive repair job I ever had to pay for. I took extended warranties twice, but it only took me to 89000 miles, a few thousand miles short of when my problem happened.

It's unbelievable that I've never heard of this problem with the 05 escape given all the posts here. My escape died this past weekend after just a few days of abnormal behavior including what seemed like occasional hesitation and rough idle. Then out of nowhere the car dies while I'm driving down a local street. I managed to coast into a pep boys where the car currently sits. Everything the tech described matches the complaints on this site....fried pcm, need to replace plugs and coils(ridiculously expensive to begin with on the escape) etc etc. And I thought it was bad gas! This is a crime, I'll never buy another Ford POS ever. So now what do I do with an undriveable car that needs thousands in repairs that ma never solve the problem??? Not sure if I should both towing it to the dealer, sounds like Ford has turned its back on this. If someone knows of a class action, please please post info here....