Driving with a trailer (had the factory tow package) to pick up a motorcycle 3 hours away and without warning the check engine light began flashing and the vehicle began bucking like a bronco. I pulled over and turned off the vehicle. Wouldn't start back up. All lights flashing. Began to throw a misfire code. Having previously owned a Mazda van with the same engine, I anticipated the problem was a coil as they are prone to go on this vehicle.

What I WASN'T aware of is that this particular year and maybe some surrounding years had a PCM that allowed the voltage back into the unit when the coil was fried. After spending no small penny getting the vehicle towed 3 hours, I tried swapping out the coil to no avail. I opened the computer and found the culprit as I learned of this common issue (no warning whatsoever). I had the computer repaired to the tune of $700 but in the end it was money in the trash as it never ran right again. Junked it.

My Escape had seemed like a good, dependable vehicle. In a funeral procession, it made an odd clunk, and then didn't want to accelerate. Far from home, I had to struggle home, where I took it to the Ford dealership for repair. It needed a new computer and 3 coils. I was told it is a common problem with this model Escape. I asked what makes a common problem become a recall. I was told it was a matter of whether it had caused accidents or deaths. What? There is no responsibility to have a dependable vehicle, just as long as it doesn't kill you?

I don't know if the bad computer fried the coils or the other way around. It's something to do with poor shielding that causes the damage. I spent the money, ($3,500 Canadian) since it had been a good vehicle and wasn't really that old, only 8 years. In hind-sight I should have scrapped it or traded it then, because less than two years later, I have severe wheel-well rust, a "check-engine" light on that is a faulty sensor and another faulty sensor in one door that reads it is ajar, meaning I can't lock it without the alarm going steadily.... New computer on scrap metal ...