On my home from the grocery store driving approximately 55 to 60 mph in our 2006 Ford Escape 4 cyl SUV. The vehicle made a loud pop and then caught on fire. Freaked out I pulled off in a driveway. We poured soda pop from 2 litres on the fire to extinguish the flame. The mesh pipe before the last catalytic converter was glowing red. I have read many stories of people with the same problem on all years of Ford Escape. It is in my opinion the rear converter stopped up causing this damage to our once lovely ride.now I am not even sure if it will run. The heat from things like this causes major stress on internal engine parts as the exhaust has no where to go. Then when the engine explodes as it should fire starts. We are now out of a ride until we can pay an extreme amount for this defective SUV.

- Richwoods , MO, USA

I was sitting at a drive through and vehicle started sputtering. Had to keep foot on gas to keep the vehicle running. When I went to pull out on the street, the vehicle stalled out. After 4 or 5 attempts at restarting, it started about 20 min later.

- Galloway, OH, USA

I have one question. Why are 06 Ford Escapes still on the road" what bugs me more is the fact Ford and everyone is turning their heads to the issue. Not only have I read hundreds of complaints of engine failure, I have not seen one person say Ford made any effort to fix the problem instead I only see continuous problem dating up to now involving this same issue. My grandfather who purchased this vehicle new in 06 is now on disability and now without a car after only 52,000 miles. The cause. Engine failure like the rest. No warning, no nothing. Instead a $6,000 quote for a new engine. A month before that we realized the vehicle was burning oil faster then normal but when checked there was no leak. Following that the engine blew one morning after being started and hearing a loud banging. The vehicle was turned off and would not turn back on. After having it checked they said the engine was fired and oil started leaking into the engine. Lucky we were parked but unlike most complaints iv read people were driving or on the highway when the same thing occurred. I don't think I have to tell you have extremely dangerous that is and could be. Its a problem to many Ford owners are experiencing and no one has taking action. That vehicle is a death waiting to happen. How many more people need to loss money or possible their life for someone to stop this"

- Newport, RI, USA

I was driving approximately 45-50 mph & could no longer accelerate. Gas pedal was stuck. I realized I was able to release it by stepping on brakes or hitting the gas pedal really hard. This was under warranty in Oct 2009 & the throttle body was replaced (supposedly) then again in Nov 2011 I had to have it replaced but it was not under warranty & had to pay for it. It was icy out & it's pretty dangerous to slam on your brakes to release the gas pedal. Luckily there were no cars behind me. I wrote a letter to Ford but they would not refund me nor was there a recall. I just had the same problem July 2014 & the dealer (supposedly) cleaned the throttle body but charged me & I called Ford but again they said there's no recall. I also spent 7K in Feb 2013 for a new engine.....beginning to wonder if that was a wise decision.

- Yorkville, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the engine stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the water pump was needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 135,000.

- Spring Grove, PA, USA

2006 Ford Escape. Consumer writes in regards to unexpected engine failure. The consumer stated the timing chain broke with no warning, while driving on a busy highway. Updated 08/20/14.

- Rio Rancho, NM, USA

A total and complete loss of power regardless of travel speed. This is accompanied with vehicle shaking and lurching just before the engine dies. Sometimes it will start again - sometimes not. There have multiple incidents and their frequency is increasing I.e. almost daily.this vehicle has spent time in the shop ( not cheap) where the mechanics find no trouble/diagnostic codes and report not knowing what the problem is nor having ever encountered a similar problem before.

- Topeka, KS, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the rear passenger side shocks were corroded. Additionally, the contact mentioned the vehicle was burning oil excessively. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic however, the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 120,000. Updated 08/27/2014 updated 09/4/2014

- Superior, WI, USA

I always kept the scheduled maintenance on my 2006 Ford Escape (85,000 miles). On christmas day 2013 my husband and I checked all of the car's fluids. Everything was fine. One week later as we exited the freeway, the car suddenly started to shake, loose power and make a very loud clattering noise. The oil sensor never went off and the engine light did not turn on until a few blocks later. Thankfully, we were able to make it home. I took the car in to our regular mechanics. The damage was so bad that they had to call in another mechanic in order to try and figure what the best solution could be. They said that the car needed 4 quarts of oil even though only a week before we had checked the oil. According to the mechanics the engine needs to be replaced and other parts in the car have also been effected.

- El Monte, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 5 mph, she heard a loud noise as grey smoke started to emit from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician diagnosed that the engine was defective. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 74,500.

- Chicago, IL, USA

The first incident occurred while I was driving 65 mph on the expressway. I went to change lanes and hit the accelerator and the car would not accelerate and was shuddering. I had pull off the expressway and turn the car off. I tried restarting and it just shuddered again. I waited five minutes and tried again and finally it started and was able to shift. Two days ago I was getting off the expressway and making a left turn when the car died and I lost steering power. I was able to fortunately get to the side of the road and put it into park. I tried restarting the car and it would not start. I waited 3 mins and was able to finally get it going. Both times there was no check engine light. I had the Escape read by a code reader device multiple times and there are no error codes displayed from the computer. This is a very serious and potentially life threatening issue, and would like Ford to act upon it for its customers immediately. I am filing this because I have read that the issue is with a defective throttle body, and there is already an investigation into Ford on this issue (PE13-003). I would like my vehicle to be added to this investigation for my families safety and all others experiencing the problem.

- Midlothian, IL, USA

This mostly happens in cooler weather, I had started experiencing my accelerator pedal sticking with the throttle closed. It was mainly a nuisance at first but it started to get to the point where I could put my entire weight on the pedal without it budging. At my soonest convenience and mostly because I had a warranty on the vehicle since it was still relatively new to me, I drove to the dealer I purchased it from and they told me it was the throttle body and that it had to do with the differing metals of the throttle body and the ambient temperature, so they ended up replacing it... it only cost me $100 at the time due to the warranty. Here I am about three years later and I am experiencing the exact same problem. I don't have a warranty so I investigated the issue myself and discovered the throttle body is mostly plastic with an aluminum butterfly... I also discovered a tar-like residue on the edges of the butterfly. I proceeded to clean the assembly, then reinstalled it and there was a major improvement... my accelerator feels very different, in a very good way. I'm tired of large companies hiding issues like this. It gets old and causes good products to continue to get cheaper. My money could be put to better use than replacing a part that obviously needed more engineering attention before becoming production.

- Columbus, IN, USA

Problems with gas pedal sticking/ locking up. While driving and sometimes when idle dash lights, A/C and radio turn on and off, then there was a clicking sound before the actual engine shuts off.

- Ruskin, FL, USA

I have taken very good care of my 2006 Ford Escape with frequent oil changes every 2K. I have also had a transmission rebuild that was completed during warranty in 2010. No my car is in a shop with diagnosis that the engine is burned out and needs to be replaced. $4500 for a used engine replacement. I was driving on a highway with a car filled with children and with no indication lights coming on the motor completely died while I was moving 65 mph. I was very fortunate to pull over to the side of the road without a crash. The indication lights only came on as the motor was dying. I tried to restart the engine and it would start but then started to smoke immediately. When I have the car towed to a mechanic he said that there was very little oil in the engine. I had just added 2 quarts of oil about 400 miles before this incident and saw no leakage.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

Driving down the interstate I found that the vehicle was losing power. There were no service engine lights or any indicator warning lights of any kind that were on previous to the incident or that lit up during or after the episode. I had to pull over to the side of the road. The accelerator seemed to stop working and there was no power to the engine. I restarted with no issue and continued to drive. The vehicle did this a second time. There were additional incidents at lower speeds driving around town.

- Elkhorn, NE, USA

My vehicle dies when the truck is warmed up and I put it in gear with my foot on the brake. It dies at stop lights and stop signs and in reverse. Another technician told me I would have to ride around with that problem because it was not throwing a code. After a week, I took it back to the Ford dealer in cleveland, ms, and the service department manager told me it was probably the throttle body actuator. But, that it was on national back order. I left the car with the Ford dealer, and they said they replaced the throttle valve at a cost of $900. The truck died on the way home from the dealer with the same problem.

- Cleveland, MS, USA

My car gas pedal keeps sticking like there is rock under it. I almost wrecked tonite because of it!!!! it needs to be fixed and there are a lot of other people with the same issue.

- Waleska, GA, USA

I was driving at approximately 40 mph ( 40-65 mph intervals between highways) for about 20 minutes when all of a sudden my car is loosing power, so I stepped on the gasoline pedal a little more to keep the speed. The sad part is that there wasn't any light that came on to tell or warn me that something is seriously wrong and that my car needed to be checked. I drove a total of one hour that day at 40-65 mph intervals. When I started the car the next day, after about 3 minutes of the engine running, it started making this really loud noise and my car will not go faster than 2 mph.

- Thornton, CO, USA

Wife was driving her 2003 Ford Escape 2.3L XLS (fwd, 5-spd manual) at 65mph, practically coasting down a hill. 26 minutes after engine start she heard a loud bang and subsequent popping sounds. This was followed immediately by severe power loss from the engine. She drove it to the next best off-ramp, an additional 2 miles. When she got off the freeway she says she had to rev it up quite a bit to make an intersection to get to the gas station where the car rolled to a stop. That loud bang turned up to be the nbr 3 cylinder blowing its spark plug clean off the spark plug bore. The spark plug bore was completely threadless. The subsequent popping sounds were due to the spark plug not being on the nbr 3 cylinder as the fuel that continued to spray into the cylinder was burning off. The immediate power loss is a direct result of the engine loosing 25% of its chugga-chugga and the loss of the cht sensor signal which both then caused the PCM (powertrain control module) to go into limp mode and further reduce engine power. First thing I did was plug in my obdii scanner and check for codes. I found the following three: P0303 - cylinder 3 three misfire. P0353 - ignition coil 'C' primary/secondary circuit. P1289 - cylinder head temp sensor high input. I then performed a koeo (key-on/engine-off) check with my obdii scanner and found the following two codes: P0119 - engine coolant temperature circuit intermittent/erratic. P1289 - cylinder head temp sensor high input. The cht probe (cylinder head temperature) cover/boot was popped off the engine camshaft cover and the wires were broken off the cht probe electrical connector. The spark plug terminal broke off. The ignition coil pack was severely damaged (looked like an exploded cigar, cartoon style).

- Palmdale, CA, USA

2006 Ford Escape, 52000 miles on it, no prior problems. Driving on expressway at 55mph with sudden noise and smoke coming from under hood and vehicle. Pulled to side of expressway and notice trail of oil. Towed to local Ford dealership and informed that engine had a hole in it. Given quote of $8,000 to repair.

- Homer Glen, IL, USA