Vehicle lost power in drive and decelerated. Ford service diagnosed failure of the throttle body.

- Canton, GA, USA

I was driving approximately 65 mph on a state highway and suddenly, without warning, the "monkey wrench" light turned on and I no longer had any throttle. I still had steering control and brakes. I had to immediately pull off the road. The car sputtered and I turned the ignition off. I restarted the car and was able to put it in drive. As I began picking up speed on the highway, I again lost all throttle control and had no power when I pressed on the gas pedal. I had a few miles to get home, and this occurred two more times. The only way I could drive was to be in the right lane and be ready to pull off the road. I am very fortunate I was not driving during peak traffic hours. The immediate loss of throttle power would have been very challenging to navigate around other cars.

- Mars, PA, USA

Vehicle surged after a stop and would not go. Had to coast off side of road and shut down and re-start vehicle. Has done this multiple times. The throttle body was the culprit per the Ford technician. Part is backordered due to high demand for part. The throttle body is the highest part on order through Ford, indicating an issue with this.

- Shreveport, LA, USA

The SUV starts slowing down, losing power and the wrench light comes on. I pulled over, cut SUV off wait about 15min and start SUV back up L wrench light is not on. No incident again until May 30,2013 and June 1, 2013. Took vehicle to darcars on June 3,2013, dealer not able to duplicate incident.

- Washington, DC, USA

I was driving down the road and all of a sudden my car started slowing down and my gas pedal would not accelerate my car. When I pulled over, my car was jumping on the side of the road. Once I took it to 2 different dealerships, got stranded on the side of the road 4 times, paid $80 for them to run some tests and tell me there was nothing wrong with my car at the first dealership, the second dealership then speculated that it was my throttle body. When I asked them to fix it, I was told the part was on national backorder and there was no telling how long it would be before they got the part in. So they sent me away in my broken car and told me the problem would probably start occurring more frequently until it was fixed. If that is not a clue to the Ford company that they need to do a recall, then I do not know what is. Everyone is obviously experiencing these problems and it happened to me 1,000 miles outside of my warranty. I am irate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ## VIN failed ##

- Troy, AL, USA

I was idling at a stand-still on the highway (or very close to a stand-still - may have been rolling at approx. 5 miles per hour) as traffic came to a stop due to a lane merge ahead. When traffic started to slowly move forward again, I took my foot off the brake and stepped on the gas pedal to accelerate forward but the car did not move. I tried stepping on the gas pedal once more and again the car would not move forward. Since the car was still in drive gear, I managed to get the car to roll into the shoulder of the road on its own to get out of the way of traffic. Car started to buck and vibrate when I tried using the gas pedal again to accelerate forward in the shoulder and would still not move forward. I noticed then that the orange wrench icon was lit up on the dash. I then put the car in park and turned the engine off as I felt it was no longer safe to drive. Had to call a tow truck to tow the vehicle to the dealership. Dealership diagnosed the problem as an issue with the throttle body and said it was not covered under warranty as it was an electronic/external part. Had bought the car brand new in Dec 2010. I was disappointed that the car was less than 2 1/2 years old and had a major problem that could have led to a dangerous situation. I was moving slowly in a construction zone during holiday traffic when the incident occurred, and I was lucky that I was not in a busy intersection or traveling at a high rate of speed when I lost acceleration due to the throttle body problem.

- Dover, DE, USA

Traveling at 35 mph, heard a noise and lost all but limp home mode power. No shoulder on the road and created a dangerous lane blockage. Had to be towed to dealer that does not have the needed part. Told it is on national back order. We have extended warranty with rental coverage but since the part is not available they will not pay for rental waiting for the part.

- Purcellville, VA, USA

Vehicle went into limp mode on major highway. Was able to coast off without incident. Ford company is unable to find replacement part for the throttle bottle, assuming in high demand. Was informed no longer under warranty. There needs to be a recall.

- Whitehouse, TX, USA

Driving approximately 60mph on a busy road my acceleration quit and only the RPM revved up when I pressed the accelerator until the truck landed me on the side of the road. When the acceleration stopped it was immediate and it felt like the engine jerked and died even though it was technically still running (idling) while in motion. The vehicle jerked and shook as it slowed until it died.

- Raymond, MS, USA

Wife pulled out of the driveway and vehicle lost all power and went into limp home mode. She stopped the vehicle, put it into park and turned the car off. First attempt to restart vehicle failed, second attempt, vehicle started and wrench symbol illuminated and stayed on approximately 20 miles until she arrived at work. She has also been experiencing intermittent surging forward while driving and transmission banging into reverse when backing out of the driveway. The rpms have been surging sporadically when cranking the car. Took the car to Ford dealer on Friday, 17 May 2013, received a call from service rep. Saying that the throttle body assembly had to be replaced, but however, part is on backorder and they are searching nationwide for the part to fix the problem. He also stated that he didn't feel comfortable returning the vehicle for my wife to drive until the part is found due to the possibility of her having a accident. However, until then, we are out a vehicle, because it is not safe to drive. Fortunately, the vehicle is still under warranty. I would like to know what is the magic number for nthsb to force Ford into issuing a recall for this problem, how many people have to be injured or die for this to happen "?????"

- Summerville, SC, USA

I was moving into traffic and the car suddenly surged forward and then stalled down to a rough idle. The wench symbol was illuminated and the engine light came on with a code of P2111. Throttle body actuator failure - stuck open.

- Durham, NC, USA

My daughter was driving the car in Florida going approximately 45 mph. The red light with a wrench came on and the car would not accelerate. She finally got pulled over to the side of the highway and called the dealership in orlando. They told her it could be a throttle body problem or it could just be trying to reset. They suggested she turn everything off (which she already had) and restart in a few minutes. She restarted and everything seemed fine. About a week later, the same thing happened, only worse, and she took the car in to the dealership. It seemed to happen as she was turning a corner. She had to restart the car 3 or 4 times on the way to the dealership. They ran a diagnostic test and said the throttle body needed to be replaced. So far, it's been a week and it is still not fixed because they cannot find the part. She has had to rent a car until the Escape is fixed. Another expense! evidently, 45,000 of these throttle bodies have been replaced and they are using the parts up as fast as they can make them. How safe can this be"?"!!! we plan to have it repaired, but we should not have to pay for this Ford problem.

- Manitou, KY, USA

Vehicle lost acceleration but still had power, brakes, etc. After slowing down, pulled over and tried selecting different, gears, etc but vehicle would not move. Wrench indicating engine problem was on. After turning vehicle off, restarted vehicle and the car was able to move. Vehicle had same problem on way to dealer. Computer trouble codes were not stored. This seems to be the same problem that a lot of people have had. Vehicle is a 2011 Ford Escape fwd limited with 3.0 V6.

- Plant City, FL, USA

I have a 2011 Ford Escape and was traveling down the road when the car quit moving forward on its engine power. I had to pull off the road and re-start my vehicle to make it run correctly. I took it to the local Ford dealership and found out that the throttle body was defective. This seems to be an issue with some Ford vehicles ( according to the service mgr it is more of an issue with the Fusion but they are seeing it with the Escape also). Of course I'm out of warranty by 10,000 miles and the repair is $750. I feel like Ford is side stepping this and I consider this a serious safety issue. If mine was not the norm I could understand but the fact that even the part is hard to get and Ford is the only manufacturer of it is very frustrating. Needless to say--I'm going back to GM.

- Mobile, AL, USA

My Escape had been running rough today and decided maybe I needed to take it on the interstate. While doing about 65 the "open wrench" light came on and I lost complete power. I could not accelerate or anything else for that matter. I coasted to the emergency lane. I put the car in park and restarted the Escape and was able to make it home. I had read about numerous other related issues on this problem with the Ford Escape. I am glad I was in the right hand land and not the left lane; it could have been very dangerous.

- Tallahassee, FL, USA

In rush hour traffic, the wrench light comes on driving 60 mph car slowed down, would not accelerated, jerked, , was able to exit, turned off restarted, made it work ok, drove home about 22 miles, no problem. Went for dinner stopped at red light, would not go wrench light came on again, turn off restart, taken to dealer on Saturday morning was told not part of powertrain. Cost $531 for repair, very dangerous and unsafe to drive on a major road in dallas..

- Red Oak, TX, USA

While driving down a road going approx. 50mph, I suddenly, and without warning, lost power to the vehicle. Pulled over to the side of the road and while applying the brakes, it would tend to lunge forward. Once stopped, I placed in park, shut off engine the attempted to start up again. It did start up, however, it happened 2 more times later that day. I would hate for this to happen while trying to make a left hand turn with oncoming traffic....could be deadly!!! Ford needs to step up to the plate and make this right as I have now read far too many complaints about this exact same thing. The next occurrence could be injury or even death. I should note that as of 1 week later, I have not had the problem fixed yet and the incident described above has happened at least 2 times per day now.

- Greenacres, FL, USA

Vehicle purchased January 2013 with ~37K miles. First month of ownership, I had code indicating a fuel delivery problem but it cleared on its own. I attributed it to bad gas, though it may have been the warning sign I missed. Today on the highway at approximately 60mph, it felt like the vehicle shifted out of sequence, noticing the lack of power/low rpms I tried to give it gas to no avail. I safely navigated to the shoulder as it coasted down to a stop. The orange wrench lit up. Upon stopping the car sputtered hard and threatened to stall. The gas pedal was useless. I shut the car off, shut off the radio/ac and gave it a moment. It restarted with minor hesitation. The orange wrench had cleared but the check engine light came in (it stayed in through the remainder of this post). It idled ok, allowed me to administer fuel and rev the engine. Thinking the problem had passed, I merged back onto the highway and came up to speed. About a half a mile later I felt the noted loss of engine power (I believe this is the "limp-home" method that is cited in some things I have read today). Again, my gas pedal is useless and I re-engage the hazards and move off of the road. This time the car does not stall but idles around 900rpm with some sputtering. Gas pedal is still useless. I rinse and repeat the above process a third time, when it does the same thing another half mile later, I give up and call a more car savoy friend. His first guess is also fuel pump/something clogged but we are both baffled because the symptoms are not consistent with any condition we have ever encountered. Deciding it could be nursed home, the fourth attempt at starting it, I made the last 2 miles staying 40mph or below. There was no sputtering/loss of fuel delivery capabilities during this attempt. After some research, it sounds like the common throttle body issues found me...

- Suffolk, VA, USA

While depressing brake to stop at red light or stop sign, engine surges with forced acceleration. Must hit the brake hard to hold the vehicle from going on its own. Surge lasts a long time and I must put the car in park and turn off the engine. Last time car was still surging when I restarted the vehicle, had to turn off car again. This has happened 4 times and my vehicle is still under warranty. The dealership claims they cannot fix the vehicle unless they can see this happen.

- North Huntingdon, PA, USA

When the weather started getting colder, the transmission started out hard to shift. I travel for work and when I am in heavy traffic it is dangerous, because it takes a while for the car to shift out. When it does finally shift, it is a hard shift and hard to control.

- Cherokee Village, AR, USA