I pulled into my work parking lot, and when I shifted into reverse to back into my parking stall, the shifter felt loose. The transmission went into reverse without issue so I didn't think anything of it. I backed in, put the shifter into park and let off the brake only to have the car start going in reverse. After I slammed on the brakes, I tried moving the gear shifter again but find it's locked in park with the engine running and the transmission in gear. While holding the brakes, I grabbed a multi tool out of my glove box and was able to remove the bezel around the shifter to access the parking lock release. I was able to move the shift knob but this had no effect on which gear the car was in. My only option was then to turn the car off and set the parking brake.
After calling a couple Ford dealerships, one of the service managers said this happens often on the Escape and guided me through loosely reconnecting the shift cable end so I could get it into park and then back into gear. I was able to get it to the dealer and they had it repaired in about 1 hour for a cost of $125. The fix was to install a new bushing on the linkage. Upon further investigation I found the 2013 Ford Escape with 6 speed transmission has been recalled for this exact safety issue. However, I did a VIN search on NHSTA Recall page and for some reason my car wasn't included in the recall... WTF.
I pulled into my work parking lot, and when I shifted into reverse to back into my parking stall, the shifter felt loose. The transmission went into reverse without issue so I didn't think anything of it. I backed in, put the shifter into park and let off the brake only to have the car start going in reverse. After I slammed on the brakes, I tried moving the gear shifter again but find it's locked in park with the engine running and the transmission in gear. While holding the brakes, I grabbed a multi tool out of my glove box and was able to remove the bezel around the shifter to access the parking lock release. I was able to move the shift knob but this had no effect on which gear the car was in. My only option was then to turn the car off and set the parking brake.
After calling a couple Ford dealerships, one of the service managers said this happens often on the Escape and guided me through loosely reconnecting the shift cable end so I could get it into park and then back into gear. I was able to get it to the dealer and they had it repaired in about 1 hour for a cost of $125. The fix was to install a new bushing on the linkage. Upon further investigation I found the 2013 Ford Escape with 6 speed transmission has been recalled for this exact safety issue. However, I did a VIN search on NHSTA Recall page and for some reason my car wasn't included in the recall... WTF.
- cleavis guthead, Madison, US