The issue has happened several times. Latest was 2 days ago. While driving, the car acceleration all of a sudden drops to zero and the car will not go. It does not shut off but it cannot be driven. After about 2 or 3 minutes a message comes on the dash that says "it is safe to shut off your vehicle now." Once the vehicle is shut off and I wait about 5 minutes I can start it again. It happens while driving down the road. There is a recall issued for this problem but because there isn't a yellow triangle warning on my dash Ford and the dealer will not do the recall because there is a shortage of parts. So I have to drive an unsafe car until there are parts available all because I don't have a code. Dealer claims there is a ground fault wire problem and refuses to do the recall. This is really unsafe when driving down the freeway and all of a sudden the car comes to a complete stop on me. They know it's a problem for people but won't fix it because they don't have the parts even though recall letters came out in October. It's now January.

- Greensboro, NC, USA

Refer to tsb-08-24-5 and recall 14S19. Escape hybrid experienced the exact failure described in the recall notice while passing another vehicle at 70 mph. The engine shut off and a red triangle appeared. Vehicle was repaired the next day at the owners expense by an authorized Ford dealer who noted the tsb number on the repair invoice. This VIN number was excluded from Ford's list as a covered vehicle. Ford representatives denied any interest in refunding the repairs costs even though the vehicle was in the group and failure was exactly as described in the recall notice. Ntsb needs to expand this recall to all vehicles with this failure even if they are not on Ford's list.

- West Des Moines, IA, USA

As I was driving to work, I accelerated and at about 40mph a red triangle with an exclamation point in the middle showed up on my dashboard and my engine shut off. Very scary! I have looked online and it seems to be an issue with the cooling system. I had to deal with the triangle of death a couple years ago and now this. I will be taking it to the dealer today! it looks like there are quite a few people that have had the same issue! Ford needs to recall this item! it is very dangerous!

- San Jose, CA, USA

I was driving down the highway and the vehicle abruptly lost power, a triangle with an exclamation point came on in the dashboard and the data system said "stop safely now". this happened multiple times during the same drive. The dealership replaced the mec pump. About one year later the same issue began occurring multiples times per day until I was able to get it to a dealership. They replaced the throttle body, the issue occurred again. They replaced the transmission, the issue occurred again. It is now at the Ford dealership getting diagnosed yet again. This is a very serious safety issue and must be resolved.

- Avondale, PA, USA

Engine died multiple times in a parking lot. Car had been idling and had recently been driven over thirty miles on the highway and the ambient temperature was over 90 deg F. had the car towed home because the dealer service dept was closed. The next day the dealer was unable to reproduce the problem and no dtc found in ECM. Paid the dealer for diagnostic time and picked up up the car. One week later, the car died again while driving at about 10-20 mph. Dashboard display said to pull over and park safely. After waiting for 30 minutes for the engine to cool, we were able to drive the three miles home. The next day at the dealer, no dtc found in the ECM, but the dealer said that the symptoms pointed to a throttle body problem. They were unable to recalibrate the throttle body, so they asked us to approve paying for a throttle body cleaning, which we did. This seems to indicate that the hybrid system directs the engine to shut off whenever it detects a sensor problem that it can not resolve. Most cars would produce a cel illuminated on the dash and set a limp home mode. The Escape hybrid seems to just shut off and let you hope for the best. This may seem like an irrational response to a modest problem, but these were the same things that happened before when the problem was diagnosed as a pump problem for the electronics, which is now a safety recall for 2005-2008 Escape hybrids. To compound the problem, the dealer did not offer to refund our previous payment for the pump replacement. I had to ask for it and am now waiting for them to give me a refund, even though the Ford website clearly states that they should expedite refunds for prior work done once a recall is started. Unhappy on multiple levels.

- Soquel, CA, USA

The electronic coolant pump is known problem and Ford is finally supposed to be fixing this through a recall October 2014. (www.greencarreports.com/news/1094407_2005-2008-Ford-escape-hybrid-recalled-also-Mercury-mariner-hybrids). driving in New Mexico on a family vacation, the car suddenly says to stop safely now warning comes up. Mind you that we are in the middle of no where and it's over one hundred degrees with two small children in the car. Somehow, we barely make it into las cruces, nm about an hour later. So, after waiting a few hours they tell us that their hybrid tech isn't there and is on vacation. Really" it took a few hours to figure out that he wasn't there" anyway, they suggested to try and continue on to phoenix, AZ where they would know what to do. So, we try heading out, but the car goes out again as soon as we get on the freeway. So, we do the pull over and restart thing about twenty times until we make it back to the las cruces dealership. We had to stay in las cruces for a week, costing us thousands of dollars in what we now call the adventure of a lifetime. This has recently happened again with our escape, and they want to charge us again to fix this. Ford needs to get it's act together, or I will not be purchasing from them again.

- Pasadena, CA, USA

My wife left our house to run errands in our 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. She didn't even get out of the neighborhood before she got the "stop safely now" warning, and the vehicle went into "limp home mode". she turned around in a neighbor's driveway and came back home. I took it to the dealership today thinking that it might be the mecs pump for which there is a recent recall. It turns out that it was the throttle body causing the warning. Even though there was a NHTSA investigation on the throttle bodies of these vehicles (DP12006), the 2008 Ford Escape hybrids were not included in Ford consumer satisfaction program #13N03, which extends the warranty of the throttle body on some escape models (among other vehicles). So, I now have to spend $775 to replace a part that was known to have issues. Luckily, my wife was not on the highway with our 2-month old daughter when this occurred. I don't quite understand how escapes from 2005 to 2012 were part of the investigation, but the preliminary evaluation PE13-003 only applies to 2009 - 2012 models.

- Lawrenceville, GA, USA

When driving at higher speeds (approximately over 50 mph), the car would suddenly lose engine power and the "stop safely now" message would come on. The car would go into limp-home mode and allow me to pull over to the side of the road. Turning off the car and restarting it would alleviate the problem for a few more minutes of driving. This happened about 15 times on a 60 mile trip home, allowing me to drive anywhere from one to 10 miles at a time before the engine shut off. This was accompanied at times with an engine overheating message. I took the car to the dealer for a repair. They claimed it was a malfunctioning electronic throttle body and replaced it for about $1000. A week later, the same thing happened twice on a 30-mile highway trip when driving at higher speeds, but has not happened since then.

- Washington, DC, USA

I was stopped at a signal. When the light turned, I pressed down on the accelerator and the car started to move as normal. Just past the intersection, the gas engine shut down, a red light came on and the car lost all power. The car behind me struck us. Upon going to the dealership, they knew that the electronic cooling pump had failed. There was not many questions, as they described what the symptoms were. Upon looking at the internet, it would seem that this is a known issue with Ford, and that the new ecp was redesigned to prevent the issue. There are literally hundreds of complaints about vehicles losing power to this same problem. In some cases, as was mine, electrical power is lost as well, causing loss of power steering and brakes.

- Temple City, CA, USA

Received the red master vehicle electrical hazard warning lamp, immediately followed by engine shutting down while on highway. Cause was a failure of the mecs pump Ford pn 5M6Z-8C419-a. after it happened I researched and found other reports issued for same issue. See 10597458,10604791,10596349,10592073,10588181,10588170,10568053,10567619,10567234,10566464,10565177,10560868,10557567,10554859,10548328,10547463,10537539,10533928,10531556,10525970,10523932,10523371,10521436,10521116,10516178,10514445,10513916,10511202,10505543,10504308,10500579,10500159,10461261,10462036,10462214,10463235,10468355,10474060,10475192,10476583,10477359,10485797,10490135,10460373,10459919,10459596,10459518,10458744,10457505,10457488,10456830,10456625,10455257,10455049,10454894,10453205,10448469,10448468,10409310,10409374,10410388,10411980,10412392,10416615,10419367,10430477,10326667,10329839,10348540,10349760,10352951,10360029,10361122,10393862,10393924,10399209.

- Wappingers Falls, NY, USA

Mecs coolant pump defect causes loss of engine power at highway speeds resulting in an extremely unsafe condition. Ford is aware of the defect in this "hybrid unique" component but refuses to cover it under their hybrid component warranty. In my case I was driving at 55mph on a public highway when the dash illuminated a red triangle with the message "stop safely now". I had to scramble to get to the right shoulder and create a dangerous condition by cutting off the drivers around me. I had to pay out of pocket for a redesigned mecs pump replacement and have not experienced the issue since. Pending lawsuit, macdonald V. Ford Motor Co., case number 3:13-cv-02988, in the U.S. district court for the northern district of California.

- Waltham, MA, USA

A warning appeared "stop safely now." We pulled over and restarted. We were able to drive the vehicle in for service without the light coming on again. The diagnosis was a bad throttle body and it was replaced under warranty and listed as a recall in the service report.

- N. Potomac, MD, USA

Starting in may of 2014, my car's performance has been untrustworthiness. Some days there's no problem-- I push on the gas pedal and the car moves accordingly. At a stop sign, I can go. While moving at 50 mph on the freeway, I can easily accelerate and move around a monster size 18 wheeler. But on the days when I press the gas pedal and the car doesn't respond, I sweat. Here's a description: Foot on the gas pedal, no response... so I press down further, without any acceleration of the car. Finally, now freaked out that the car is not moving (and that another car is right on my tail) I press the pedal to the floor-- with no immediate reaction. Then-- bam-- surprise! it works and the sudden surge sends me flying beyond intention and I must press on the brakes to slow. At stop signs this happens and people behind me get frustrated, probably thinking I'm on drugs or something. But really, it's not me; it's my Ford Escape hybrid 2008. The rate of incidence has gradually increased from may to the current date of July, and consequently, I am afraid to drive this car.

- Danville, CA, USA

As we were driving, a "hazard" light come on the dash, the engine shut completely off, and a message, "stop car safely, " also appeared on the dash. We did so, and turned off the car and turned it back on. Car drove fine for about 5 minutes and the same thing happened. We did this for about an hour or so to get home. Had we been on a busy interstate. A sudden engine shut off could have been very dangerous. We took the car to the dealership and were informed that the electric battery had overheated because the water pump was not working. I have come across similar complaints while looking into my situation. Some examples: repairpal.com/coolant-pump-on-hybrid-may-fail-and-cause-celengine-shutdown-562.

- Marietta, OH, USA

I was driving my 2008 Ford Escape hybrid at about 65mph in the leftmost lane shortly after merging from I83 South onto I395 (baltimore beltway) when, with no advance warning whatsoever, the gas pedal stopped responding at the same time as the triangle with an exclamation point and the "stop safely now" (as if I had any choice) message appeared. By the grace of god I was able to coast across 5 lanes of traffic to the breakdown lane. I was anxious to get home to feed the dogs, and my husband was out of town, so rather than call a tow truck I restarted the car and kept going in the right-hand lane for another 3 or 4 miles until the same thing happened again. It took another 2 hours (with an 15-20 additional stalling episodes) until before I was able to make it home to annapolis. Through the internet (and my husband crawling under the car) we have confirmed that the source of the problem is a well-documented faulty oem hybrid drive train mecs coolant water pump. Seems to me that this is a catastrophic failure that is every bit as serious as the GM ignition switch problem, and a fatal accident waiting to happen. It is unconscionable that Ford has not issued a recall on this issue, and unconscionable that NHTSA has not forced Ford to do so.

- Annapolis, MD, USA

Car goes limp. Ford has tsb 08-24-05. Mecp fails. Poor design. Has gone limp on me ~8 times. Each time car drifts to a stop regardless of location, speed, etc...(eg, can be going 75mph on highway) and it goes limp. Cannot move afterwards for minutes. Many cases of this happening have been reported. Tsb 08-24-5 states that some 2005-2008 Escape hybrid and 2006-2008 mariner hybrid vehicles may exhibit a red triangle light and codes indicating a transaxle overtemp. This condition may result in reduced power as the system activates fail safe operation. Codes P1A0E, P1A0F, P0A3C, P0A3E, P0A7A, P0A7C and P1A0D may also be set.

- Lee, NH, USA

Car engine turned off at 70 mph. I was able to drive the car to the shoulder of the road. Prior to the engine shut-off, only the "wrench indicator" was on; it comes on occasionally. Service centers can never diagnose the issue once the car has turned off. Warning light on dash said "safety mode" at the time of engine shut-off. I was able to restart the car after about two minutes. Dash warning indicators turned off. Got back on the interstate only for the car engine to turn-off again at the base of an off-ramp about four miles farther up the road. I was driving the car at 55-60 mph before the second incident. I was able to pull into the Ford dealership.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

Since the first time I experienced a braking failure incident I have done a lot of research&visits to mechanics to retrieve codes thrown from the car off diagnostic machines. Replacing the hcu carries a premium price tag of $5K-7K. Prior to the first accident, there is no obvious way that I could have damaged the hcu with my very normal driving habits (I.e.no history of towing, no long downhill braking)&the hcu is not a component susceptible to wear to the point of early failure. I believe that the Escape hybrids braking system is defective by design (hence the tsb)&fault lies with Ford.I consider this brake failure very serious&a problem that Ford had never bothered to notify me about or recall.my attempts to get Ford's attention on this matter have been fruitless.to summarize NHTSA is not concerned B/C nobody has gotten killed by these defective brakes. Ford claims no responsibility for this very serious&significantly dangerous design flaw.after several episodes of brake failure I found tsb 05-8-5 (8/5/05 NHTSA id#10017553:escapehybridvehicles exhibit the yellow ABS&red E- brake warning lamps illuminating after the engine is started, &an increase inbrake pedaleffort)Ford claims no responsibility to deal w/the problem.its not safe to drive w/O the repair, it had no value being broken, &I did not have the conscience to sell the vehicle w/a dangerous problem.Ford failure to proactively address this safety issue is rather appalling.Ford abandoned me w/a$7,000 bill to repair a problem that is solely related to their poor design.first accident description:ABS warning light&service engine light illuminated on cluster."service brake system"&"regenerative braking disabled" illuminated on message board. On the highway in rush hour traffic, upon extreme braking, brakes failed to stop the vehicle in time to avoid a rear-end collision with the vehicle stopped in front of me.

- Pacific, MO, USA

Multiple incidents of the vehicle shutting down occurred on 3/8/2014 beginning while travelling along a 2-lane highway (ca-74 around idyllwild area) at approximately 10:30 P.M. vehicle displayed red triangle icon with exclamation point inside the triangle and words in red "stop safely now", at which point power to the engine was disabled although power steering appeared to still be active. I then pulled over at a turn-out (luckily one was nearby since I was going uphill and losing speed quickly). I proceeded to turn the ignition to the off position and within minutes re-started without further incident until approximately midnight at which point I was travelling along a major freeway in san diego I-15 southbound at a speed of 65-70 mph. At this point the vehicle became disabled after displaying the red icon and words described above. This happened again 4 separate times. These 4 incidents occurred within a 6 mile stretch of each other and within a 20 minute window. There was no other indication that anything was wrong with the vehicle - no system notice of overheating, faulty electrical, etc.

- La Mesa, CA, USA

This week the news had stories about General Motors recalling several cars because the ignition can suddenly turn off causing the car to lose power while driving. There were even deaths due to bad accidents as a result of the ignition failure and car losing power. This reminded me of an incident that happened to me which was similar. I was driving my 2008 Ford Escape hybrid last December, on I-280 in san francisco during rush hour at 65 mph, when suddenly the dash beeped at me, flashed the check engine light, displayed a message to pull over safely, and the engine had no power! I suddenly found myself in heavy traffic, middle lane of the freeway and no power to safely pull over. I was losing speed and slowed to where I cut between other cars and over to the shoulder. I'm sure I cut someone off in the process. Luckily there was not a horrible accident. There could have easily been an accident. The same thing happened three more times in the next few days before I took the car to the dealer to be fixed. They indicated that this is a common problem of which they are aware. The Ford dealer diagnosed it with code P1A0D, which was a bad coolant pump for the electric generator. I did some research and found that many other Ford escape owners have experienced the same situation as I did where the vehicle lost power while at high speed and put them into a dangerous situation. A simple google search on this finds several blog reports of people with similar situations. Ford has yet to issue a recall on this, but I have found that there is a class action lawsuit against Ford: Macdonald V. Ford, case no. 3:13-cv-02988, in the us district court for the northern district of California.

- Cupertino, CA, USA