The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. While driving 65 mph, the engine stalled and was able to restart. The vehicle was driven to a dealer who diagnosed that the electronic coolant pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 127,405...updated 10/30/14..updated 12/04/14 updated 7/9/2015

- Union City, CA, USA

Submission to mark fields re 2008 Ford hybrid escape defects. The consumer stated about two weeks ago, a red master vehicle electrical hazard warning lamp and stop safely now message appeared on the dashboard, while driving at 60 mph. The engine immediately shut off. He was able to pull over safely. He turned off the vehicle, waited 5-10 minutes before re-starting it and drove a few miles, before the situation repeated itself, several more times, until he arrived home. After doing some research, he narrowed the problem down to what he believed to be the (mecs) motor engine cooling system pump, which from his understanding, was unique to the 2005-2008 Ford Escape hybrids.

- Wappingers Falls, NY, USA

At approximately 8:00 am on the above date, I was traveling North on interstate 75 from cincinnati toward toledo at around 70 mph. Without any warning whatsoever, the vehicle completely shut down and the computer advised I should pull off immediately to safety. When the escape came to a stop, I turned the key off and then was able to restart the engine. After traveling less than two miles, the same thing happened. This time I was able to limp off an exit ramp to a side street where the vehicle seemed to be able to run a bit longer before cutting off however, the engine dying happened at least another half dozen times before I was able to make it to an enterprise rental car location North of dayton. From there, I stopped by the nearest Ford dealership (beau townsend Ford) and they were able to retrieve the vehicle from the enterprise parking lot. The dealership was not able to look at the vehicle until several days later on 6/19/14 however, at that time they diagnosed the problem as a defective / shorted-out motor electric cooling system pump. The part was ordered and replaced the following day however, including towing and the necessity of renting a vehicles (I was on a business trip), the incident ended up costing me close to $1,000. From what I understand, Ford was aware of this defective part at the time of manufacturing and did nothing to prevent it from being installed on tens of thousands of vehicles. There are hundreds of complaints on file regarding this part as well as a class action law suit which was filed in the state of California. Let's hope that Ford finally steps up to the plate and admits their grave error in judgment before somebody gets killed because of this faulty part. Those of us who have had to incur expenses due to the malfunction should be full reimbursed by Ford.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

The electric cooling pump fails causing the motor to shut down. This is a known problem by Ford and there is a service bulletin on this problem. Ford need to recall this item.

- Livermore, CA, USA

Car lights come on.I changed water pump.now sign comes again it is heat sensor what I hear from other people.sign says stop now safely, , once you stop turn the switch off and on then car starts, but it happens again every week, I have family like most of other people who have Ford Escape hybrid are going with same issue, S.Ford is not doing any thing about it, when sign come on the free way that is very danger. How come there is no recall on it. When Japanese Toyota prius or any car has problem that be came big issue but when that is Ford made in usa no one talks about it, so sad, I hope Ford will do some thing about this.

- Richmond, CA, USA

While driving 65 miles per hour an alarm sounded and the odometer read "stop safely now." I lost all power to the vehicle and was able to pull over safely. I was able to restart the vehicle with no problem and continued on my way. When I reached 60 miles per hour the same thing happened. This continued to happen 6 times and then the odometer read "high engine temp" and the vehicle then died and made a "whirling" sound. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership and when I got there they told me "I was able to start it right up." The dealership found it to be tsb 8-24-5. the coolant pump was not working and needed to be replaced. Ford is well aware of this problem and still have not placed a recall on this!! what will it take, people to die when this happens? for me, this was the last straw. I traded in my 2008 Ford Escape hybrid as I no longer felt safe in this vehicle!!

- Robbinsdale, MN, USA

Pulling away from complete stop at stop sign the entire car shut down suddenly leaving driver without any power to pull to curb or to safely leave roadway. Message on dash read "stop safely now". car totally disabled. Restarted after several minutes. Star Ford of glendale had car for a complete day to determine nature of problem - at end of day had no reason for complete and sudden loss of power. Driver afraid to take car on freeway for fear car will lose power on freeway at high speed.

- Pasadena, CA, USA

Recently while driving, my dashboard suddenly displays a red triangle with an exclamation point in it and advises me to "stop safely now." Regardless of whether I can stop safely or not, I lose power suddenly. This has happened many times, and I have been informed that this is a generic warning that covers numerous car problems. Unfortunately, I do many miles on the highway at higher speeds. Ignoring the past couple of years when this has happened, and I made complaints to this site then, the most current bouts have occurred when I was in very heavy commuter volume on the same highway that is currently under construction with no shoulders. I lose power, without even the opportunity to at least get out of the middle lane. This severely disrupts traffic, and I have almost been rear-ended numerous times. What's worse is, I have taken it to a Ford dealership and they have not been able to identify the problem. I have had numerous things fixed, but I still have this problem. This is not safe, and most likely, one day I will be injured because of it. I would rather have the option of ruining my vehicle by driving it when I shouldn't then to not have the option of getting out of harms way. I understand that other years of escapes were recalled for this problem, so why not mine? thank you.

- Richmondville, NY, USA

Driving at 55 mph, engine stopped, kicked out of gear, loud beep sounded, and dashboard warning light came on. Triangle with bolt inside. Message said "slow down and pull over." This had happened 3 times before while in cruise control, but I was not in cruise control this time. First time it happened, I consulted the manual. It said to turn off the engine and restart. I did, and warning light went off. Same next 2 instances. I attempted this fix four times on this last occasion. Car would restart, then engine would shut down in a few hundred feet. Finally called tow truck. Ford dealer found bad auxiliary water pump connected to hybrid system. In researching this, I found this is a common problem with Ford Escape hybrids. Called Ford customer service, but they refused to do anything about the repair, which cost $700. Felt very unsafe with the way the engine just shut down. Luckily, I was on a road with a shoulder. If I had been on a bridge, tunnel, or in traffic, I could have been killed, the engine shut down so quickly. Ford needs to issue a recall on these water pumps, as their failure causes a dangerous engine failure.

- Ocean City, MD, USA

While driving on the highway during a long trip (9 hours) a triangular warning light flashed on: Stop safely now, and the car decelerated quickly as though the engine had abruptly stopped, barely allowing time to pull off road. Fortunately, there was a shoulder at that spot on the highway. There is no way to safely stop a car this suddenly that is traveling on a highway! after reading the manual which directed driver to wait a bit and then restart car, the driver did so and everything seemed fine until it happened again, twice, on the highway again after driving for only 2 hours. Please; just because there wasn't a crash, injury, fire, or death does not mean this is "safe enough."

- Santa Rosa, CA, USA

Please issue an immediate recall for the motor electronics cooling system pump on all 2005-2008 Ford Escape hybrids. This is a known issue to Ford and the subject of tsb 08-24-5. this part failure is extremely dangerous. While the cited complaints form an alarming picture of the mecs pump failure issue, this list is by no means exhaustive. A search of complaints for the 2005-2007 Escape hybrids returns additional horrifying incidents involving this part failure. It is appalling that with so many reports of high-speed engine shutdowns and near-miss accidents that this issue does not even having a pending defects investigation. Please right this wrong before someone is seriously injured or killed.

- Elm Grove, WI, USA

While driving on interstate 75 in Florida, the gas engine shutdown and a warning light/message appeared "stop safely now". our vehicle immediately began to decelerate, running only on the electric motor, as we tried to cross two lanes of traffic "safely". we pulled onto the shoulder, and turned the car off. We were able to restart the vehicle without getting the error message. We experienced this same sudden engine shutdown and feh warning 5-6 times over the course of our road trip from Wisconsin to Florida and back. Upon return to Wisconsin, we had the car checked out by our Ford dealer, and they informed us it was a faulty motor electronics coolant pump (part #5M6Z-8C419-a). Ford has issued a technical service bulletin about this problem (tsb 08-24-5), but has not yet issued a recall. Since the unexpected deceleration of a vehicle traveling at high speeds constitutes a serious safety issue (as many Ford Escape hybrid owners on edmunds.com can attest, townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.F0ff5B5), I am strongly urging you to compel Ford to issue a recall on this part.

- Elm Grove, WI, USA

While driving 65 mph the gas engine shuts off, the stop safely now light appears and the master vehicle warning lamp comes on. Happened only a couple times the first 3 weeks. In the last 2 days it has happened 15-16 times. This is very dangerous to happen while in traffic on the interstate. To shouldn't this be a recall. Taking into Ford dealer tomorrow.

- Morristown, TN, USA

While driving I noticed a lack of power and got the message "stop safely now". as the manual stated I pulled over, waited a few minutes. The car started up again but the event kept happening all the way home. I brought the car to a dealer who made a repair costing 642 dollars. The car ran fine for a month but when on a major highway I had the same experience except it was more difficult to deal with the loss of power in busy traffic. I was in the passing lane to allow another car enter the highway from an on ramp when it happened and I was lucky to be able to cross three lanes of traffic to bring the car to rest. Again, it happened all the way home causing me to finally drive in the breakdown lane with flashers on. I went online and learned that this is an ongoing problem with Ford hybrids. My question is why no recall on such an expensive and dangerous problem?

- Deep River, CT, USA

Veh shows a caution sign (exclamation in triangle) with a warning (pull vehicle over safely and turn off engine). Veh loses all acceleration and I must pull over immediately to avoid an accident. Happens every time we drive on the freeway only, never on a side street or in stop and go. I pull vehicle over and turn off engine for approx 2 or 3 minutes, and it starts right up. Some times it will happen multiple times within a 20 to 30 minute time period, sometimes only once in several hours of driving. Dealer has no idea why and requires a tow immediately when it happens to determine cause. Cannot tow when on the way to dr, out of town, or other.

- Auburn, WA, USA

"stop safely now" appears in dashboard while going 70 mph and you lose the accelerator - you cannot maintain / increase speed. The car basically dies and shuts off. This is incredibly dangerous, especially while driving on a highway or in traffic of any kind. This happened numerous times as we were driving to Florida for spring break. Once we stopped, we were able to restart the car and continue on until the next "stop safely now" appeared, sometimes in less than 3 minutes, sometimes after 3 hours. Given that it was a Sunday, we were unable to find a Ford dealer with a hybrid technician on staff. The first Ford dealer we took it to had it for 3 days and "could find nothing wrong". the second dealer we went to replaced the throttle body and water pump. This breakdown is unacceptable and dangerous. No car should simply stop like that. This design / flaw should be recalled and fixed before someone is killed on the expressway.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

I started the car up and as it sat idling the stop safely now message displayed and the engine died. I turned everything off on the car, reset the message and restarted the car. As I pulled out of the driveway and stepped on the gas, the car again displayed the message stop safely now and the engine died. I had to again turn everything off in the car, reset the message, and restart the car. I have no idea what is wrong this time that is making the message display. There needs to be a recall on this vehicle. The stop safely now message kills the engine at any speed. This is a very serious problem. No car should simply shut the engine down while driving.

- Plainville, MA, USA

I was traveling through nyc on rt 95 during rush hour, bumper to bumper traffic. All 3 lanes were traveling at 65 mph with no breakdown lane due to construction in the area. The car for no apparent reason displayed the "stop safely now" message and the engine died. By some miracle the jersey barriers blocking the breakdown lane opened up for about 100 ft and I was able to pull over. The car loses all power when the stop safely now message appears. This is a hazard and this car should be recalled for this problem. It turned out the cooling pump needed to be replaced. No car should simply shut off when driving. It creates an extremely dangerous situation. I had 18 wheelers and a stream of cars behind me and had the breakdown lane not been available, there would have been a multiple car crash with potential deaths. It is hard to believe that there have been no accidents due to this problem. This car is unsafe to drive because you have no idea when the engine will shut off. The car needs to be redesigned so that the stop safely now message never shuts down the engine.

- Plainville, MA, USA

I was traveling on the expressway in the left hand lane doing about 70 mph when the engine shutdown and a stop now safely message appeared on dashboard. I was able to pull over turned off the vehicle was able to restart and continue to my destination. This again happened on the way home the same day there was no problem found at the times I pulled over and both times was able to continue. I had no ability to accelerate and fortunately was able to pull over, this was a scary.

- Middle Village, NY, USA

Going from Missouri to Arkansas my car simply stopped running no indicator lights were on at the time and a triangle came on stating I could pull over safely now and stop. I turned off the engine after trying to make the electric battery engine work. Nothing happened. People helped me push my car off the road and then a man suggested I try to start it again. It started right up and ran for another 20-30 miles and then proceeded to do this about every 5-10 miles for hours. The temp was raining and about 60 degrees. Again on the way home in dry weather and at night it did the same thing for 136 miles. This was at night and I tried to keep it at 60 mph. Finally dropping it to 50 and finally made it home. I'm taking it to my mechanic but when I called Ford where I bought the car they said they never heard of this problem. I find this to be an untruth and Ford ( which my family has sworn by for many years) refuses to acknowledge this problem.

- Springfield , NV, USA