Within a week of the first incident, I experienced the same problem three more times. With the transmission in drive, either stopped for a red traffic light or proceeding forward with the flow of traffic, the orange wrench light on the left bottom of the instrument panel would come on and all acceleration ability was reduced to about 2-3mph. This situation would demand I immediately actuate the 4-way flashers, check to see if the right lane, shoulder or emergency lane was clear and then attempt to drift to the right side of the roadway to a place of safety. The first time this happened was on I-95 (six lanes southbound) in the center lane at 70-75mph. Traffic volume was medium, however there were several truck-tractor trailer combinations to my right rear so I had to merge across three lanes of traffic to get to the emergency lane. I then had to limp approximately a half mile to exit 95 and find a parking lot to stage my vehicle for a tow in case it wouldn't start again. SCARY AND DANGEROUS!!! I am a traffic reconstructionist and know the dangers associated with time/distance issues and how important the ability to control acceleration/de-acceleration is to avoid crashes. I also know that 98% of all crashes are caused by operator error and 2% caused by equipment failure. I honestly believe that had I not trained for sudden unexpected circumstances (noted equipment failure) we would have been involved in a serious injury crash. Ford should be held accountable and be required to replace the defective part before someone dies. I asked the dealer to give me a 50% discount on the replacement cost for the new part, but only was granted 20%... so I got stuck for the $400 repair bill. Hum, lets see...paid $54,000 for the vehicle and a known defective part fails but I have to pay for it again... no right but more important not fair or safe!!!!
loss of all accelartion ability at highway speeds
Within a week of the first incident, I experienced the same problem three more times. With the transmission in drive, either stopped for a red traffic light or proceeding forward with the flow of traffic, the orange wrench light on the left bottom of the instrument panel would come on and all acceleration ability was reduced to about 2-3mph. This situation would demand I immediately actuate the 4-way flashers, check to see if the right lane, shoulder or emergency lane was clear and then attempt to drift to the right side of the roadway to a place of safety. The first time this happened was on I-95 (six lanes southbound) in the center lane at 70-75mph. Traffic volume was medium, however there were several truck-tractor trailer combinations to my right rear so I had to merge across three lanes of traffic to get to the emergency lane. I then had to limp approximately a half mile to exit 95 and find a parking lot to stage my vehicle for a tow in case it wouldn't start again. SCARY AND DANGEROUS!!! I am a traffic reconstructionist and know the dangers associated with time/distance issues and how important the ability to control acceleration/de-acceleration is to avoid crashes. I also know that 98% of all crashes are caused by operator error and 2% caused by equipment failure. I honestly believe that had I not trained for sudden unexpected circumstances (noted equipment failure) we would have been involved in a serious injury crash. Ford should be held accountable and be required to replace the defective part before someone dies. I asked the dealer to give me a 50% discount on the replacement cost for the new part, but only was granted 20%... so I got stuck for the $400 repair bill. Hum, lets see...paid $54,000 for the vehicle and a known defective part fails but I have to pay for it again... no right but more important not fair or safe!!!!
- Kimberly M., Port Saint Lucie, FL, US