[kmoose]

Had the Escape in for an oil leak. Replaced the rear main seal - 4 hrs labour plus the seal, apparently they have to drop the transfer case.

In the process they also identified, in their test drive, that the steering shaft needed replacing as per one of the TSBs. 3 hrs labour plus the shaft. I personally don't see or feel the difference but they assure me it makes a difference. Not my money.

Anyway - including my oil change and tire rotation plus front and rear brake service, the bill was over $1300 and less than $200 of it was customer pay. Wow. Those are some expensive engineering problems, especially considering the 6 speed automatic concerns on these cars as well.

 

[gbrown69]

can you elaborate on the 6 speed concern?

 

[kmoose]

There have been a few TSBs to address shifting issues in these trannys. The latest 10-b-15 reprogram seems to have addressed most of the issues, but with Ford asking the dealers to stress test the trannys if they have more than 24,000km on them when they reprogram, something tells me the old programming may have really put these things through the ringer.

OTHERS...CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG, JUST KEEPING IT SIMPLE:

Early 2009s had a serious issue where they would suddenly not be in a gear - say pulling away from a light, and hesitate going nowhere. A TSB was issued to fix that. Then most of the 09s and some '10s were affected by slamming shifts. Another TSB. Mine was not affected by either of these issues and it is a May 2009 build.

Mine also got the 10B15 reprogram at the August service. I really don't know why - I had no complaints, but the dealer was insistent that it be done - warranty issue. It does shift smoother than before (I never had an issue with mine, but hey..) but gets some "flashing" (kind of like a clutch slipping) when it is cold shifting from 2nd to 3rd under light acceleration. Common.

My service manager told me yesterday that there is physically nothing wrong with the tranny itself but he is concerned that owners that have experienced all of these issues (especially the first 2) have seen their trannys have undue wear and tear as a result and may fail prematurely. He recommends changing the tranny fluid religiously every 36,000km to keep everything running smoothly - a good idea I think.

He also indicated that among service guys the thought was Ford was so obsessed with Fuel Economy numbers and improvements with the new 6 speeds they programmed it so "economical" it was incompatible with the engine and thus misbehaved. Interesting theory as since my car has had the reprogram I have seen a small (1-2mpg) drop in fuel economy.

 

[KCCO_773]

Yeah I had my tranny "reprogrammed" but didn't notice much in the way of more mpg's. Didn't have any of the other problems prior either. P

 

[SUVord]

With all those transmission TSBs I'm sure Ford and its customers would save a lot of money and hussle if they could simply plug the transmission to the phone on one end and the TSBiers do all the reprogramming they feel at the other.

PS.I guess too much coffee, starting in the morning and going through to the afternoon has some impact in my sanity...among other things.

 

[mrst53]

I have a 2003 escape with 90k miles, 2nd owner. The only problem I had was with the coil packs going back while still under the 80K warranty which caused the catalytic coverter to go bad too. good thing it was still under the warranty.
ford was great about it. I love the Escape.

 

[megascape]

my understanding after talking to a guy at Ford is: once the CD4E had the cooler the problems were pretty much gone. Do the '09 have F6 tranny or whatever the proper name is?

 

[tang]

haha, you think you cost Ford a few bucks... my warranty history as printed in dealership service form is at least six pages long. :lol: :lol:

And, with the most recent incidents, they are compensating for the window tint I lost when I had to have my windows replaced due to scratches caused by the window seals.

I had experienced the slammed shifts from the six speed and I felt like the reprogramming did something, although once in a while there is still a rough shift because I'm an idiot and I sometimes press it too hard in the cold.

 

[Domain]

haha, you think you cost Ford a few bucks... my warranty history as printed in dealership service form is at least six pages long. :lol: :lol:

I had them print one cursed vehicle I had years ago; well over 20 pages long. I took a picture of it going the full length of my house's hallway.

When I got rid of the car, I destroyed the records. Too painful. :wall:

 

[tang]

Yikes!

haha, as bad as six pages sounds... most of it would be stuff I had to go in multiple times for, unfortunately.