2009 Ford Escape / Electrical problems

[mlwlnx]

I too had this exact same problem with my wife's 2009 6 cylinder XLT. 129,000 miles. Battery light has been on and off intermittently for about 3 weeks with no other symptoms. Battery and alternator both tested ok. Yesterday she began hearing clicking. Power steering and gauges would shut down intermittently, engine and brakes were normal. Since this mode occurred within a few miles of a Ford dealer, and not wanting to risk having the vehicle leave her stranded on the side of the road, I suggested she drop it off at the Ford dealer for diagnosis. From previous posts it appears others have experienced this same issue, Can anyone tell me what their diagnosis and fix for this issue ended up being? Thanks

[winterpegger]

I am having the same problems with my 09 escape. has there been a solution yet for this issue?

[mlwlnx]

Sorry for the long delay, I intended to follow up months ago but got busy and never got back to it. The Ford dealer's diagnosis & recommendation was to replace the alternator, the alternator wiring harness, and wiring harness heat shrink. Their estimate was between $800 to $900 for parts and labor. The car was still drive-able so I decided to pay them the $100 diagnostic fee and drive the vehicle home to do the work myself. The service representative at the dealer questioned my decision asking if I was sure I wanted to do the work myself since "this was not an easy job." I told her I would take my chances. I ordered an alternator from NAPA and had it in a couple of days. The alternator was approximately $300 and no one in the area had one in stock. I replaced the alternator and cleaned up the wiring harness plug using contact cleaner and dielectric grease. There was nothing visibly wrong with the wiring harness or plug. The alternator was very easy to replace and took less than an hour. After replacing just the alternator, the battery light continued to come on intermittently. I then ordered a replacement wiring harness on ebay for $19 (GENUINE NEW FORD MOTORCRAFT WIRING PIGTAIL KIT WPT-118 1U2Z-14S411-TA). This took a little longer to install but was still not difficult. I soldered all wires and installed the heat shrink over the soldered wiring connections. This consisted of only 3 wire splices. The heat shrink was included in the kit. Replacing the wiring harness resolved all of my electrical issues... the battery light issue, intermittent power steering, intermittent gauges, etc. I made this repair in September and vehicle has been fine ever since. Summary... I suspect that the root cause of my issue from the beginning was the light gauge wire that is used in the alternator wiring harness had overheated, developing a slight short between the wires. If I were to do this over again, I would have replaced only the $19 wiring harness and tested the vehicle before replacing the alternator. I suspect that there was nothing wrong with the alternator like the dealer had stated, however, my Escape did have 125,000 miles on the original alternator so replacing it may help prevent a future failure.

[dawnarie61]

I am having nearly the same problem with my 2010 Mariner (Escape) The braking system lights, door ajar and tire pressure monitor lights come on and off. Lately they have been coming on and staying on more than off. And now my dash lights won't go off and drained my battery. When the dash lights are on my turn indicators will not work, but I can see they are blinking outside, and my air conditioner will not work. Before all this happened I did notice that my dash lights would dim and brighten during my drive to work.

Is it the dash light fuses, a battery/alternator ground problem, or a short in the wiring? And how do I find where the short is?

I am getting sick to my stomach with these problems. I really loved my Mariner, and don't have the money to get a new car.


Please help!!!

[diveshark]

Hello, I am having the EXACT same issue as mlwlnx. Could someone please kindly show me a picture of where I change that harness?
thanks

[mlwlnx]

Sorry I cannot provide a picture of this wirng harness in the vehicle, but here is a link to purchase it from Amazon. Just locate your alternator in the front of the vehicle and you will find this harness plugged into it. Trace the wires from this harness. There is not much else you need to know, just 3 wires you will need to access to replace the harness. I hope this helps. https://www.amazon.com/Connector-Pigtai ... B00ZNLESLS

Sent from my HTC Desire Eye using Tapatalk

[chillydog]

having the same issue's as well.changed the battery,alternator tested good and replaced alternator wiring harness as well, but still having same issues!! ripping whats left of my hair out!! HELP

[KiloWhiskey82]

I realize this is an old thread, but maybe this will help somebody down the line....

I have a 2011 2.5l Escape XLT. I had similar problems; power steering intermittently going out, dash cluster going on and off, heat/air turning on and off randomly, tire pressure sensor fault, etc. Also, after it rained my fuel pump would not work. It would prime the injectors but failed to kick in. This problem caused me a full year of inconceivable headaches... Finally broke down and got on eBay and bought the factory service manual and accompanying electrical diagram manual. This allowed me to start tracing down and find the fault...

The problem is electrical, but is NOT limited to the alternator harness. Any wire short that is connected to the Smart Junction Box is the root of the problem. Do yourself a favor and stay away from any Ford service department because you will end up buying a whole new PCM if they have their way.

I FINALLY traced it to the driver's side door jam! The coating on the wires had cracked and allowed water to seep in and couldn't get out. It ate the wire coating off until it basically disintegrated.

The bundle of wires were coming in contact with each other at various locations. Can you imagine how long it took me to figure out that this was the cause of all those different seemingly unrelated problems? Replaced COUNTLESS harnesses, fuses, and wires in a dozen locations. Since i splayed open and redone the doorjam wiring, it has fixed every problem! 6 months and not one fault since.

Ford trief to talk me into buying a whole new computer for the car, new alternator, new fuel pump, basically started at the most expensive solution and work their way down instead of looking to help out the customer. They insulted my intelligence on 3 different occasions. After I fixed it, I went back and talked to the guys at the service department and they still actually tried to sell me a new PCM! Don't fall for their BS!

[Jcpokinatcha]

[quote="mlwlnx"]Sorry I cannot provide a picture of this wirng harness in the vehicle, but here is a link to purchase it from Amazon. Just locate your alternator in the front of the vehicle and you will find this harness plugged into it. Trace the wires from this harness. There is not much else you need to know, just 3 wires you will need to access to replace the harness. I hope this helps. https://www.amazon.com/Connector-Pigtai ... B00ZNLESLS

Sent from my HTC Desire Eye using Tapatalk[/quote]

Hey there. Hate to revive a long dead post....
is this harness able to be worked on without going up under the wheel well?
I can see a wire sleeve coming up the front of the alternator (im assuming this leads to the harness). Can I just reach from up top and unplug it and do the splice from up top and not roll around on the ground?

thanks!

Jeremy