Ford EscapeThe Ford Escape has been thoroughly updated, reinforcing the character and appeal that have made it America's perennial best-selling small sport-utility vehicle. The improvements nearly cover the spectrum, and inject a new level of refinement. We'd call the Escape a little truck among small SUVs. Its new styling deliberately invokes Ford's larger, truck-based SUVs.
Purchased a 2009 Escape, 6cyl, auto trans to tow 4 wheels down behind a motor home. The transmission is being replace by Ford after only 8,000 actual miles on the odometer. The Escape was was towed about 2000 miles before the failure, on several differant trips between purchase in January and trans failure in July. Ford will put in a new transmission, but I am concerned that it will happen all over again as no one can tell me the reason for the failure. I towed in neutral, and kept the speed most times at 65 mph or lower, but occasionally over 65 when going down hill but not for a long time. When setting up towing, I shift directly to neutral from park.
Anyone have any ideas on this problem.
Have you referred to the glove box manual? I don't have access to mine just now ... but I believe I remember that the Escape is to towed only a very short distance with wheels down ... in an emergency situation. Could be wrong.
Thanks for your response. I did go over the towing guide before I purchased and also looked in the vehicle manual. I followed exactly so I was surprised by the failure. I traded in 2004 Highlander to get the Escape becasue it was towable at 65 mph.
I also wanted to mention that some bulletin said to run it for five minutes going through the all the gears while being hooked up to the motorhome before finally putting it in neutral, and the key to acc position and of course the motor turned off. :-)
I don't know where I read that bit, but my husband did all of that before our maiden voyage and still had the problem.
We also did our research because this was to be the vehicle that would last a long time because both my husband and myself will be retiring this year. We wanted something reliable and comfortable, which it is. I asked the service manager about connecting some kind of Remco pump, and he said he wouldn't do that because it is not reliable even with a car that cannot be towed with all four wheels down.
Good luck with your trip and let us know how you did. I go on Wednesday to the Ford dealership for them to insert the new dipstick and check the levels.
Had the same problem with our 2009 Ford Escape, 6 cylinder, automatic transmission, with 832 miles on it. We towed it behind our motorhome for three hours and stopped it like the owners manual said to do. The transmission blew up. We also had a new one put in and are very concerned with towing it again. I brought my car to my Ford dealership just last week to see what information they can tell me that might be new. The service manager checked the dipstick and ordered a new one that will come in this week. Then he will check the fluid levels to make sure they are not overly filled. That could have been the problem... an "old" dipstick with inaccurate reading levels on it which makes the mechanics fill to overfill. After driving down the road being towed, it could have overheated and exploded the fluids which caused the dryness of the transmission to happen and blow up. It makes sense to me, but I will not tow it until next month so that I know I will have time for it to be in the shop for two weeks . At least they gave me a free rental, but I don't want to have that happen again since we were headed for our summer trip on the road. There is a bulletin from Ford out there which states what the new dipstick ID numbers should be. Ask your Ford dealer, or write me. Good luck!
Had the same problem with our 2009 Ford Escape, 6 cylinder, automatic transmission, with 832 miles on it. We towed it behind our motorhome for three hours and stopped it like the owners manual said to do. The transmission blew up. We also had a new one put in and are very concerned with towing it again. I brought my car to my Ford dealership just last week to see what information they can tell me that might be new. The service manager checked the dipstick and ordered a new one that will come in this week. Then he will check the fluid levels to make sure they are not overly filled. That could have been the problem... an "old" dipstick with inaccurate reading levels on it which makes the mechanics fill to overfill. After driving down the road being towed, it could have overheated and exploded the fluids which caused the dryness of the transmission to happen and blow up. It makes sense to me, but I will not tow it until next month so that I know I will have time for it to be in the shop for two weeks . At least they gave me a free rental, but I don't want to have that happen again since we were headed for our summer trip on the road. There is a bulletin from Ford out there which states what the new dipstick ID numbers should be. Ask your Ford dealer, or write me. Good luck!
Hello barbara 1955, can you post that part no. for the dipstick? Much appreciated...
Thanks for the information about the dip stick. I will not be picking up the repaired Escape until next week. I researched a long time before buying the 2009 Escape so I could tow it at a reasonable speed. I was disappointed at the failure. I remember looking at the Honda manual, and it requires shifting into Neutral from drive only, as well as stopping every 200 miles to run the engine and circulate the trans fluid. Ford does not require this, but I wonder if it would be good to follow the Honda proceedure. I will tow about 1000 miles in a few weeks so I will let you know if I have anther failure. I did notice that the trans seemed to be getting hot, but I did not realize how hot it must have been getting.
..... and it requires shifting into Neutral from drive only, as well as stopping every 200 miles to run the engine and circulate the trans fluid. Ford does not require this, but I wonder .....
I have downloaded the 1st and 3rd edition of the 2009 Escape Owner's manual. I think anyone planning to tow this vehicle should give the glove box manual a very careful read ... under "recreational towing". It implies more to be done by the owner than I'm reading in most of your posts. There is obviously a set procedure to be followed to assure lubrication of the tranny's internals.
(I would still consider leaving the engine idling and tranny in "N" ... but that's just me ... seems better than changing broken transmissions ... but maybe I'm missing the big picture.)
Leaving the engine idling is not an option. I don't want to pay for gas while I tow the car 5,000 miles across country. We have towed many vehicles and you do not have to leave an engine idling. Barbara - we told our dealer about the dipstick and were ignored even though the service advisor gave us the tsb showing the recommendation. We picked the car up yesterday and when I asked, the service advisor mumbled that yes it was the correct dipstick, but with no conviction. My hubby checked when we got home and they had not changed the dipstick. I called and told them I wanted the correct one and it is supposed to be on order now. We left the dealership with more assurances that it is indeed towable, but recommending the additional procedures (running thru the gears while idling). And yes, unfortunately, we had done these procedures on our own before the second transmission failed. The first time the cooler was not replaced and they think that may have caused the second failure. We are taking the car for a tow tomorrow (if we get our RV back today from some work being done on it) I will post and let everyone know how that turns out. We are out of luck in AZ with the lemon law because we purchased a "demo" so it was considered used and the laws are much more restrictive for used. If it was new, we could have it replaced after the third time for the same problem. I'm still going to our salesman if it fails again and if I don't get something I can tow, I will go to all the RV "action" lines and every local news "action" desks if I have to.
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2009 Escape Transmission Failure 
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