Ford Escape Recalls Soar. Latest for Fires, Oil Leaks

Posted on 26 November 2013 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com - 2013 Escape

This is now the seventh safety recall on the new 2013 Escape; earlier ones were for fires, overheating and unintended acceleration.

The new 2013 Ford Escape, one of its top selling models, is being recalled yet again for two more dangerous safety defects. In the first to two recalls published on the NHTSA web site today, 10,000 of the newly redesigned 2013 Escape models with the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine that were part of previous safety recall (NHTSA 12V-336) are being recalled once again because of a botched repair by Ford dealers during the first recall. NHTSA forced this recall after complaints grew.

The engine-compartment fuel line may have been installed incorrectly and could chafe and eventually leak fuel leading to more fires. It is not clear to AutoInformed that Ford is on top of the problems, as it is now recalling Escape recalls after it earlier had tried to limit the number of vehicles involved. Worse, the recalls do not start until January.

In the second recall of 140,000 Escape SUVs, with the same trouble-prone EcoBoost engine, and some of them previously recalled (NHTSA 12V-336), the engine cylinder head overheats causing cracks leaks oil. At least 13 fires have resulted. Let the lawsuits begin.

The Louisville-built Escape – production started in June of 2012, is the first of the new line of compact SUVs built off Ford’s global C-car or Focus platform now that Ford and Mazda have gone separate ways. The same Escape will be built and sold in Europe and China, where it is called Kuga, although there will be unique powertrains and other minor tweaks for customers in those markets. In the U.S., it is priced roughly from $23,000 to more than $38,000.

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About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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