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"engine fault, service now" yet the fault cant be traced

40929 Views 28 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  audda87
this saddens me, my 2013 ford escape SEL ecoboost intelligent 4wd with remote start (not sure what the full description of the vehicle is) has had this engine fault service now signal come up more than 5 times last month. it really is embarrassing. imagine you drive your vehicle out, turn it off and few seconds after you try to turn it back on and it cant start. the Ford dealership has ran checks on it but say they cant find the problem, yet it keeps occurring. first time they towed it to the shop, we thought it was fixed. then it happened again, they came by and were able to get it to start, I drive it for a few minutes, parked it and it refused to start. had to abandon the vehicle on the road over night because the solution of disconnecting the battery head for some minutes didn't work. twice in one day and several times after that. the vehicle has been unable to start for 5 days now, the battery as usual has run out from lack of usage.
Anyone else with this issues? I really need help with it.:crying:
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How many miles?

Was the vehicle in the harness recall? Was that fixed?
harness recall? not sure about that. i'd have to check the mileage when i get back to the vehicle
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this saddens me, my 2013 ford escape SEL ecoboost intelligent 4wd with remote start (not sure what the full description of the vehicle is) has had this engine fault service now signal come up more than 5 times last month. it really is embarrassing. imagine you drive your vehicle out, turn it off and few seconds after you try to turn it back on and it cant start. the Ford dealership has ran checks on it but say they cant find the problem, yet it keeps occurring. first time they towed it to the shop, we thought it was fixed. then it happened again, they came by and were able to get it to start, I drive it for a few minutes, parked it and it refused to start. had to abandon the vehicle on the road over night because the solution of disconnecting the battery head for some minutes didn't work. twice in one day and several times after that. the vehicle has been unable to start for 5 days now, the battery as usual has run out from lack of usage.

Anyone else with this issues? I really need help with it.:crying:


Try searching the forum. There are multiple threads on engine fault service. Find the thread that best suits your issue and post anymore questions you may have there. You can also reach out to @FordService on this site. They are quite helpful if you are not getting anywhere with your dealer.
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I have this same condition the dealer says they can not duplicate condition and they have never heard of this before.

quick google search shows this to be some what common.
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Harness tsb fixed mine
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2013 sel have problems with the harness initially mine was not part of the recall but i pushed to get the harness done and it solved my problem, 2 years later Ford sent me a recall notice for the harness to be done , so even if yours has not be done or recalled make the dealer do it or go somewhere else like i had to do.
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Try searching the forum. There are multiple threads on engine fault service. Find the thread that best suits your issue and post anymore questions you may have there. You can also reach out to @FordService on this site. They are quite helpful if you are not getting anywhere with your dealer.
searched the forum but non seems to have had exact specific issue of the vehicle not being able to start for days on engine fault
I have this same condition the dealer says they can not duplicate condition and they have never heard of this before.

quick google search shows this to be some what common.
either they are just lying or they are trying to cover up an issue they cant fix. the vehicle is out of the dealership after about 4 days, waiting to see if repeat of the issue occurs
2013 sel have problems with the harness initially mine was not part of the recall but i pushed to get the harness done and it solved my problem, 2 years later Ford sent me a recall notice for the harness to be done , so even if yours has not be done or recalled make the dealer do it or go somewhere else like i had to do.
thanks I'd call to ask them about this. hopefully they'd be willing. any estimate on the cost it incurred?
How many miles?

Was the vehicle in the harness recall? Was that fixed?
sorry for the delayed reply, mileage is 20,892 miles
How many miles?

Was the vehicle in the harness recall? Was that fixed?
sorry for the delayed reply. mileage is 20,892 miles
thanks I'd call to ask them about this. hopefully they'd be willing. any estimate on the cost it incurred?
Sorry no, mine was done while still on warranty, good luck push for the harness fix and get ford service involved if you haven't all ready, and if possible find a different dealer.
I also own a 2013 Escape Titanium 2.0T/AWD that has been for the most part flawless. The other day I went to the store, parked it and came back, started the engine and all of a sudden I get an "engine fault service now" message and the engine is running rough. I drove home and it seemed that a cylinder was not firing and the engine had little power. In addition, the transmission kept shifting up and down and I could not get past 30 MPH. I finally made it home, turned off the engine and went to get my fault reader. Turn the engine back on and it is like nothing happened; no fault, no stuttering, no code stored in the computer. BTW, I had the harness recall done way back when it came out.
Bottom line is, these cars have so many electronic components and sensors in them that anything can affect their normal performance. Before electronic controls, if you had a cylinder misfire, the transmission would continue to shift normally, but you would have less power. Now, you have less power and the transmission goes whacko. That is the price of progress.
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2013 sel have problems with the harness initially mine was not part of the recall but i pushed to get the harness done and it solved my problem, 2 years later Ford sent me a recall notice for the harness to be done , so even if yours has not be done or recalled make the dealer do it or go somewhere else like i had to do.
Good morning. What specific harness you are talking about? I have same fail and I replace throttle body acelerator, cleaned all conectors with contact cleaned.
And still fail happen
2017 Titanium 1.5. Driving home from work 2 days ago "Engine Fault Service now" warning came on. Drove home no issues other than warning light. Started up car this morning, about 1/2 way in to work and the same message came up, quickly followed by "vehicle overheating pull over now" or something to that effect. I pulled off highway onto the next off ramp. once i slowed down car cooled off pretty Quick . drove back roads on in to work. Checked coolant when sun came up it was low. Below minimum spot by a bit, but you could still see it in bottom of reservoir. At lunch went to advanced auto and got coolant. had to add about 1/3 of jug to get in-between min and max. drove to eat then back to office. checked coolant and it was low again. I filled up again. Ill see if it went down without driving.

I have an appointment at my dealer but not until 12th of March. is this critical? just keep coolant up? i have not seen any drip spots in garage,
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Oh dear...doesn't sound good. Unless there is obvious coolant leaking onto the ground or within the engine bay somewhere it sounds like the age old problem with some of these engines of coolant finding it's way into the cylinder head either by a cracked or warped block or faulty head gasket etc. And often when this happens there is no evidence of coolant on your garage floor.
There any many posts on this here sadly mainly concerning the 1.6L engine and there was talk of a class action involving owners whose cars were out of warranty.
I assume your car is out of warranty now?

Hopefully this is not the case and it may be just a faulty water pump but there should be evidence of coolant somewhere under the car if that is the case.

Isn't there another Ford dealer nearby who can check it out before the 12th March?
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Oh dear...doesn't sound good. Unless there is obvious coolant leaking onto the ground or within the engine bay somewhere it sounds like the age old problem with some of these engines of coolant finding it's way into the cylinder head either by a cracked or warped block or faulty head gasket etc. And often when this happens there is no evidence of coolant on your garage floor.
There any many posts on this here sadly mainly concerning the 1.6L engine and there was talk of a class action involving owners whose cars were out of warranty.
I assume your car is out of warranty now?

Hopefully this is not the case and it may be just a faulty water pump but there should be evidence of coolant somewhere under the car if that is the case.

Isn't there another Ford dealer nearby who can check it out before the 12th March?
Talked to dealer i bought from, they said it sounds like the coolant into cylinder issues. I got up with closest Ford Dealer and am dropping off tonight. they are giving me a loaner, so they must know the warranty issues
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It is the coolant into the cylinder issue. Replacing under warranty. Eco Sport Rental in the mean time. No time line to how long it will take yet.
Any issues with the replacement? I've seen pictures where instead of slit between cylinders they have an oval hole off to the side of the cylinder. When did that change go into the production 1.5? This will be 2 Fords in a row with issues. My 2013 Taurus had the water pump issue , that was out of warranty and cost me $2,200. That issues is the water pump being internal to engine, and when it goes leaking coolant into the engine. Bad design.
This problem has been around for some time and initially there were problems with the blocks they replaced and sometimes the whole engine was replaced.
I am not aware of the change timeframe but surely they have sorted out block problem replacements by now.

I have not heard of recent dramas here regarding this repair.
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