2016 Ford Escape Engine
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
Description of Incident: While operating the vehicle, the Check Engine Light (CEL) illuminated. I took the vehicle to an authorized dealership, where a diagnostic scan revealed fault code P0247. The dealership confirmed that the wastegate solenoid has failed. Safety Risk: The failure of the wastegate solenoid prevents the Engine Control Unit (ECU) from properly managing turbocharger boost levels. This results in "limp mode" or a significant reduction in acceleration and engine performance. Furthermore, improper boost regulation poses a long-term risk of catastrophic engine damage, which could lead to a stall or fire while the vehicle is in motion. Additional Information: DTC Code: P0247 (Turbocharger Wastegate Solenoid B) Symptoms: Check Engine Light, diminished throttle response. Repair Status: Confirmed by dealership diagnostic and completed.
Coolant intrusion into the ecosystem turbo. It is a known issue, but not disclosed and now the engine has to be replaced at a cost of what the vehicle is worth?!
My car set a code , and the engine misfired. I took all the necessary steps, but the code reappeared. I have Car Shield, and they are saying its cracked block but refuse to replace the head gasket. My mechanic believes it's the head gasket, so a cracked block seems common in these cars, as does a bad head gasket. What should I do, and whom should I contact to fight Car Shield and Ford?
Car has been checked for coolant loss and pressure tested coolant system. Was told coolant is leaking internally. Car is at 120,000 miles.
Water leaking into cylinder number 3, causing misfires and loss of coolant/ overheating
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating before the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failure persisted. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that coolant intrusion into cylinder #4 had resulted in engine damage. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 65,000.
Engine 1.6l needs replaced with less than 100k miles because of coolant leaking into cylinder causing misfire, only fix is a new engine for 8k! Serviced every 3000k miles by the local ford dealer
According to Cleburne Ford, my 2016 Ford Escape had a coolant leak that makes the engine malfunction and they quoted me a price for a new engine installation. My safety had been impacted because now I don’t know when my engine will stop working but I need a car to get to work. An independent mechanic I took it to told me he could not find a leak or see anything wrong with it, but of course he isn’t a Ford dealership employee. I had a check engine light to which then I contacted Cleburne Ford and they were able to diagnose it and give me the bad news.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion into various cylinders had resulted in damages to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 70,000.
The engine light came on so we took it to a mechanic. The diagnostic said "coolant leaking in cylander 1". We were told the engine was allowing coolant to leak into it (because of a design flaw known to Ford) and the only option was to completly replace it. That engine is no longer being manufactured and Ford won't help me in any way. My car has less than 70,000 miles on it and is undriveable. Total engine failure due to head gasket leak.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated and the engine overheated. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road and the contact turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted and driven to the residence. The contact was aware of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a cracked engine block. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the vehicle was scheduled to be taken to the dealer for an upcoming diagnostic test. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.
We have 2016 Ford Escape Ecoboost 1.6L that has the very same issues as in the recall for the car but our vin number was not included in the recall. This car was taken to the Ford dealership for all services, recommend services, oil changes. I have all the receipts for this. In August of 2023 I took the car in for oil change and they said everything passed inspection. Copy of record to follow. Then in October of 2023 the transmission had error code and had to be towed to dealership. Was told transmission had to be replaced. Fords cost took to another transmission shop they verified transmission needed to be replaced. Paid 4,000 for it to be done. Then in December of 2023 another light came on in the car...check engine light...car again had to be towed to Ford dealership...this time engine needed to be replace at the cost of nearly 10,000 dollars...and then the most recent issue....turbocharge has blown seals with oil leak as told before...but not a totally different reason..for engine problems so with oil leak also need manifold replacement..these 2 things $6,140.50 plus the $17,755.88 for transmission and engine repair would cost $23.896.38. Something needs to be done about this Escape. I do not know why it was not included in the very limited recall that Ford issued for this call. But, it seems very obvious that it should be. The car new was $28,300.00. Please help....this car is in need of being replaced by Ford not repaired at this point since not included in the originally recall when as you can see certainly should have been. Let me know if there is anything that can be done by yall to help solve this issue.
The coolant leaked into the engine causing it to seize up while on the highway. The engine is completely shot and needs to be replaced. I have since found out this is an ongoing and known issue with the Ford ecoboost engines. Ford refuses to address this issue. I was told it was my spark plugs and water pump, which i had both replaced.
Escape has developed water intrusion in cylinder #2 of the 2.0 ECOBOOST engine, with under 80,000 miles. continued driving of the car could cause overheating due to low coolant and potential motor seizing. check engine light has come on, with cylinder misfire but no low coolant warnings. Potential engine seizing will be a safety concern if the vehicle is in motion, causing loss of control and damage to passengers and other motorists. I have footage of the cylinder leak via inspection camera if needed.
Coolant leaked into my engine, causing engine failure and the need to be replaced at a cost of close to $10k. This is a known issue that the mechanic had seen several times, with a class action lawsuit ongoing and many cases know for the 2013-2019 Ford Escapes. It is not under recall or warranty. Only 70,000 miles on my car. Feel like I've been penalized even though I took good care of my car. This was Ford's fault as it was a defect in their car and yet I am the one that is out $10k. This should be under recall, I feel like I got taken advantage of by Ford. Please consider making Ford put a recall on this, so the consumer (me and many others) rightfully gets the value that they paid for. I am pretty angry, and think a right to be. The company (or person) that makes a mistake should be the one who takes responsibility for it. This is the rule of law we operate under in this country, and why it is such a great country. In the case of this known engine coolant leak for 2013-2019 Ford Escape, it is Ford's fault but I am getting penalized for it. This goes against the basic principles of our country. I'm angry for myself and many others who have had this issue, and have been taken advantage of by Ford. Please force them to do the right thing and put a recall on this issue.
Head gasket failure, coolant is leaking into the engine causing combustion and potential fire
Coolant was found in cylinders causing engine failure and needing to be replaced.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle shuddered abnormally with the check engine warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Our 2016 Ford Escape had a check engine light come on and populated a code for a #4 cylinder misfire. I took it to the mechanics shop and he found that there was coolant intrusion into the cylinder and the engine would need to be replaced. He had knowledge of finding this issue in the past. The car only has 58000 miles on it and has had all of its regular maintenance. It seems Ford is aware of these issues yet doesn't do anything about it. absolutely terrible to not stand behind the equipment that they charge a premium for. This puts families at risk when these things die with such low mileage stranded them on highways or God knows where.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in the garage, the contact used an electrical starter and became aware that there was heavy white smoke coming from the exhaust pipes. While opening the vehicle, the contact became aware of a strong chemical odor coming into the cabin of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer replaced the cabin air filter. The vehicle was returned to the dealer, who performed extensive pressure testing. The dealer suggested that due to the contact noticing the coolant levels were extremely low, the vehicle should be taken in regularly to check the coolant level. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.
The contact’s father owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the engine overheated, with the message “Engine Overheated – Stop Vehicle” displayed. The vehicle was shaking and hesitating while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that coolant needed to be added to the coolant reservoir weekly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that a leaking gasket had caused the engine to fail. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.
Transmission failed at 62,000 miles with no prior issues or indication to this matter.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 25 MPH, she noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust. The driver pulled over into a gas station and called her husband to inform him of the failure and drove the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was taken a dealer and was inspected, and the technician became aware of a leak; however, the technician was unable to determine the location of the leak. The vehicle was then taken to another dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant leaking into cylinder #1. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: 22-2229 (Eco boost 2.0L Engine Failures); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure and opened a case. The failure mileage was 132,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds uphill, the vehicle was shuddering, hesitating, with an engine misfire. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who determined that there was a coolant leak into the engine, causing a misfire. The mechanic referred the contact to the local dealer for assistance. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine block was cracked. The dealer recommended an engine replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed there was no recall on the VIN for the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000.
Antifreeze leaks in cylinder, Ford says need to replace engine only 75k on the engine.
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The 2016 Ford Escape has 143 Engine complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.